For the second year in a row, the Illini Pullers won the Annual ASABE International 1/4-Scale Tractor Student Design Competition, held June 3-6 in Peoria, Ill.

The team was judged by oral presentation, written design report, static design, maneuverability and performance. Illinois won overall and in performance.

“The level of student participation in this event, from presentations to finished tractors, shows the value of the competition,” says Willie Vogt, editorial director, Farm Progress Companies, who served as a judge and announcer, and emcee in a press release. “While Illinois won the pulls, that would not have been enough to give the team first place. Their strong presentation, solid design review and written reports pushed them to that top spot.”

According to the press release, in the competition students have a “360-degree” design experience, where

they build a tractor, documenting their research, present the design to a mock company and then perform a tractor pull. The teams are supplied a 16-hp Briggs & Stratton engine and a set of Titan tires; they are responsible for

all other parts of the tractor.

Twenty teams from the U.S. and Canada competed in this year’s competition.