In December of 2022 I inherited my Great Grandpa’s 1953 John Deere 50. It was his main work horse till years later when new equipment was released.
Since the day I had I’ve had it in my possession I have been working on it nonstop. Since I am in FFA, I decided to make a book on it for the proficiency award area of Agriculture Repair and Maintenance entrepreneur. As I hardly worked on it over the spring since It ran, and I was waiting to run it over the summer to find the major issues. I placed third in my section in my category. I continued working on it over the summer and throughout the winter as the main issues arose while running it over the summer. It was a long process, but I’m very grateful for the opportunity and the people that helped me. I kept track of all the work and time I had put into my tractor and was ready to complete again.
At the end of February 2024 I competed in the same category as the year previous in my section and took first place. Since I took first place at the section level, I was able to move on and complete at the district level. I went to Districts in the month of March and took first place. With the excitement of winning district I had the amazing opportunity to compete at state. At the end of March I competed at state in my proficiency area and competed against 4 others. It was just an unbelievable feeling hearing my name being said as the state winner in the proficiency area of Agricultural Repair and Maintenance Entrepreneur. It is an unbelievable achievement that I could have never expected from years past.
It meant so much to me that my great-grandpa’s tractor was a state champion as well as me. This intense project took a little over 200 hours of my free time, but at the end of the day it was all worth it. This project could not have been done if it wasn’t for Steiner for having all the parts that I needed.
Tucker Berlien
Aurora, Indiana
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