South Dakota State University Tractor Team Wins National Title

South Dakota State University student teams have been successful the past few months. The university’s human-powered vehicle team won titles earlier this year in American Society of Mechanical Engineers events in State College, Pennsylvania, and in Pomona, California.

Not to be outdone, the SDSU Quarter-Scale Tractor Team won the 2018 American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers International Quarter-Scale Tractor Student Design Competition held May 31-June 3 in Peoria, Illinois.

Each competing quarter-scale tractor team must submit a written design report before the competition. The teams are given a 31-horsepower Briggs & Stratton engine and a set of Titan tires.

Following that, the tractor is left to the students to both design and build. A panel of industry experts judge the machines on innovation, manufacturability, serviceability, safety, sound level and ergonomics.

In addition, the teams present and sell their design to a corporate management team, played by the industry experts. The machines are judged on performance in three tractor pulls, a maneuverability course and a durability course.

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