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For the second consecutive year, South Dakota State University finished just short of winning the International Quarter-Scale Tractor Student Design Competition.

The SDSU Quarter-Scale Tractor Team, which features Austin grads Ryan VanPelt and Blake VanPelt, and competing as the Jackrabbit Tractor Company, finished in a tie with Kansas State for second place. North Carolina State defended its 2024 title, finishing 26 points ahead of its Midwest competitors scoring 2,316 points out of a possible 2,405.

The 28th annual event was May 30-June 1 at the Expo Gardens Fairgrounds in Peoria, Illinois, with 23 teams competing from across the United States and Canada.

The team received a $1,200 check from the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, which sponsors the contest.

The tractors are essentially oversized riding lawn mowers. Each team receives a set of tires and a 31-horsepower engine; this year a Kawaski for the first time. Students are then tasked with designing, crafting and assembling the remainder of the tractor, which must hold up during durability, maneuverability and pulling tests.

In addition to points earned on the fairgrounds course, teams are judged on their written report and oral presentation as well as their entry’s appearance, craftsmanship and other criteria.

SDSU finished first in written report and oral presentation, scoring a perfect 500 points in each category. That was a highlight for club president Jaydon Estebo, who was part of the team for all four of his years at State.

While six students from this year’s quarter-scale tractor team did graduate, the 2024-25 roster included seven juniors, four sophomores and five freshmen. They are advised by Douglas Prairie, a lecturer in the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering.

The group also is varied in majors – ag systems technology, 7; ag and biosystems engineering, 10; mechanical engineering, 5; and precision agriculture, 2; and locales-Colorado, 1; Iowa, 3; Minnesota, 11; Nebraska, 1; North Dakota, 1; Ohio, 1; South Dakota, 3; and Wisconsin, 1.

The 23-member quarter-scale tractor team consists of:

Isaac Knobloch, Rock Jarrett Wildman,

Jaydon Joseph Stumpf

Logan Turgasen

Mark Hague

Samuel Meyer

Brock Hansen

Cameron Bennett

Dawson Gulizia

Evan Madsen

Ryan VanPelt

Samuel Nilsson,

Trevor Sieberg

Daniel Hetchler, Rogers

Joseph Mohr

Samuel Mastey

Trevor Werdel

Andrew Schull

Blake VanPelt

Connor Fluit

Jack Forcier

John Dexter