Tractors make the grade at Navarro College

By JULIET BRISKIN | Staff writer

Student Nathan Wenke rescued this 1936 Model A from one of the pastures on his family's farm. He explained that this tractor belonged to his great grandfather and he overhauled it after it sat in the pasture for 30 years. "This was the second largest tractor John Deere built in 1936," he stated. "This is a good example of the mechanical simplicity these early tractors were designed for." -Staff photo by Briskin

April 8, 2004 -- After overhauling a John Deere tractor, success is confirmed with the turning over of the engine.

For the past nine years, students in the Navarro College John Deere Ag Tech Program in Corsicana have been showcasing their mechanical successes by hosting a "Tractor Starting." On March 31, students, faculty and the general public gathered in the Ag Technology Education Center on campus to view the results of countless hours of work and study by the program's participants.

The event featured each student starting up the tractor they overhauled during their Diesel II class, demonstrating that the tractor runs, and then delivering a speech detailing their work and providing information about their particular tractor. The tractors ranged from a 1936 Model A to a monstrous 2004 model 7820.

Dr. Darrell Beauchamp of Navarro College explained that in addition to classroom and laboratory work, each student must fulfill a public speaking requirement.

Student Austin Weaver starts up the 1937 Model L John Deere he overhauled. According to Weaver John Deere discontinued this model in 1946 after manufacturing 13,365 of them. "This tractor has a max RPM of 1550, and has about 9.1 horsepower," he explained. "In 1946 this tractor sold for $517 dollars brand new." Photo by Juliet Briskin -Staff photo by Briskin

"For those of you that are not familiar with how this works, the tractors are brought in here at the first of the year," detailed Beauchamp, "and the students have to perform a diagnostic test on it, clean it up and then basically do what a technician would do to get the tractors running. The results of the student's work is then summed up at this event when they start up the tractor, drive it and then explain to you all what they have done."

When John Deere began manufacturing tractors, one of the company's primary goals was to design a machine that, if it broke down, could be fixed by the farmer right in the field. But today's high tech tractors, outfitted with computers and intricate circuitry, do not lend themselves to the maintenance practices of the past. Thus the development of educational partnerships such as the Navarro College John Deere Ag Tech program.

The two-year program was created to prepare students for a career as a John Deere service technician and combines classroom instruction with hands-on experience at the college and through summer work at sponsoring John Deere dealerships.

Upon completion of the program students are awarded an Associate in Applied Science degree.