SAE Visit #1

The first mustang that Alex received.
She was very interested in eating the
entire Science Night event.

This week I met up with Alex Eagles, a sophomore at Bald Eagle High School who currently has two active SAEs: a tractor restoration project and two mustangs which he has gentled. I took advantage of the Science Night event that occurred on Monday when Alex and his parents brought the tractor and one of the mustangs to the school. I had spoken to Alex on a few different occasions about his projects and had spoken with his father at the last Occupational Advisory Committee and was very impressed with these two projects of which Alex was very proud.

Alex's father told me that he had traded a horse for the 1959 International tractor years ago and had used it primarily to mow grass until he purchased a new tractor. At that point the tractor was left in the barn for a few years. It was in pretty rough shape when Alex decided to use it in his Ag Mech class and enter it into the Tractor Restoration Competition at this year's Farm Show in Harrisburg. 

Some "before" photos of the tractor on display at the Farm Show

I asked Alex how much he knew about tractors or mechanics in general prior to starting this program to which he responded, hardly any at all. But as Alex explained the process and transformation that the tractor went through I could tell that his knowledge surpassed my own. I asked him how he learned what he needed to know to get the tractor running and looking nice again and Alex responded matter-of-factly, "the manual and a lot of YouTube videos."

I could tell that he was proud of what he was able to accomplish with the tractor and even won $800 for the FFA Chapter at the farm show competition for having entered the tractor in the competition.

The finished tractor on display outside of Bald Eagle High School during Science Night caught the attention
of the many attendees of the event.