Popping wheelies with their tractor in the hotel parking lot is just one of the perks of being on the Sled Dogs team.
The University of Saskatchewan quarter scale tractor team is in Peoria, Illinois, competing in the 15th annual International ¼ Scale Tractor Student Design Competition, which ended yesterday. Last year’s team placed fourth among 26 teams from universities across North America.
The first day of competition got off to a solid start, according to a June 1 e-mail update from team member Allison Graham.
“It went quit well,” she wrote.
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The only event on the day’s agenda was technical inspection, in which groups of judges inspected each tractor to make sure every rule laid out by the competition was followed. Each team is supplied one 31 horsepower Briggs & Stratton Vanguard Big Block Engine and a set of Titan tires. Teams are responsible for acquiring all other components of their machines. All tractors run on a 10 percent ethanol fuel blend.
“The A-team tractor passed inspection the first time through (I believe for only the second time in U of S team history), and after some minor tweaks to brakes and exhaust guarding, the X-team passed as well,” Graham said.
Students also have the opportunity to connect with industry. The team toured Caterpillar’s plant in Decatur, Illinois, where some of the world’s largest scrapers and mining trucks are built.
“It was cool to see how they produce such big equipment, how engineers play a role in every step of the design and manufacturing processes and learn a little bit more about the company,” she said.
