Tractor School

Program Year: 2018-19

By: Carrie Derossett, Logan County Extension Agent for 4-H Youth Development Education

               The 4-H Tractor Driving Contest has been going on for many years at the Kentucky State Fair. 4-Hers take an exam about tractors and mowers, perform a safety check, and drive a tractor or mower through an obstacle course. In our area, we have not had an organized practice for these 4-Hers. They had just been practicing at home on whatever equipment they have.

               This year, the Mammoth Cave Area 4-H Agents revamped our Tractor School program to allow 4-Hers to gain knowledge for the written exam, safety check, and practice the obstacle course. We had 24 total youth participate in this year’s day camp program from five counties in the Mammoth Cave Area.

               Most participates said they increased their knowledge on tractor safety, lawn mower safety, perform a lawn mower safety check, perform a tractor safety check, how to identify parts on a tractor, how to identify parts on a lawn mower, troubleshooting problems, the importance of roll over bars and seatbelts, safety shields such as lawn mower blades/PTO covers, and are more familiar with the lawn mower and tractor driving contest course.

               100% of participants correctly performed a safety check of the lawn mower, showed improvement in their knowledge of tractors and lawn mowers after completing Tractor School, and successfully completed the lawn mower obstacle course.