In June, N.C. State University’s Pack Pullers joined an elite group of other universities by bringing home the champion tractor at the 2024 American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) International Quarter Scale Tractor Competition in Peoria, Ill. Teams from the United States and Canada travel to compete each year. The student-led team has competed since 2004. In previous competitions, the team had only ever reached third place, until this year, when they were named overall champion. This year, 21 schools competed for the title.
About 5,000 student hours go into fabricating the tractor, which has to be 900 pounds or less without an operator. “We have about 20 to 25 students that have met weekly for about a year to come up with the design and build the tractor,” said Thomas Bartholomew, a master’s student in biological engineering who is in his fourth year in Pack Pullers. “We make almost all of the parts for the tractor in house and as long as you’re an N.C. State student you can be a part of the club.” Members include students from biological engineering, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.”
“Only a small number of schools have ever won this competition, and most of them are in the Midwest,” said Silver Hyatt, a junior majoring in biological engineering with an agricultural concentration. “Our win puts us in an elite group of nine that have ever won in the 27 years that the competition has been held.”
Teams are given an engine and a set of Titan tires; the tractor is theirs to design and create. A panel of industry experts judges each machine for innovation, manufacturability, serviceability, safety, sound level and ergonomics. Teams also submit a written design report in advance of the competition. Onsite, they must sell their design, in a formal presentation to industry experts playing the role of a corporate management team. Finally, machines are put to the test in three performance events—tractor pulls, a maneuverability course and a durability course. The Pack Pullers won the Overall Champion title as well as first place in the Team Presentation category.
This year, the team named their tractor The Intimidator, a nod to the late NASCAR great Dale Earnhardt. “The Intimidator took 20 years to win the Daytona 500, the biggest race in NASCAR,” says Hyatt. “Our team has been competing consecutively for 20 years, and our Intimidator won after 20 years of trying just like Earnhardt’s.” The club uses the track in the Rand Grandstand for practice runs of their tractor during the year before the competition.
Bartholomew described the win as unbelievable. “You work so hard for a year and to win feels surreal,” he said. “We definitely wouldn’t be in this place without the work of prior years. We had a belt break during the durability contest was a huge points loss for us. When we were announced as over all champion the whole team started freaking out. The win belongs to anyone who has ever been in Pack Pullers – every year builds on the next so a lot of individuals contributed to our winning year. We already have a 3D model of our tractor for next year’s competition and we are hoping to repeat our win.”
Fairgoers can stop by the Antique Farm Machinery Building to see this year’s winning tractor on display. Students will be on hand to answer fairgoers’ questions about the tractor and Pack Pullers. The tractor will also participate in the fair’s opening ceremonies on Friday, Oct. 18, at 11 a.m. at the Tobacco Pavilion and in the Military Parade held on Wednesday, Oct. 23, at 10 a.m.
