Huntington FFA competes fiercely in the annual Angelina County Fair and among those competing are four young men who have built a trailer for competition in the agricultural mechanics (‘Ag Mech’) division.
Logan Moore, Tyson Frazier, Caleb Johnson, and Kaisen Skilling have each put over 450 hours into the construction of a specialized welding trailer. This trailer is unique in that it will be used for years in competitive “build-offs” that high school students can compete in.
When asked what they hoped to gain from the build, both Caleb and Tyson said, “Experience. Experience and skills in welding and metal fabrication.” Kaisen added, “And I hope this leads me to a future career working on a pipeline.” Logan said “You took the words right out of my mouth. I will be graduating and want to start making a living doing just that. I’m gaining employable skills doing this work.”
Logan continued, “The best part of this construction has been learning how to properly build a solid trailer, a quality trailer.”
The Ag Mech Division is broken into five parts: agricultural machinery and equipment; livestock & poultry equipment; tractor restoration; home & recreational use; and the one these gentlemen will be competing, the trailer division.
In addition to the safety components and documentation, the Ag Mech entries will be judged on aesthetics, authenticity, mechanics, safety components, documentation of the build (both expenses and photos), and lastly an oral exam.
Caleb and Kaisen agreed that learning work together and control frustrations has been a challenging part of the build. Tyson added, “We’ve certainly had to overcome some challenges. Keeping it perfectly square has taken some work. We had to go over some welds and improve them also!” Logan says, “We had to go back to get it right. When a fender didn’t fit, that took some re-doing.”
Caleb stated, “I learned a whole lot working on the hydraulics.” They all agreed that was a new and involved part of the construction. Tyson says, “There was a lot more involved in the sequence of the valves and the inclusion of a needle valve than I knew existed.”
The trailer has already seen competition at the San Antonio Stock Show where it earned a blue ribbon. A blue ribbon is recognition of the highest quality work that did not make it to a final top placing. They received a great deal of praise for their work and they have continued to improve upon it. This coming week, they will compete with it at the Houston Stock Show.
Their entry is a 14-foot-long welding trailer with two 3,500 lb. axles. It holds two gas-powered welders, six adjustable jack stands, lots of space in two tool boxes, acetylene bottles, and a hydraulically lifted oxygen bottle storage box. When completely rigged out, the students said it weighed close to 5,000 lbs. It’s been nicknamed, “Klose Enuff.”
The best part? Logan said, “The best part is seeing all the hard work come together into something that we can be proud of.” Kaisen, the youngest and only sophomore on the team, stated the best part for him was, “Seeing my first project in an ag-class come together.”
The rest of the team, Logan, Tyson, and Caleb, are all seniors looking forward to graduation later this spring. Caleb Johnson will be attending Texas State Technical College in Waco next year to study instrumentation technology. Tyson Frazier is planning to start work in Beaumont soon as an electrician. Logan Moore is looking to work on the pipeline soon after graduating. He said he knows he’ll have to be a “helper” first but wants to become a welder on the pipeline in time.
Colby Crawford is the Huntington High Ag Science teacher who has taught this team and has supervised their construction. Mr. Crawford said, “They have worked hard on this trailer. It is really a niche trailer project for competition and it will help with future builds at the school.” He went on, “I hope they have learned a lot. I’m proud of them and what they have accomplished.”
On Monday, March 18 from 1 to 4 pm the Ag Mech entries will move in to place at the Angelina County Fair. The judges will evaluate the entries on Tuesday. Often a crowd favorite, the public will be able to view the entries on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
