"Best of Show"

[Peter Person]

Aron and his partner took "Best of Show" honors for their 4H project this year. This was their 1st year in the club called 4H Piston Pushers. They had a great time (so did I) and learned a lot (so did I). Aron already has his project picked out for this coming year, restoring a 1971 IH Cadet 60 rear engine mower.

Here's Aron,



Peter

[Bigdog]

Congrats to Aron!

[Kodiak]

Way to go Aron

[Bob McCarty]

Peter, has he asked for his own Cub yet?

Bob

[Lurker Carl]

Hey Peter,

Give us a brief synopsis of the project, please. Inquiring minds want to know!

Carl

[Peter Person]

Carl,
All new members of the club are teamed up with another new member. They are instructed to go to the 'bone yard' and get an engine. The club advisor is an agricultural/construction equipment mechanic and is given dozens of dead/non-working small engine powered equipment. Lawn mowers, snow blowers, weed wackers, lawn & garden tractors, etc.
Working with a knowledgeable parent or asst. advisor, the kids are required to take the engine completely apart, identifying each part and it's function as they go along. They meet on the 2nd & 4th Tuesday of the month for 2 hours. Each member is required to maintain a small notebook that they are to write in what they accomplish each meeting. The club advisor reviews these each meeting night and signs off on the entry. As the kid's progress they determine whether they can get their engine running again. In the case of Aron & Jared's engine, a 3.5hp B & S, they decided to clean all the parts and reassemble it since nothing major appeared wrong with it. Once they got it together the moment of truth arrived. They primed the carburetor and on the 3rd pull it fired up. Knowing that it ran they decided to repaint some of the exposed areas. After reassembly they identified 12 primary components, put stickers on those with a number key, and put together a chart showing what those components are. In deciding to enter the engine into the 4H Fair they then had to prepare their "Record Books", something all 4H'rs need to do to enter a project, whether it be a chicken, horse, sheep, cooking, craft, etc. The small notebook that the kid's keep is used to recall all that they did so they can put together a narrative for the "Record Book". They also have a couple of pages of questions about their 4H experience to answer. This "Record Book" holds all of their projects for their entire 4H experience and is something that can be used for college entrance applications. On Friday, Aron & Jared had to be present when the judge went over their project with them, asking various questions to see how knowledgeable they were about their project. So with the actual hands-on work, note taking, written report, and verbal interaction with the judge, the kids get a well rounded experience.
Hope this helps.
Peter

[Jeff Silvey]

Great Job
You never to old to learn.
Jeff

[Don McCombs]

Congratulations, Aron. Great job.

[Denny Clayton]

Congrats, Aron

[magnumpi]

Nice job, Aron......and a special "shout out" for having the patience to allow your Dad to come along for the ride. Craig

[Lurker Carl]

Congratulations, Aron! Best of luck with next year's project, I'm sure y'all will have great success with it as well.

Thanks, Peter, for the excellent overview.

[spiveyman]

Very cool!!!!! COngradulations! That's a very neat program

[trac48]

Peter,
Like father like son, very cool

[Trent M]

Way to go Aron!! I wish I had done something like that when I was younger! Maybe I wouldn't be so mechanically inept now!!

[ScottyD'sdad]

Aron, Nice job. Is that the engine you bought at Zagray? Ed