The Prairie Central FFA chapter was at this year’s Midwest Equipment Dealers AG EXPO Jan. 27-29 in Illinois. The chapter was selling raffle tickets for its recently restored 1956 Farmall 300 tractor.

The 300 was restored in Darren Ropp’s Senior Ag Mechanics class; he is the head instructor for the school’s ag department.
Prairie Central High School, located in Fairbury, Ill., has an active department that offers an array of classes for students seeking an agricultural education.

The mission statement for this department is right on the mark:
“The well-being of our society and the economy of the United States require a productive and efficient agriculture community.
“The increasing scientific and technological nature of the total agriculture complex, the continuing and expanding demand for food and fiber and the mounting pressure on the renewable natural resources dictate the need for specifically educated and highly skilled entrepreneurs and employees,” the statement concludes.
Besides serving as the head of the ag department, Darren is also the FFA advisor along with ag teacher Kylie Miller. He is also getting to be an old hand at tractor restoration. “We have been doing this for 17 years,” he shared.

This year’s raffle tractor was an International Harvester. “The Farmall 300 was donated by a local farmer and FFA alumnus, Mark Maurer. We get one tractor donated by a local every year,” he added.

This effort began when Darren started working in the department – he came up with the idea as a hands-on activity. “The school had a Ford tractor then; we painted it, and then raffled it off, and the idea caught on.”

Mark Maurer’s father had bought the Farmall 300 new and when Mark took over, he acquired the 300. When he donated it to the FFA, it had been sitting in a shed and needed a bit of TLC.
“We completely rebuilt the engine. We put in new sleeves, pistons and rings and rebuilt the head,” Darren said. “Then we went through and fixed seals and bearings and cleaned out the rear end. This was all done in the Senior Ag Mechanics class.”
“We can’t do the painting in class,” Darren added – so, while the students did the prep for painting, local farmer Ben Meister, who paints tractors during the winter, did it, along with Darren.

“Ben came in and primed the metal and put the body putty on, then brought the tractor back for the kids to prep and then sand. Then the tractor went back to Ben to be painted,” Darren said.
The tractor raffle will end with the winning name being drawn March 18 at the Prairie Central FFA annual hog roast and auction. At the auction, if they are able to complete it in time, there will also be a Case DC available. Funds from the raffle and auction go to pay FFA expenses.

While the fundraising effort is great, it is the lessons the students learn along the way that Darren said is the important part of this activity. “The biggest lesson they learn is persistence and perseverance,” he explained.

When the students see the rusty tractor at the beginning of the class, it is hard to picture the journey they will take that ends up with it fully restored. The mechanical lessons they learn are priceless as they learn to tear down and put back together – and Darren added, keep track of the small parts!

The DC Case they are working on right now has presented its own set of challenges and has made reaching their completion date difficult. Another tractor opportunity they are involved with is restoration of famed broadcaster Max Armstrong’s Farmall 560.
“It is split in half right now,” Darren said.

Besides being at the auction, the group was also part of the FFA Farm & Home Show Feb. 13 in Forrest, Ill., at the Upper Elementary School. For questions about the upcoming event, or the Farmall 300, contact Darren at 217-692-2355.

Readers with questions or comments for Cindy Ladage may write to her in care of this publication.