By Garrett Stack

The Herald Bulletin

ALEXANDRIA — All of the competitions at the Madison County 4-H Fair take weeks, months, or even years of preparation, but one contest is a little more unique than the rest.

Although preparation can be helpful, the tractor driving contest also requires a steady hand and nerves of steel to compete with the best.

The youths took turns navigating a driver’s ed-esque obstacle course Thursday, but instead of sitting in a car with an instructor in the passenger seat, these kids were driving a tractor or a lawn mower through hairpin turns, around figure 8s, and in reverse between obstacles.

“I hit almost every pole,” said Michael Maxey. “If the point of the game was to hit all of the poles, I probably would have won.”

Maxey, a 10-year-old who was competing in the tractor competition for the first time, was in the junior lawn portion of the event. There was also a a senior lawn portion, as well as a junior and senior tractor event. Contestants must choose to compete with either the lawn mower or the tractor; they cannot do both.

“I think this is one of the harder portions of 4-H,” said Leah Maxey, Michael’s mother. “Because it’s a test on top of the obstacle course, which is difficult.”

The kids in the competition are scored based on several categories besides their actual driving skills.

“There is a 25-question written test, a parts identification test, and a driving test which is tractor safety, plus the obstacles, and it’s also timed,” said Wes Likens, one of the leaders of the 4-H tractor club. “So it’s a little bit like golf, because you add all the points up for missing questions or hitting an obstacle, and the lowest score wins.”

Competitors are deducted points from the driving portion if they do not follow proper safety measures, and all competitors have to know the basics of their machine’s engine.

“They learn safety, like checking the safety points when getting on and off the tractor,” Likens said. “The tractor club has meetings in February and March where we go over safety stuff and engine basics. I mean, they’re not going to be able to repair a lawn mower, but it’s nice to know.”

Likens’ son, Adam, was the junior champion in the tractor portion of the competition two years in a row. He will compete in the district final on Thursday.

“I got second in the district championship last year, and went on to get eighth at the State Fair,” he said. Adam practices for the tractor portion at home at his farm, but he says it is not a requirement to practice.

For some competitors like Michael Maxey, it’s more about the fun of the competition than winning.