Chevron Delo Tractor Restoration Competition

As you start looking for a vintage or any kind of pre-owned tractor for your farm, there are a couple of factors you'll want to take into account. First of all, try not to get caught up by nostalgia. Acquiring and rebuilding an antique tractor can be a marvelous gratifying hobby. Nonetheless it also can become an expensive one.

Since 1995 Chevron has been working with and rewarding the mechanical skill, business savvy and determination of high school FFA members through its Delo® Tractor Restoration Competition. FFA members participating in the competition learn a variety of life skills while restoring antique tractors. This is ideal training for our future community and business leaders.

Participants are required to keep a project notebook detailing the complete process of restoration. Required contents include details of mechanical overhauls of engines, transmissions and auxiliary and ancillary systems, as well as the external appearance of the tractors.

In 2008 an additional requirement of a video submission was added to the program. This is a short video to complement the workbook.

Entries are narrowed down to a small group of finalists by a panel of judges. The finalists in both the individual and chapter categories are then invited to the National FFA Convention where their projects are reviewed buy a panel of 5 tractor restoration specialists.

Projects are scored on the restoration process, results, documentation, safety precautions and the oral presentation to the judges.

The winners are announced at an awards luncheon held on the last day of the competition. The prizes in each category (Individual and Chapter) are as follows:
Grand Prize $2500
First Runner Up $1500
Second Runner Up $1000

Answers to frequently asked questions about the competition are:

You must be a High School age FFA student. The competition is closed to all others.

You can compete in either the Individual or Chapter (2 or more individuals) categories.

Parents, teachers and advisors are encouraged to help from an advisory standpoint but it is the students who are to do the work.

Chevron does not supply any tractors. Drive around your area or attend an auction to search for a good project tractor.

Age of the tractor is not important but it must have been a working tractor which used lubricants.

Be ready for an oral presentation if you are a finalist.

More information on obtaining sponsors, downloading required forms and official rules can be found at Chevron Delo Tractor Restoration Competition.

A video of the Decatur, TX gals that won the 1997 Chapter Championship can be found at 2007 Delo Champions video

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Before you start searching for your tractor, make certain you understand what you genuinely would like. This might appear overly simple, but it is easy to get side tracked and acquire something which you did not start out to find. Only after you are able to make an itemized list of the requirements should you start the hunt. Don't forget to add your technical and performance needs in your list. If you do not know exactly what you're looking for, how are you going to decide how and where to search?

If you are sincerely searching for a vintage tractor, be careful and not allow enthusiasm run away with you. If you do, you could well be in trouble before you start your project. Restoring an antique tractor or other old farm implement is rewarding. Nevertheless it isn't an overnight project plus it can become pricey very fast. Components for many aged tractors are obtainable but some are hard to locate and may be on the spendy side. Original tires may be impossible to find and replica tires may cost more than the tractor. You may well discover that rather than purchasing a project tractor, it would be just as fulfilling to purchase one which somebody else has already put all of the time, effort and expense into. Odds are good that you could acquire it for less money than the owner put into it, to say nothing of all of his labor.

Test any tractor prior to deciding to acquire it. Is it simple to get started and seem, sound and feel right? Are the tires in good shape? Is there any kind of hydraulic leakage obvious? Do you observe any missing pieces or equipment? Make sure and give equally close an examination to any attachments. Last but not least, be sure that an antique tractor truly fits the needs of the task you desire it for. It is difficult to go wrong with an antique tractor like a John Deere if you shop cautiously.