Central students win Grand Champion Tractor at Iowa State Fair

By Willis Patenaude, Times-Register

It was a restoration project that started with a tractor frame, boxes and buckets of parts and a desire to bring new life to old things. It ended with Central students Daniel Royer and Tristan Weigand winning Grand Champion Chapter Tractor at the Iowa State Fair, for the 1938 Farmall F20 they restored together.

The project, originally started by a family friend, had been shelved for several years before the man approached Weigand about possibly restoring the tractor. It was an opportunity Weigand, who  “likes knowing how things work,” jumped at. Soon, Royer was involved. 

Weigand’s love for fixing things began with a lawn mower. Eventually, he found himself restoring a John Deere. For Royer, it was an interest in machines that led to the restoration project. Well, that and the opportunity to work with Weigand, the fact the tractor was a zero cost project for the students and that it gave him the chance to make his first restoration on a worthy relic of history. 

When the two got the parts in February, in the boxes and buckets, Weigand joked his initial response was simply, “some assembly required.” From the start, the pair knew they had to have a goal beyond just restoring the tractor, if only for the need to have a deadline to spur completion, or it could end up back in the shed, just waiting again in the darkness and dust. 

So, they decided the Iowa State Fair would be their destination. It was a decision they claim to have made with no nerves at all. 

“We had faith in our work,” Royer said. 

That faith was tested along the way, as restoring a tractor from 1938 comes with a laundry list of complications, one of which is locating information. Luckily, the two tracked down some manuals, surfed the internet for information and found working tractors to get an idea of how things were put together and meant to function.

It immediately became apparent to Weigand that the project was “going to be a long couple of months.”

“The first time I saw it, I knew it was going to take some time and be a lot of trial and error,” Royer added. 

The work started by replacing the seals and top shaft, and getting the motor in the frame, making the machine look more like a tractor.

One issue the duo encountered was the magneto, something that exists on older tractors prior to batteries being used. The magneto, which supplies electricity for the tractor as long as it was running, was out of time and the older technology made it a difficult fix, requiring the assistance of Derk Radloff, a local farmer and mechanic. 

Then there was the cracked and leaking head, which holds the valves and plugs. This fix required the boys to travel to Sigourney, a six-hour round trip, to look around a shed full of parts. 

However, the biggest challenge came the day before the fair, when Royer and Weigand had to replace the clutch because the pressure plate cracked. That “created a sense of panic,” according to Royer, because they wanted a working, drivable tractor to enter. 

While it is not necessary for the tractor to drive, that was never an option for Royer and Weigand, who were determined to drive it at the fair, especially in the tractor parade. That determination was driven by a “go big or go home” attitude and knowing they had a rare tractor capable of winning. 

As the seven-month-long project—which consumed about 200 hours of their lives, claiming afternoons, weekends, nights and free time—came to an end, the two felt a sense of relief. 

That relief was short-lived, however, as the two finished the tractor the night before it had to be at the fair. It was another late night in the long list of them, and they concluded the restoration around 3 a.m., allowing them to take a two-hour nap before waking up, putting the tractor on a truck and hauling it to the fair grounds.

Royer and Weigand went to the fair with confidence, though. 

“We thought we had a chance of winning because of the rarity of the tractor,” Royer said. 

They entered the competition as the FFA Chapter at Central, which guaranteed a spot at the state fair. Once there, they surveyed the competition, showed the tractor off and talked to the judges for about an hour. It was around 3:30 p.m. when the judges started announcing the winners. 

As the names were called, Royer and Weigand started to realize they had a chance to win it. As each new set of names was called, theirs remained uncalled until the end. They were the final names. 

“We won. We did it,” Royer commented on his initial reaction. 

“It’s all over with,” Weigand said with a smile. 

All that was left to do was pray the clutch held out long enough to finish the tractor parade and collect the trophy, which is currently housed at Central Community School in the trophy case. 

Weigand and Royer also received a picture, their name associated with the trophy, multiple media interviews and recognition on social media. However, as Royer stated, they didn’t do it for the recognition. They did it for the tractor. 

“It’s cool to give life to something,” Weigand said. 

“People that have older tractors around nowadays are mostly shed sitters and not fully restored, or restored awhile ago and are rough or they’re sitting out in the pastures and they’re totally rotten. So, just to have a kind of old, unique tractor restored that we did, it’s just a good feeling,” Royer added. 

As for the future, the young men have two more years available to enter the competition through the FFA chapter, and Weigand has already set his sights on the next restoration: a 1970 John Deere 4020, a project Royer said he’d gladly participate in as they reminisced about the good times and jokes they shared restoring the Farmall. 

Beyond that, the two have a “go with the flow” approach. As Weigand stated, “we will see where time takes us.”