ESAB donates $511,000 in equipment to agricultural mechanics student contest

Tucker Soules (with his instructor Kevin Osborn) was named Grand Champion of Show for the Agriculture Mechanics competition at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.

Through its Future Fabricators program, ESAB has donated welding and cutting equipment with a retail value of $511,000 as part of the prize packages for winners of the Agriculture Mechanics competition at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, sponsored by Shell, held at the NRG Center in Houston. More than 500 projects, including trailers, truck beds, gates, hay haulers, log splitters, and tractors, were submitted by 1,500 high school FFA and 4-H students from more than 250 Texas school districts.

Tucker Soules of the Hallsville, Texas, FFA chapter was named Grand Champion of Show for fabricating a hydraulic arm truck bed that is made for moving two round bales of hay at time. The prize package included an ESAB Ruffian ES 150G EDW engine-driven welding generator, an ESAB Rebel multiprocess welding machine, Victor oxyfuel equipment, a plasma cutter, TIG and MIG welding machines, and welding helmets.

“The support that I’m receiving here now is going to help me grow. I plan to make a business one day as far as building beds and custom fabrication,” said Soules, a 17-year-old-junior who invested about 425 hours to build the bed himself. He will put it on his 2016 F250 truck for delivering hay as part of the family’s cow/calf and hay operation.

The Agricultural Mechanics team from West Hardin, Texas, was named Reserve Champion of Show for its 40-ft.-long deck over trailer for hauling school buses that break down and metal for the Agricultural Mechanics program. The school won a prize package that featured an ESAB Warrior 400i MV CC/CV heavy industrial multiprocess welding machine, MIG and TIG welding machines, and oxyfuel cutting equipment.

“We’re teaching life lessons that go way beyond a welding curriculum so we can make sure students can obtain a job in industry and climb that corporate ladder to become project managers, engineers, and more,” said West Hardin Adviser James Merrifield.

“The way that the industry supports the program doesn't just last until the end of the life of the tools they donate. It lasts for the lifetime of these students,” added Curtis Langley, PhD, current superintendent of the Agricultural Mechanics competition, assistant professor at Tarleton State University, and owner of Langley Metal Works. “By supporting these kids at a young age, they can continue to build those skills throughout their young adult life and have the skills and the abilities manufacturers want, not just for technical work, but in sales, engineering, and more.”

ESAB was a large donor in the prize packages which comprised more than $1 million from multiple welding and fabrication companies.