Thursday, September 22, 2016

Remodeling Cont........

This remodel process has been a long one. We are making progress and on November 2nd we would like you to come and see what we have done. We are using the west shop, the old computer lab, the new computer lab and we have started to use Room 108. We are starting to empty the trailers and move things back into the building but there is still much work to be done. I am working diligently to overcome being a pack rat and its not easy.








Class of 2018

We are off and running on the new class for this year. We have studied the Metric System, tools, micrometers, safety, acronyms and fasteners. I believe they enjoyed the acronyms the most. We are using the west side of the shop while the remodel continues. Here are some pics.

 
 






 

Wednesday, August 17, 2016

Summer Remodel

Its been a long summer but we have a new lobby, office, computer lab and new paint and most of all we have water in the building. Construction is still going on in the east side of the building but we will be ready to go by August 22nd. Look for a Grand Opening on November 2nd. Here are some pictures.

This is the new computer lab.

Remodeled lobby with a door big enough to roll in the 12.5L engine.

New and newly repainted racks in position in the west lab.

This is the old computer lab and now a classroom.

This is the engine store room with new sewer lift pumps.
This is the first time I have seen it empty.

This is the new entry. I wanted to see the 12.5L through the window
but that didn't work out very well.

Wednesday, June 8, 2016

Graduation 2016


After two years of preparation thirty students have made it to graduation day. We wish you well in your endeavors. It has been a fun ride.


Thursday, April 14, 2016

Engine Class!!

Well we had another successful engine class this year. We had 15 engines stripped down to the block and they all went back together and ran. There were some electrical challenges and some mechanical challenges but we survived. We were happy to get RPM out of the 9.0L Tier 3 engines and we have to thank Clark for the dedication of a few weeks of spare time for that.. We took a couple scrap engines and made a running project out of them. This whole process took place while we were moving out of half the building to make room for the remodel project. I appreciate all the extra help and I hope you had fun. I did!

This picture shows what the shop looked like one month before the end of class and they all ran.

 
Here are some construction pictures.
 



 

 

Dalton and Jake 8.1L HPCR

This engine had a couple rods with a little issue that got Jake and Dalton into a bit of a scramble at the end of the class. It also had a couple injectors that were not functioning. After a couple rounds they won the battle and it ran good.




 
 
John Deere Tech
 

Matt and Caleb 6.8L

Matt and Caleb's engine had a Bosch electronically controlled pump and we didn't have a controller to make it run. We had a tired 6.8L excavator engine with a mechanical Denso inline "A" pump so we took the fuel system from the excavator engine and a few other pieces to make it run. The process had a few challenges but now it sounds good.


 

 
 
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Derek and Collin 6.8L Tier 3 HPCR

Derek and Collin had the 68.L HPCR Tier 3 engine. It started and ran on 5 of the 6 cylinders so they had an opportunity for some diagnosis. They found an injector issue and got it running on all 6.


 

 
 
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Lucas and Zach 8.1L HPCR

Lucas and Zach had an 8.1L HPCR engine. They had a little electrical problems and a slight noise to work through but they got it running.


 

 


 
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Trenton and Gabe 12.5L

Trenton and Gabe got to work on this big silver show engine. I sure looked nice on the outside but on the inside it had scored pistons and some bad injectors. They had to swap a few parts from a donor engine but they got it running.


 
 
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Bryce and Brandon 6.8L Tier 3

Bryce and Brandon had a 6.8L HPCR Tier 3 engine. After a few electrical struggles they got it to fire up.

 

 
 
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Sunday, April 10, 2016

Ben and Josh 7.6L

This engine has run for at least the last 18 years and it lives again.








 
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Trenton and Chase 7.6L

Here is the famous 666 engine up and running again this year.





 
 
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Alex and Luke 9.0L

This is the third 9.0L Tier 3 engine to run this year




 
 
 
 
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Danielle and Ryan 12.5L

This beast ran again this year. We are still working on RPM and I will update when it happens.


 
 
 
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Kyle and Chris 9.0L

After enduring a day of electrical problems set up as a challenge by a classmate the 9.0L fired up and ran up to full RPM. This is the second year this engine has run.





 

 
 
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Israel and Sawyer 8.1L HPCR

Israel and Sawyer had the second 8.1L HPCR to run this year.






 
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Cody and Zach 8.1L

Cody and Zach had the 8.1L with an inline pump and a controller.






 
 
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Matt and Mike 8.1L

Mike and Matt had the first 8.1L HPCR to run this year. We had a little fuel leak into the combustion chamber so I got a little dirty on the first start but that's ok it's not the first time.


 


 
 
 
 
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Clark and Ryan 9.0L

This is the 4th year we have had the Tier 3  9L running and this year it has RPM. It requires a few controllers to communicate and tell the ECU it should go fast. Clark started the wiring harness that connects 3 controllers to the ECU from scratch a couple months ago. He had some help from a few friends and it now responds to the hand throttle. Good Job!


 
 

 

After it ran at high idle for a little it threw out some deposits from a few years ago and we captured a picture of it. You have to look close in the pictures to see the red sparks.
 

 
 
John Deere Tech


Tuesday, March 15, 2016

State PSA AMSTA Contest

On February 18th we participated in the state Post Secondary Ag Student (PAS) Ag Machinery Service Technician Award (AMSTA) contest at Hawkeye Community College in Waterloo.
Here are pictures from the contest. We won 1st, 4th, 5th and 6th place teams. We also had 7 of the top 10 individuals. Looking good now off to national competition.










John Deere Tech