INDIANAPOLIS – A teenager has gone from steering a farm tractor in the lap of his grandfather to being one of the top finishers in a tractor skills competition during the recent Indiana State Fair.

Nick Curtis, a 10-year 4-H member from Montgomery County, is now in North Dakota learning how to repair diesel engines on farm and other heavy machinery. 

After graduating in May from Southport High School, Curtis enrolled in Caterpillar Machinery’s ThinkBig program.

The two-year program will require the 18-year-old Curtis to work three years for Caterpillar as a diesel technician after graduating from the school in exchange for his discounted tuition.

“I’ve always been interested in cars so why not just make a career out of it,” he said.

Curtis did not grow up on a farm but often visited his grandfather’s small farm in nearby Fountain County, between Terre Haute and Lafayette.

He recalled his grandfather, Jim Curtis, allowing him to sit in his lap for the first time and steer his antique Farmall tractor before his legs were long enough for his feet to reach the pedals.

Curtis said he also learned how to work on tractors from watching and listening to his grandfather, father and whoever else was helping to repair the two antique Farmall tractors and an old Allis Chalmers tractor on the property.

Eventually, Curtis was able to help with the repairs. “We’d work on them a little bit, drive them a little bit and get them out of the barn,” he said.

His grandfather passed away last year but that hasn’t stopped the family from paying visits to the farm, which once had cattle and row crops.

Curtis finished in sixth place in the tractor skills competition at the state fair last month.

The scoring was based on a quiz about safety and maintenance, identifying tractor parts shown on pictures and executing maneuvers in a tractor while timed. Curtis said he did not strike or graze any of the posts set up on the course with a John Deere tractor pulling a four-wheel trailer.

The maneuvers on the marked course included pulling forward and backing up at a 90-degree angle between posts.

The contestants had to win the tractor skills competition at their respective county fairs then be among the top finishers in regional competitions to advance to the state fair.

Curtis said he’s won first place at the local level many times since he began competing in middle school and advanced to the state fair in the competition last year when he finished 11th.

He didn’t think he would qualify again for the state fair after finishing in fourth place in the regionals but he made it when the third place finisher was not able to make it to the competition.

He said operating a tractor at the state fair competition is different yet similar as on a farm or anywhere else depending on how the pressure is handled.

“You’re wondering if you’re going to mess up or not, but if you stay calm and do what you’ve always done, you’ll get through the course easily,” he said.

The biggest adjustment for him in the competition was driving a newer model tractor compared to the ones on his grandfather’s farm, which he believes were built in the 1950s.

“It’s a big change for what type of tractor it is. It’s a lot different,” he said.

Curtis credited his experience at driving a tractor for managing to do well in the competition anyhow.

“I’ve done it a lot of times to where it’s kind of muscle memory at this point,” he said.