Fredericksburg welders placed well at the ag mechanic’s show held in San Angelo on February 3-5. Kaiden Itz finished first with his 32’ tri-axle cattle trailer while Dalton Keener and Tucker Klein placed third with their 26’ lowboy gooseneck trailer. Over 1400 students participated in the event. 

Several months of preparation and building went into welding the trailers.

“We had a total of 300 hours between the both of us,” Keener said. “The work was divided pretty evenly between the two of us.”

There were lots of moving parts involved in their projects. The trailers included wiring as well as making their projects presentable in front of the judges at the show.

“The D- tread was definitely the hardest part,” Klein said. “It took forever to figure out how to cut and line them up, and you still had to weld it on.” 

“The hardest part for me was probably the neck of the trailer,” Itz said. “You have to get the neck perfectly square or your trailer will run crooked down the road.”

There was also a lot of preparation and planning needed before the actual welding took place. 

“Since I was by myself, I had to plan the whole trailer out well in advance,” Itz said. “Even before last year’s ag mechanics shows ended, I started ordering metal and getting my equipment together since I knew it would be a challenge being by myself.”

The projects that teammates Klein and Keener, and Itz worked on weren’t just for the show, but were made to be used after.

“We built it for my family,” Keener said. “My family needed a new flatbed so that’s what we decide to make and present.” 

In the end, the first and third place medals were received by the trio, and they were pleased with their results. 

“It felt pretty good,” Keener said. “I was hoping for a second or first place medal, but at a major ag mechanics shows it was definitely a blessing.”

“I was really surprised,” Itz said. “I never thought that I would’ve gotten that far, and the feeling felt good.”