WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - Some Purdue students pulled their weight around this past weekend at an ASABE International Quarter Scale Tractor Student Design Competition.

The Boilermakers had a 3rd place finish in the pulling competition in Peoria, Illinois.  Their 1,500 lb. tractor pulled more than 2,000 lbs.

A team of eight students also gave presentations on the safety, ergonomics, costs and design of their tractor.

It's the culmination of a year-long project.

Tractor team member Jonathan Welte said it's a great chance to apply classroom education to real life scenarios and set them apart from other graduates.

"It was a great payoff for all the hard work that we put in," Welte said.  "A great overall experience.  Hopefully, it will give us a perspective of what a job will be like whenever we get done here."

Technical advisor Michael Holland said there were a lot of late nights involved.

"Really what you'll find is that there's a lot of good engineers that are developed and one or two leaders that really get developed and we got to see it this year," Holland said.

The Boilers competed against about two dozen other teams.