a family wanted their tractor restored and a tractor restoring student needed a tractor to restore for the Missouri State Fair but couldn't afford one. It won Grand Champion Restored Tractor at the Missouri State Fair.

When Kendall Borts was asked to restore a 1970 International 826 Gold Demonstrator tractor, gears started turning — and not only on the tractor.

Borts was a student at Jamestown High School and president of his Missouri FFA chapter when a relative approached him and his father about a restoration project. The relative, Chris Schoenthal, was impressed with Borts’ work restoring a 1951 Oliver 77, which won Reserve Grand Champion Restored Tractor at the Missouri State Fair.

But there was also a deeper reason behind his request. Schoenthal, who was in his 40s, had been battling cancer for more than three years when he approached Borts about the 826 tractor, which had been owned by his family since the 1970s.

“The Schoenthal family wanted the tractor restored but didn’t have anyone to perform the restoration,” Borts said. “I wanted to do another tractor restoration for the Missouri State Fair [after the Oliver] but didn’t have the finances to purchase another tractor. So, this was the perfect match.”

https://www.agriculture.com/how-a-student-s-tractor-restoration-honored-a-family-member-s-legacy-11865591