4-H Participant Restores a Bobcat 440B Skid-Steer Loader

Have you ever met an eighth-grade mechanic? Well say hello to Josie Kelly, an enthusiastic 4-H participant with a knack for crafts and equipment repairs. 

4-H is a nationally recognized program that provides children across the country an opportunity to participate in character- and skill-building projects. 

“I’ve been in 4-H since I was in second grade, and I’d always done crafty sort of projects,” Josie says. “So I decided to try my first mechanics project by renovating a wagon.” 

Josie and her father, Andy, found the wagon for their project at a scrapyard. The piece was an old Litchfield manure spreader that only had its wheels and a few hinges left. 

“It was really a unique piece that she brought back from nothing,” Andy says. “When it was all finished, it really popped. We put it in a local rodeo, we put it in parades — it was everywhere.” 

But when it came time for the judges to decide which 4-H projects would move on to State, Josie’s project wasn’t chosen. 

“I don’t think it was as obvious how involved the project was,” Andy says. “So for the next year, we figured we better do something major. We wanted to really showcase what Josie could do.”