Small engines donated to SSHS Agri Department

The Siloam Springs High School agriculture department recently received several donations that will help the school continue to teach the latest information on small engine repair.

The class, which serves about 60 to 90 students each year, teaches skills that can be developed into a career or used to save money by doing home repairs.

Honda and Sellers Trading Post of Siloam Springs recently donated 36 small four-cycle gas Honda engines so the school can keep teaching students the latest in small engine repair. The donation also includes use of computer manuals and illustrated parts catalogues on the company's website.

The engines are the types that are used for either a push mower or a power washer, according to Mike Sellers, owner of Sellers Trading Post.

"It really helped us out," said teacher Rodney Ellis. "We try to recycle engines every five years to stay current with what's going on."

The agriculture department also received a donation from MTD Products of 30 weed trimmers with two-cycle engines for students to work on and a donation of 15 to 20 weed trimmers from Lowes, with both two- and four-cycle engines.

Working on a larger variety of engines is a big advantage, according to Ellis, who teaches the class during the spring semester. Gene Collins teaches the class during the fall semester. In the past students have worked on Briggs and Stratton engines, but the donation will give them a wider variety of engines to learn about, Ellis said.

During the class, students start out by learning the basics of how four-cycle and two-cycle engines work, as well as the names of parts and tools. They then work toward learning to overhaul and troubleshoot both kinds of small engines.

The class helps students develop troubleshooting skills, learn to interpret manuals and apply that knowledge to any type of small power equipment, Ellis said.

"When they go to work they can apply that (troubleshooting skills and the ability to read a repair manual) to a lot of different areas," Ellis said.

They can build on what they learn in the class to become a small engine repair technician or use the foundation to learn how to repair larger engines, he said.

There are many possible other career fields for students with mechanical aptitude, such as parts sales, technical writing or working as a field representative for companies, Ellis said. Sometimes students interested in science and engineering also take the class, he said.

If students don't go into a mechanical career field they can still use what they've learned to do repairs at home, Ellis said.

"We try to keep it fun," he said.