Depends on the farm. In NA, if you’re running a farm > 5000ac, you’re probably making enough money and are busy enough managing the finances and schedules to get new equipment often enough that you don’t have to fix much, or you can afford a mechanic. Things still need to be greased, and I’d challenge most of the desk jockeys here to slide under a seeder and grease and inspect 80-100 shanks every morning for 3 weeks and not complain about it. That’s the job of the guy behind the wheel, usually, because they’re the one to fix it in the field if it wasn’t installed right. And while you’re out there, shit breaks. You can shut everything down and wait for a mechanic, or you can get your ass under there and unplug the opener or replace the boots/hose.
Small farms, which today is a farm under 5k and is by far the larger amount of farms, you get to do all that yourself, and your equipment might be 30 or 40 years old, so you’re fixing it a lot. You still have to be able to lift a 100lb part into your machine or implement rather than fuck around going to get another tractor to lift it in, or it just isn’t going to fit where you need to lift. So you better have some upper body strength or some young prick to do it for you.
Yah, when everything is working and the GPS is engaged, all you have to do is watch for things wrong and eat the lunch you packed yourself to last all day in the first hour.
Depends on the farm. In NA, if you’re running a farm > 5000ac, you’re probably making enough money and are busy enough managing the finances and schedules to get new equipment often enough that you don’t have to fix much, or you can afford a mechanic. Things still need to be greased, and I’d challenge most of the desk jockeys here to slide under a seeder and grease and inspect 80-100 shanks every morning for 3 weeks and not complain about it. That’s the job of the guy behind the wheel, usually, because they’re the one to fix it in the field if it wasn’t installed right. And while you’re out there, shit breaks. You can shut everything down and wait for a mechanic, or you can get your ass under there and unplug the opener or replace the boots/hose.
Small farms, which today is a farm under 5k and is by far the larger amount of farms, you get to do all that yourself, and your equipment might be 30 or 40 years old, so you’re fixing it a lot. You still have to be able to lift a 100lb part into your machine or implement rather than fuck around going to get another tractor to lift it in, or it just isn’t going to fit where you need to lift. So you better have some upper body strength or some young prick to do it for you.
Yah, when everything is working and the GPS is engaged, all you have to do is watch for things wrong and eat the lunch you packed yourself to last all day in the first hour.