A Properly Maintained Engine Should Go 6,400 Hours Of Operation Before Needing An Overhaul. Yet The Average Tractor Engine On A Canadian Farm Lasts Less Than 4,000
Today’s farm machines are big and they’re getting bigger, and that means the farm shop has to keep pace. But how big is big enough? When I put that question to the instructors at Assiniboine Community College’s School of Trades and Technology (ACC) in Brandon, Man., the general consensus was that 5,000 square feet would be ideal. At a minimum, it needs to be 3,750 square feet. And those walls should be 18 feet high, although 20 would be better.
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Why so big? In a word, combines. These maintenance hogs are becoming giants, and you still need room to work around them once they’re inside. A four-wheel drive tractor with duals eats up a lot of space too, and don’t forget, the shop also has to include room for workbenches and large tools like a hydraulic press and welder, among others. Plus you needs shelves and cupboards, and someplace to store oil and parts… well, the list goes on and on.
According to Trevor Hicks, a partner at Goodon Industries, a Manitoba-based farm-building contractor, producers are recognizing this need for more space in their workshops. His company now frequently gets orders for farm shops of 3,600 square feet and larger.
A bare-walls building of that size will cost about $120,000, Hicks says, working out to just over $33 per square foot. Then you need to stock it with tools, and you need heat it and pay for the electricity.
All things considered, a lump of cash that size can buy quite a bit of work at a professional service department. For small producers, it might cover most or all the repair work they will ever need, including having a dealer send out a mobile repair truck for in-field breakdowns.
While a shop filled with tools amounts to some serious on-farm investment, Michael Bevans, a project manager at the Alberta Ag Tech Centre, believes calculating the farm shop cost into the equation may not be fair.
“It’s tough to assume the cost of the shop,” Bevans says. “Most farms are already going to have one.” Although it may not be 5,000 square feet, making use of whatever buildings exist is just being sensible. And the shop can also be used for off-season machinery storage.
But, Bevans says, the cost of equipping a shop with many of the tools necessary to work on modern equipment is a factor that’s worth thinking about. Even if you spring for that investment — which can run well into the thousands — you still need to know how to use them.
