Brett Callin, a student in ACC’s Heavy Duty Equipment Technology program, thinks learning how to use those tools by taking mechanical training is something farmers ought to consider. “When you think about it, $5,000 for an education that can save you thousands in the long run is a pretty darn good investment,” Callin says. And he isn’t alone in thinking that way.
Marty Zuzens, an instructor at ACC, says the number of students now taking mechanical training for their own use is growing. “In the last few years we have seen a large increase in students taking our
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program just to improve their mechanical skills and return back home to farm,” Zuzens says. “Where the ratio before was one or two out of 15, now we are seeing three or four.”
Callin also sees other opportunities to make his mechanical expertise pay off. “In the winter time, when things slow down, there is always tinkering around to do,” he says. “And if you have a big enough place to do it in, you can make a little money on the side.”
Rodney Verway, another student in ACC’s technical program, agrees. “(In) the winter months when things slow down, there is no reason servicing the combines or grain trucks and other equipment can’t be done,” Verway says.
The mechanical ability Callin and Verway are picking up by going to college may be more important now than ever. The equipment coming out of farm machinery factories these days is so technically sophisticated, dealers are sometimes getting told they won’t even be allowed to sell the new machines unless they have technicians specifically trained to service them.
Self-propelled, high-clearance sprayers are an example. Some manufacturers have limited sprayer sales to a select group of dealers with the necessary expertise to handle them. The writing on the wall is that for most farmers, this is equipment that you may not want to take a wrench to. In fact, diagnosing the problem may not even be possible without the proprietary computer software some manufacturers only make available to authorized dealers.
Bevans says the farm-machinery repair sector is
currently going through what the automotive sector did a few years ago, where smaller, independent repair shops can no longer access the necessary computers and software needed to troubleshoot some systems. “When you get into certain problems you are going to have to call the dealer because of their ability to hook up to a computer,” Bevans says.
Despite that, he says, the demand for independent mechanics doesn’t seem to have waned. Their ability to work at considerably less than dealers’ shop rates may be the reason. Dealership service rates are now hovering around the $100-per-hour range in many regions. An independent mechanic can often work much cheaper, particularly if they can do the job inside a farmer’s own workshop.
“They’re becoming more popular with the guys that don’t have full-time staff,” says Bevans. “Some
