Keep in mind that tractors are also getting massive.

The economics of row-crop agriculture is "you gotta farm more land". That means spending as much time in the field as you can with as big a machine as you can.

So not only is time you spend fixing your tractor yourself time you're not spending on your primary job, it's also working on a machine that's just monstrously huge. Delegating that work to a specialist with specialized tools is a very reasonable way to live.

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vablings 9 hours ago | parent | next [-]

The issue is that the specialized employees is not someone you hire on payroll who has access to tools you purchase. They must be a John Deere employee who comes from out of state and costs you $$$$$$ to calibrate a sensor that could just be a simple menu button and a 20 second wait

	▲	greedo 7 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		JD techs are all over the Midwest. No one is coming from out of state to work on your combine.
	▲	saalweachter 9 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		I mean, sure, right to repair and all that, but to be clear, unless you have like 50+ tractors to maintain, it's not going to make economic sense to have a full time employee to repair them. You still want to call out, you just want the option of calling someone local with more competitive rates and a faster response time.

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greedo 9 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Exactly! The old image of a guy on a Deere 4020 pulling an eight row implement is just unsustainable in today's agricultural system. Whether that system is sustainable is a different question.

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saalweachter 9 hours ago | parent [-]

Incidentally, the 4020 is like the tractor to me.

One of these days I'm going to buy one to restore, the way other men but the cars of their youth.

	▲	greedo 8 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Exactly. A 4020 is fun! It may not have as much torque and ground pressure may not be as good as a quad belt tractor, but for a lil farm where you just want to grow hay or screw around?