How to Find a Good Tractor Mechanic
Got a viewer e-mail about a subject that keeps your local tractor dealer awake at night. That topic is "How do I find a good tractor mechanic?" The letter asked specifically about what certificates should a mechanic have so you know they're qualified to work on your tractor?
In the car business, the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence is a non-profit entity, not affiliated with any brand, with a rigorous testing program to insure that the person working on your car is qualified. It takes a minimum of two years training and a year of practical experience, or two full years of practical experience to even qualify to take the ASE Certification exam. A lot of folks don't pass the first time, but when they do, they become ASE Certified.
Unfortunately, no such program exists with farm equipment. The only certification comes when technicians attend OEM, or original equipment manufacturer's factory training, which is required so your dealer maintains the ability to do warranty work. That's usually an update on how to service all of the new equipment offered by that brand, and lacks any basic mechanical training. It is assumed that a dealer's technicians who attend these factory service training schools have the basic knowledge of farm equipment.
So, there's no outside entity that certifies farm equipment mechanics...and they're increasingly hard to find for multiple reasons. First, the number of farms continues to drop and therefore, the number of kids coming off the farm who understand farm equipment is declining. Without farm experience, the learning curve a tractor mechanic is pretty steep.
Secondly, a tractor mechanic is usually asked to work on a variety of equipment, in a sometimes harsh environment. An auto mechanic will work on a fairly narrow range of cars, and they'll mostly be newer. An equipment technician will have to work on tractors, and possibly harvesting equipment, industrial equipment, recreational vehicles and lawn and garden. You have to know more, and be more adaptable, to navigate through being a farm equipment technician, but that makes you more marketable.
Third, the equipment business is extremely seasonal. You may be nearly idle in the winter, but in the machine-use season, you may be working all of the time. Some people like the fast-paced environment in the warm weather, some don't. If you want time off from work in deer season, it works great.
Finally, being an equipment mechanic has generally not paid as well as automotive, industrial, or truck technicians, but that's changing. If the employer pays overtime in the busy season, and a tech is willing to work a lot of hours, there's very good income awaiting a tractor mechanic.
In the end, your local dealer's biggest challenge, is finding qualified technicians (and parts people) to staff the dealership. If you know qualified candidates, you'd be doing them, and yourself, a favor if you directed them in to fill out an application.
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