Mechanic Contracts With Farmers To Maintain Their Machinery

Mechanic Contracts With Farmers To Maintain Their Machinery SPECIALTY/SERVICES Specialty/Services 25-4-41 With implement dealers getting farther apart, and good farm mechanics becoming harder to find, the need for preventive maintenance has never been greater. It led mechanic Veryl Reiher, Gillespie, Ill., to set up a full-time business contracting with area farmers to maintain their equipment on a regular basis. Reiher spent 30 years as a mechanic for local Massey and Deere implement dealers, "moonlighting" for 25 of those years. Now he works full time maintaining machinery for several nearby farmers. He works on tractors, trucks, combines, and whatever else needs regular maintenance or repair. Farmers generally haul equipment to Reiher's shop for repairs. However, he travels to farms for routine maintenance. Much of the equipment he maintains is owned by larger farmers and is of older vintage - 1980 or older. He keeps careful records of each machine. "The number one reason farmers want my service is that they hate downtime. They know it's less expensive to do regular maintenance than it is to fix it later," says Reiher. "I charge $40 per hour but may soon raise that to $50 per hour, which is what local implement dealers are charging." Reiher works on a lot of "orphaned" brands including Massey Ferguson, Minneapolis Moline, Allis-Chalmers, and even Volkswagen cars. "In most cases the mechanics at implement dealers have have no idea how to work on this older equipment. That's a real problem because it's the old machinery that breaks down most often. One of my customers lives about 40 miles away and drives by two implement dealers just to get to my shop. He recently had the transmission go out on a big Massey Ferguson 4-WD tractor. He brought me the entire transmission assembly including the final drives, rear end, and hydraulic pump." Reiher says that by contracting with a limited number of people he can learn to read them and know what they want. "I promise them I'll look over their equipment periodically. For example, I might schedule to work on their equipment one day a month, or two half days a month, etc. The timing depends on the kind of equipment and how many hours it's used each year. In some cases I keep the service schedule books, and in other cases the farmer does that. The only time I call them is when there's a borderline case between repairing or buying new. "I've built up an extensive supply of parts through local dealers which reduces the time I have to spend looking for parts. I have aftermarket parts contracts with companies such as TISCO, AMI, BMD, and Ag Parts. They order the parts I need and send them directly to me. I'm also a TISCO dealer. However, I'm not in the business of making money by selling parts, but by selling service. Therefore I'm not afraid to use rebuilt or used parts." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Veryl Reiher, 15253 Deerfield Dr., Carlinville, Ill. 62626 (ph 217 854-3360).

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