Mobile Repair for Tractors

I don't have a trailer that can haul my tractor, so if it breaks in a way that I can't repair, the mechanic has to come to me, or I have to arrange haulage by someone with a trailer. The local Ford/New Holland dealer will send a mechanic out to me, and I've been happy with them. But I prefer John's Mobile Tractor Repair of Lebanon, Oregon, because John's just as good as the dealer and charges less.

When my starter stopped working altogether, John appeared with his trailer and took my tractor away. Replacing the ring gear on the starter involves separating the front and rear halves of the tractor. The frame of the trailer is a big hollow casting with the transmission on the inside. The flywheel is also in there, and the ring gear is bolted to the flywheel. Most of the teeth were chipped an distorted, to the point where it became impossible to start the tractor.

This is not the kind of job you want to do outdoors during a rainy spring, so John took the tractor to his shop. It turned out that the clutch also needed rebuilding (which didn't surprise me at all), so I got two overhauls that required separating the tractor done at the same time, which is just as well.

John also fixed up several little things as he noticed them, which I appreciate, since I tend to let little things ride, meaning to fix them and not actually doing it.

There are varius kinds of mobile repair out there. Some of my neighbors use mobile auto repair services. It's very inconvenient to take cars into the shop when you live far from town, and often the mobile repair guys are cheaper anyway, especially if you have two or more vehicles that need some work. Some tire stores such as Les Schwab also offer mobile service, which can be important for tractors and other vehicles where the wheels are far too large to toss in the back of a car.

All these services end up charging you for mileage one way or another, but in many cases you come out way ahead, either because you saved so much of your own time and could get a lot more work done, or because their rates are so much lower than the dealer's that you came out ahead that way.

Another service worth mentioning is mobile veterinarians, who don't maintain an animal hospital at all, but work solely out of their trucks. They're usually less expensive than standard vets, since they're solo acts and don't have employees or storefronts to maintain, and a lot of them work with both pets and farm animals. Maybe you'd find it convenient for them to come to you, even if we're talking about a cat rather than a cow.

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