We pay tractor mechanics very well. Lawn and garden oriented shops pay poorly, but when you get into meaningful equipment you can do very well. We pay better than any automotive technicians in our area.
I'd hire 10 young guys who want to become mechanics today if we could. Not enough of you out there, and that means you'll be worth that much more in the future.
Number 1 option. PM to Messicks, ask for some time for a phone call, then ask what it pays and what their more senior guys make, plus all the other info that you need - what's the career like, what training do you need, what are the hours like, where can it take you, what do they think the future's like with increasing electronic widgets?
Seems to me that over time high end tractors will get more automatic - the driver will be lower skilled, the mechanic higher skilled. So getting into maintenance to me feels like a winning move. Particularly if you bring a bit of computer and electronic skills with you - which younger guys tend to have a bit of. If you become the guy in the shop who deals with the tricky computer stuff, you'll be worth gold.
Most of these trades to me also have the massive benefit that if you're in any way business-minded, over time you can become an owner operator, and specialise in some niche that nobody else wants to do, but when it needs to be done is worth good money. I said to both my nieces they should become plumbers, because when someone's toilet blocks up at 9pm on a Sunday night, they'll pay whatever it takes for someone to come fix it. A broken tractor in harvest season may be quite similar, someone who's prepared to do what it takes is worth gold.
Like I say, I'd have a real good chat to Messicks, and if that talk works out like I think it would based on what I've seen of them, I'd ask them if they have a job for you. Then I'd pack your stuff in your truck and drive to PA. One thing you can afford to do when you're young is take risks. Worst that can happen is you don't like it, you pack your stuff back in your truck and drive home. Best that can happen is you get great learning from one of the better dealerships in the USA. One of the nice things about moving away from home is it breaks your old habits and makes you much more self reliant - your friends aren't hanging around saying "you can't do that", and nobody knows you so you're only as good as what you bring to work every day - no history hanging around for people to judge you on.
