becoming a tractor mechanic/tech

[Tractorrr]

How would one go about getting into being tractor mechanic at a Kubota dealer or another brand too? Would they want someone who has gone to tech school. Should I just call the dealer and ask them who they hire and what qualifications are necessary?

 

[Scook222]

I would call a dealership and see. Some brands might not be as strict as others, but if you had experience in from a mechanical tech school on hydraulics and engines, like an auto diesel college, that would help. For specialized training they might pay to send you to a school for specific training. It might not be too many requirements since for ones like Kubota that has the workshop manuals on specific tasks and they might train you like on the job training.

 

[rScotty]

How would one go about getting into being tractor mechanic at a Kubota dealer or another brand too? Would they want someone who has gone to tech school. Should I just call the dealer and ask them who they hire and what qualifications are necessary?

I would start with some personal research. Face to face, as well as online. And I'd advise you to approach getting the information just exactly like you would any mechanical job. Instead of building a transmission you are building up some information. It's really all the same kind of thing, 'cause being a mechanic is just as much about how you do something as it is about what you do. Think of this information gathering as just another mechanical problem to be solved. But less greasy....

You do want as much information as you can right at the start.

Ask some local tractor dealer or shop manager if they would be willing to sit down and talk to you for 15 minutes about becoming a mechanic. Take some notes. Then maybe run what you find out past an instructor at the local vo tech school or night school or adult ed or even a rural high school shop class teacher if such still exists.

Sometimes writing up your conclusions helps to make things clear. I tend to keep these sorts of projects in a notebook. In fact, I've noticed that most mechanical type guys tend to keep notebooks of some sort or another.
luck, rScotty

 

[flashpuppy]

For background, I was a Heavy Equipment mech in the Navy (Seabee) and then turned wrenches for a few years on big iron when I got out.

Tech schools (Wyotech, UTI, etc) are a waste of money. There is no certification that you receive from attending, just �he knowledge needed to achieve those certifications ? Except you spent $20k-$30k to get that knowledge. Instead, you could致e gone to work at a mechanic shop, made some money even if it痴 not full scale, gained valuable on the job experience and saved a brand new car worth of money!

Unsolicited advice from someone who has æ¾±een there done that?

- Toolboxes do not make money, only the tools inside it do. Do not waste $10k on a toolbox from the tool truck. Go down to Harbor Freight and spend $800 on a totally adequate box.

- Get GOOD boots and socks. Youæ±*e gonna spend a LOT of time on your feet. Good footwear (Redwing, Wesco, Danner, etc) will save your feet.

- Tool trucks (Snap-On, MAC, Matco, etc) are essentially predatory lenders. Some tool truck owners let people carry a tab and make smaller weekly payments to them. What you need to watch out for is if they want you to finance through the corporate lending. The interest rates are unbelievable and are designed for new techs just getting into the field.

- Personally, I like Matco ratchets, Wright combination wrenches, Snap-On angle wrenches, SK ratchet wrenches, Grey Pneumatic sockets, Knipex pliers, Wiha screwdrivers, Mayhew punches and off brand most other things. No reason to spend insane amounts of money all Snap-On tools.

- Keep your driving record clean. It matters for a heavy equipment mechanic as driving a service truck is a very realistic possibility.

 

[RickB]

For background, I was a Heavy Equipment mech in the Navy (Seabee) and then turned wrenches for a few years on big iron when I got out.

Tech schools (Wyotech, UTI, etc) are a waste of money. There is no certification that you receive from attending, just �he knowledge needed to achieve those certifications ? Except you spent $20k-$30k to get that knowledge. Instead, you could致e gone to work at a mechanic shop, made some money even if it痴 not full scale, gained valuable on the job experience and saved a brand new car worth of money!

Unsolicited advice from someone who has æ¾±een there done that?

- Toolboxes do not make money, only the tools inside it do. Do not waste $10k on a toolbox from the tool truck. Go down to Harbor Freight and spend $800 on a totally adequate box.

- Get GOOD boots and socks. Youæ±*e gonna spend a LOT of time on your feet. Good footwear (Redwing, Wesco, Danner, etc) will save your feet.

- Tool trucks (Snap-On, MAC, Matco, etc) are essentially predatory lenders. Some tool truck owners let people carry a tab and make smaller weekly payments to them. What you need to watch out for is if they want you to finance through the corporate lending. The interest rates are unbelievable and are designed for new techs just getting into the field.

- Personally, I like Matco ratchets, Wright combination wrenches, Snap-On angle wrenches, SK ratchet wrenches, Grey Pneumatic sockets, Knipex pliers, Wiha screwdrivers, Mayhew punches and off brand most other things. No reason to spend insane amounts of money all Snap-On tools.

- Keep your driving record clean. It matters for a heavy equipment mechanic as driving a service truck is a very realistic possibility.

Very good advise.

 

[js5020]

How would one go about getting into being tractor mechanic at a Kubota dealer or another brand too? Would they want someone who has gone to tech school. Should I just call the dealer and ask them who they hire and what qualifications are necessary?

I think it's a good idea to check with perspective employers to see what they are looking for in a candidate, check with several as each will likely have a different set of requirements.

I chose a slightly different field, powered industrial equipment. My story,,,

I started out as an in house mechanic in a manufacturing facility for 10 years, moved to a dealership as a road tech for 6 years and then spent another 6 years in sales, training, and management. I currently work in retail distribution as a manager overseeing all aspects of the facility, been here for 10 years. Yep that's 30+ years in the field.

One thing I always tell young guys just starting out,, the hardest job to get in the maintenance/repair field is the first one, don't mess up your first chance you may not get another, many never get the first shot. There are 100 mechanical mechanics for every 1 electro mechanical mechanics, learn, learn everything you can and keep learning until the day you hang it up, the more you can do the more employable you are. Have an attitude,, a positive one! This isn't just a job, it's a career, treat it that way and you can go or do just about anything in the field.

Good luck in your endeavor!

 

[Rmart30]

Ive been a road mechanic for 30 years on construction equipment of all types.
Right now down here everyone is looking for young people who want to work, show up on time, can pass a drug test, and dont whine when they have to work more than 8 hrs. or a occasional saturday.
As Js5020 said the first time getting foot in the door is the most important.

Tractors would be one of the last things I chose to work on. Construction equipment is much easier imo. Tractors & skid steers are 2 things i try to avoid.
As a road tech I may spend 3 or more hours of my day driving. To me thats easy $, and then once I get to my call it could be something as simple as tightening a leaking valve, replacing a o ring, or a battery charger cord plug. Heck Ive had days where I drove 3.5 hrs each way just to spend 2 minutes putting on a new safety decal on a machine.
Not saying I dont have hard days sometimes but i will take some days of doing hardly no physical work on the road vs 8 hours of tearing out rearends, transmissions , driving out pins etc at the shop.

Tennant scrubbers is in most major cities and another one thats fairly easy to work on and would be a good bit of driving involved and driving pays the same as bustin your butt out in the heat or cold.

 

[seasled]

For background, I was a Heavy Equipment mech in the Navy (Seabee) and then turned wrenches for a few years on big iron when I got out.

Tech schools (Wyotech, UTI, etc) are a waste of money. There is no certification that you receive from attending, just 骰紘e knowledge needed to achieve those certifications ? Except you spent $20k-$30k to get that knowledge. Instead, you could閾ｴe gone to work at a mechanic shop, made some money even if it逞ｴ not full scale, gained valuable on the job experience and saved a brand new car worth of money!

Unsolicited advice from someone who has 貔ｱeen there done that?

- Toolboxes do not make money, only the tools inside it do. Do not waste $10k on a toolbox from the tool truck. Go down to Harbor Freight and spend $800 on a totally adequate box.

- Get GOOD boots and socks. You豎*e gonna spend a LOT of time on your feet. Good footwear (Redwing, Wesco, Danner, etc) will save your feet.

- Tool trucks (Snap-On, MAC, Matco, etc) are essentially predatory lenders. Some tool truck owners let people carry a tab and make smaller weekly payments to them. What you need to watch out for is if they want you to finance through the corporate lending. The interest rates are unbelievable and are designed for new techs just getting into the field.

- Personally, I like Matco ratchets, Wright combination wrenches, Snap-On angle wrenches, SK ratchet wrenches, Grey Pneumatic sockets, Knipex pliers, Wiha screwdrivers, Mayhew punches and off brand most other things. No reason to spend insane amounts of money all Snap-On tools.

- Keep your driving record clean. It matters for a heavy equipment mechanic as driving a service truck is a very realistic possibility.

This is the best advice, you make your own way , by the job you do! There are no stupid questions if you want to be the best! Look, listen and most importantly don稚 be afraid to challenge someone!!! After building a business and selling it for good money, I can tell you , I was Merv Griffin, don稚 worry, only older folk will get it! Read my lips杯here is no stupid question, just stupid answers !
If you are driven , the world is yours !!!

 

[thepumpguysc]

BEFORE U DECIDE.. have a look on Monster, Indeed.. & even Craigslist under DIESEL Jobs..
& SEE what knowledge u need & what they're paying.. U might just change your mind..

 

[RickB]

BEFORE U DECIDE.. have a look on Monster, Indeed.. & even Craigslist under DIESEL Jobs..
& SEE what knowledge u need & what they're paying.. U might just change your mind..

I can’t disagree. In many areas wrenching on tractors pays less than wrenching on just about anything else.

 

[TnAndy]

ELIZABETHTON (TN) — Kubota, the global company that manufactures construction and agricultural equipment, is the latest corporation to enter into a training partnership with the Tennessee College of Applied Technology-Elizabethton. The partnerships are designed to provide technical training to current and future employees of Kubota dealers.

Rest of the article: Johnson City Press:
TCAT Elizabethton forms training partnership with Kubota

TCAT website: Programs | TCAT Elizabethton

 

[rScotty]

ELIZABETHTON (TN) — Kubota, the global company that manufactures construction and agricultural equipment, is the latest corporation to enter into a training partnership with the Tennessee College of Applied Technology-Elizabethton. The partnerships are designed to provide technical training to current and future employees of Kubota dealers.

Rest of the article: Johnson City Press:


TCAT Elizabethton forms training partnership with Kubota

TCAT website: Programs | TCAT Elizabethton

That would be as good as any place to start, and there are lots of tech schools that teach mechanical skills. It doesn't really matter where you learn or on what kind of machinery. Once you can learn one type of machine you can extend that to any other. Being a mechanic is a good life. Pays well and interesting work. You'll never be out of a job, and basic mechanical skills transfer to all parts of your life.
rScotty

 

[mwayne]

It is my understanding that this program at Navarro College is very good.

Navarro College | John Deere Tech

 

[MessickFarmEqu]

I can稚 disagree. In many areas wrenching on tractors pays less than wrenching on just about anything else.

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.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Please define, "Very Well".

I think, a health care worker can do far better than a mechanic moneywise here. My Neighbour as a nurse, used to make 100 grand a year CDN, but always picked holidays to work for the OT. Worked in ICU and hyperbarics (sp?).

 

[RickB]

Tractor mechanics can do ok in the Northeast. Many work for peanuts in the Southeast.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Can someone put things in perspective and mention some dollar amounts? Any mention of "Very Well" and "Peanuts, doesn't mean anything.

It boggles my mind, why a man would spend years of his life, spend a fortune in tools, work a dirty, thankless job and be paid "peanuts".

 

[rScotty]

I hear you about the lack of mechanics today. There wasn't always a shortage; this is new..... Today's public schools do push kids towards college instead of the trades. And who can blame them? Especially now that there are now college loans that make higher education possible for just about anyone. We sometimes forget that didn't use to be the case.

A couple of generations ago - I'm a baby boomer - college was less accessible and it was more common for young men to go into the mechanical trades from high school. Mechanical training at that time was likely to be either a HS shop class plus a few months of evening vo-tech for the ambitious ones. Many mechanics were largely self taught motor heads supplementing with whatever specialized training was provided on the job.....often informally by other mechanics. That was a crude educational system, but it turned out a whole generation of pretty fair wrench benders.

I hear the same thing that Messick is saying. There's a lot of openings for mechanics and skilled trades of all kinds right now. Unfortunately there just isn't much interest in mechanical things among the teens I know.

Someone will step up to do the work. My guess is that immigrants will end up filling those positions.
At least that is what happened several times before in our recent US history and seems to have worked out OK.
There's already some signs of that happening locally.

rScotty

 

[Tractor Seabee]

Be surprised if they answer that one. My dealer charges $125/hr for small stuff (under 100HP) and $150/hr for construction equip and industrial equip. Figure it out, mechanic gets around half that including fringe benefits. That's in the $100K/yr+ range. Only thing better working with your hands plus brain is probably construction in the union shops. Mechanics have unions also in some areas. Those rates are the going rates in this area both union and non-union. Field construction/industrial mechanics make more and in very short supply.

I think the OP better rush an application to Messicks.

We are making a mistake in this country pushing everybody to go to college.

Ron

 

[RickB]

Be surprised if they answer that one. My dealer charges $125/hr for small stuff (under 100HP) and $150/hr for construction equip and industrial equip. Figure it out, mechanic gets around half that including fringe benefits. That's in the $100K/yr+ range. Only thing better working with your hands plus brain is probably construction in the union shops. Mechanics have unions also in some areas. Those rates are the going rates in this area both union and non-union. Field construction/industrial mechanics make more and in very short supply.

I think the OP better rush an application to Messicks.

We are making a mistake in this country pushing everybody to go to college.

Ron

Maybe in your part of the country. I know a lot of tractor mechanics in the east and south. Very few have a compensation package over $50K. A good share of them could do just as well running a forklift at a freight terminal and wouldn’t have to buy their own tools. Too many dealer principals are bottom feeders when it comes to pay rates. And yes, shop rates are in the $100 range or close to it.