Farm Equipment Mechanics and Service Technicians

Overview

Farm Equipment Mechanics and Service Technicians has a national median salary of $56,550 per year, with +10.7% projected job growth from 2025–2035. The Bureau of Labor Statistics lists a high school diploma or equivalent as the typical education needed to enter this occupation.

Description

Diagnose, adjust, repair, or overhaul farm machinery and vehicles, such as tractors, harvesters, dairy equipment, and irrigation systems.

Work Values

• Support
• Independence
• Achievement

Work Styles

Responsibilities

Tasks

• Reassemble machines and equipment following repair, testing operation and making adjustments, as necessary.
• Maintain, repair, and overhaul farm machinery and vehicles, such as tractors, harvesters, and irrigation systems.
• Examine and listen to equipment, read inspection reports, and confer with customers to locate and diagnose malfunctions.
• Record details of repairs made and parts used.
• Dismantle defective machines for repair, using hand tools.

Work Activities

• Repairing and Maintaining Mechanical Equipment
• Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials
• Getting Information
• Repairing and Maintaining Electronic Equipment
• Handling and Moving Objects
• Operating Vehicles, Mechanized Devices, or Equipment
• Documenting/Recording Information
• Controlling Machines and Processes
• Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events
• Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge

Detailed Work Activities

• Servicing, repairing, adjusting, and testing machines, devices, moving parts, and equipment that operate primarily on the basis of mechanical (not electronic) principles.
• Inspecting equipment, structures, or materials to identify the cause of errors or other problems or defects.
• Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
• Servicing, repairing, calibrating, regulating, fine-tuning, or testing machines, devices, and equipment that operate primarily on the basis of electrical or electronic (not mechanical) principles.
• Using hands and arms in handling, installing, positioning, and moving materials, and manipulating things.
• Running, maneuvering, navigating, or driving vehicles or mechanized equipment, such as forklifts, passenger vehicles, aircraft, or watercraft.
• Entering, transcribing, recording, storing, or maintaining information in written or electronic/magnetic form.
• Using either control mechanisms or direct physical activity to operate machines or processes (not including computers or vehicles).
• Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events.
• Keeping up-to-date technically and applying new knowledge to your job.

T-A-S-K

Technology, Abilities, Skills & Knowledge

Education

Education Levels of Current Workers

The Bureau of Labor Statistics lists a high school diploma or equivalent as the typical education needed to enter this occupation. The chart below shows the highest level of education held by people already working in this field, ages 25 and older. It includes workers who earned more education than the job requires and workers who entered the field under earlier requirements, so the largest bar is not the entry requirement. For example, if someone finished an associate's degree and then started working in this field, they are counted under “Associate's degree” here, but the job itself typically asks for a high school diploma or equivalent.

Certificates

Certifications applicable to Farm Equipment Mechanics and Service Technicians:

Video Resources