Make Sure Your Equipment Doesn’t Turn Into Just a Pile of Steel

“I need you to come right away. The driveline just snapped off the baler” “IT DID WHAT?! Shut it down. I’ll be there in five minutes” Click. The heat of the afternoon sun smacks me in the face as I scramble down the steps of the big, blue New Holland PowerStar 120. I hit the dirt running, yanking hay out of the feeder, hoping against hope that the mechanical debacle I’d watched unfold from the driver’s seat at least hadn’t been my fault. Like a guilty grade-schooler waiting for dad to get home, I pace between the windrows. I don’t bother hoping it isn’t as bad as I expect. It doesn’t take a mechanic to see the problem on this one. I look to the clock to see that it is just after four in the afternoon. It’s a Saturday and also the Fourth of July. The chances of acquiring a replacement driveline before Monday are incredibly slim. We have thirty acres of premium grasshay on the ground and there’s rain forecasted for Tuesday night. My dread multiplies until I look up to see Sten’s dusty, black service truck flying into the field. He’s not exactly a knight in shining armor, but I don’t need one of those. I need my freakishly talented, diesel mechanic-fiancé, busted knuckles and all. He screeches to a stop, slams the door and in the span of one breath his eyes scan the scene and he�