A John Deere Publication

Person working on a laptop inside a vehicle with industrial equipment in the background.

Zoerb enjoys his job for many reasons. He likes the challenges he faces each day, but he also loves the fact that he gets to live in a small town and still earn a good wage.

Agriculture January 01, 2025

On the Road Again

A day in the life of a service technician.

by Lorne McClinton

It's just after 9 a.m. on May 21st, 2024, and Mark Zoerb, a John Deere service technician from Davidson, Saskatchewan, is on the road to his first repair call of the day. It's a weird one, he has to figure out why the front wheels of a sprayer keep spreading out of alignment, and then repair it.

"There's a lot of challenges with my job. You never know what's going to come up next, but that makes it so interesting," Zoerb says. "Every day is the same, but at the same time, every day is very different, too. Some days you're dealing with mechanical issues; some days it's electrical problems that you're chasing around; other days you're just helping guys set combines or sprayers. You never really know what the next phone call is going to bring."

The range of equipment he works on during a week is amazing. He can be pre-servicing a brand new X9 combine so it's ready for delivery one day and working on a 4640 tractor that's older than he is on the next.

Zoerb rarely gets called out to farms for routine repairs. Most farmers are handy and have well-equipped shops on their farms. They'll do basic repairs and some major ones themselves. Most of his calls involve detective work.

"Lots of times when I go somewhere I'll see something broken, but that's often just the end result," Zoerb says. "Usually there's a reason something failed in the first place. If I just change out the broken piece, it might just break again right away. And the challenge of this job, and what makes it so exciting, is figuring the root cause of things."

Zoerb finds that electrical and hydraulic problems are typically the most challenging. Intermittent ones are the worst. The diagnostic books for example might indicate that an electrical fault can be fixed by changing a particular wire. But what happens if he repairs it and the problem is still there? That's when Zoerb starts to dig deeper. He tries to figure out if all the faults that the combine is reporting share something in common.

It's a little bit like being a detective, and that challenging part of the job is what he loves.

Above. Service technician jobs have completely changed since Zoerb first started in 2010, but he still loves what he does. With the ongoing need for food production and advancements in agricultural practices, there is a consistent demand for skilled agriculture technicians, leading to job stability and opportunities for growth.

Loves his job. Zoerb has been a service technician at Davidson since 2010. But, he says, since his dad used to own the dealership, he literally grew up around the shop. He absolutely loves what he does.

"When people ask me why I'm an ag mechanic and not some other type of mechanic I tell them I get to wake up every morning with my family and be at home every night; that's something that's really important to me," Zoerb says. "Plus, I knew I wanted to live in a small town, preferably Davidson for sure, but if not, then just a small town in general. Being an ag mechanic is one of those jobs that allows you to do that and still make a good wage."

Zoerb finds he started his career at what he describes as the perfect time. The big technological changes in farm equipment were just getting started so he learned how to maintain and repair the systems as they came along. He says the older technicians didn't see many changes in the electronic part of their jobs the first 15 to 20 years of their career and then it took off. The younger techs that are coming in now though have a ton of things to understand or figure out.

Many farmers have usually already tried what they can to fix a problem before they call a technician, and sometimes they can give them a really good idea of what's going on, Zoerb says. "So, it's well worth the time to spend an extra half hour or so talking to the customer. It really helps to figure out what might be going on. And, if I know what parts I need to grab, I can put them in my truck before hitting the road. That's huge if it's a more distant customer."

Zoerb had no such luck with the steering problem on the sprayer on his May 21st service call in 2024. The problem turned out to be a tricky one. A relief valve in the steering hydraulics was leaking. He had to order parts and return another day to finish the repair.

"Being a service technician means a new challenge every day," Zoerb says. "This makes it fun but it certainly keeps you on your toes." ‡