One of Those Weeks

This was one of those weeks that did not go as planned, which sometimes can be exciting.

We planned to do some scheduled maintenance on the tractor on Tuesday. And in a classic last minute decision, we decided to do one last thing with the tractor before bringing it to the shop for the repairs, which would likely have the tractor out of commission for at least a day.

On the way out of the field, Terron was driving the tractor when all of a sudden it stopped running. He flagged down a neighbor, since his phone wasn't working, who called and said, "Hey, your tractor's not running. It's on the side of the road."

And thus began a saga that lasted the rest of the week, trying to diagnose and figure out what was wrong with the tractor.

A project like this is full of a mix of emotions for me. From my vantage point now, here on Saturday morning, I'm able to say that at the core, what I love about our business is that it continues to support me in connecting with a wide variety of people.

In this case, I'm not a diesel mechanic. But I love learning, and I love connecting with people. And I spent countless hours on the phone with so many amazing neighbors, friends, and resourceful technicians who helped me diagnose and troubleshoot a diesel engine that was struggling to start and run properly.

In the end, I ruled out and replaced a number of components in the fuel system, but I'm still without a running tractor. So I'll take the tractor to our friends at Champlain Valley Equipment in Middlebury, and hopefully they can find a solution.

One of my connection highlights came while talking on the phone to the dealership. They suggested I call Wes about how the injector pump works. When I asked, "Who's Wes?" they said, "You know, Wes of Burlington Diesel." And I smiled and laughed and said, "I just got off the phone with him. I'll call him back."

And when I talked to Wes and he was out of ideas, he suggested I call Joe, the diesel mechanic, who I had also just gotten off the phone with, and who had graciously called me back to do some phone troubleshooting.

Thank you to all the many experts, friends, and neighbors who have lent their time and expertise to helping me through this journey.

Your Farmer,

Nathan Henderson
Reber Rock Farm
Essex, New York