I am new here and am excited to find ScannerDanner and this forrum. After viewing the first ScannerDanner video on Youtube I went looking for more. I really appreciate how well the material is presented. As an experienced tech it is frustrating wading through Youtube to find help in areas I'm not very knowledgable in.
A little background on myself. I graduated from the diesel technology program at Lake Area Tech. in Watertown, SD in 2000 as the most improved student in my class. The most improved status was basically because I knew nothing going in, except that I wanted to be a mechanic. Following some bad life choices and a lot of uncertainty, after graduating from tech I enlisted in the Army, not as a mechanic, which ended up lasting a little over 5 years due to deployment. Immediately after the army I was employed by a Case IH dealer where I ended up working on most anything you see on a midwest farm. I really enjoyed working with the precision ag side of things, which include auto steer and anything dealing with gps and automation. After six years at the dealership my vision for the precision ag program was not corresponding with that of the management so I moved on. From there I went to work for a Trimble dealer doing exclusively precision ag sales, installs and service. It was a great job with great benefits, and I loved it. The only thing that went wrong with that job was I married a Montana girl. The only thing wrong with that is we visited Montana and I really liked it. After 2 years at the best job I had ever had, we moved to Montana where I was easily able to get a job at the local Case IH dealer as a shoe in with my experience. After almost 2 years working for the man wasn't working for me. I loaded my tools into my pickup, printed some business cards, and drove around handing out cards. This brings me to my current situation.
I have now been self-employed for 7 with a primary focus on ag equipment. About a year in I ended up in a little town, about 100 people little, in the middle of nowhere. I found a tremendous need for local repair work in all fields due to distance from other independents or dealers, so I began delving into diesel pickups. It didn't take long and I was working my way through all sorts of automotive repairs. It turned out to be a tremendous blessing over the last year as the drought pretty much shut off my ag work. It's been a rollercoaster in the automotive realm for me. I have no problem with brakes, suspension, major drivetrain repairs, air conditioning, advanced electrical diagnostics; but, diagnosing some of the emissions and drivability issues are quite a challenge for me as I have no background.
I have been watching some of the videos on here, and plan to watch all of them in time, but as a self-employed one-man band, I can only dedicate so much time before I just have to make some money. That said, I will be posting some questions in hopes of speeding up, and improving, some of my diagnostics with a commitment to do my due diligence to collect as much data as possible so as not to waste anyone's time. In return, I will do my best to assist others in any way I can. I realize it is not an ag forum, but if anyone has any ag equipment issues, I will be glad to try to help. Maybe if it gets popular, they can add an ag section. I look forward to participating here.
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