Setting up a farm workshop: tools, safe systems and which repairs to keep in-house

Start with the jobs, not the tool catalogue

A useful workshop is sized around the repairs you actually do. Pull the last two years of invoices and breakdowns and sort them into routine servicing, wear parts (tines, points, knives, bearings, belts, hoses), fabrication and welding, electrical faults, and dealer-only work. The first three groups are where in-house repair usually saves most, mainly because a breakdown in a tight weather window costs far more in lost time than the repair itself.

For each job, ask three questions: do we have the skill, do we have the tools and information (torque figures, service manuals, parts numbers), and can we do it safely? If any answer is no, that job either needs investment or goes to the dealer.

Keep a simple job log once the workshop is running: the machine, the fault, the time taken, the parts used and whether it was fixed first time. After a season, the log shows which tools have paid their way, which jobs keep recurring and where training would help most.

A staged tool list

Buying in stages spreads the cost and lets each stage prove its worth.

• Stage 1, hand tools and measuring: metric and imperial socket and spanner sets sized for agricultural fasteners, torque wrenches covering small and large ranges, grease guns, a multimeter, feeler gauges, a tyre pressure gauge, a good work light and labelled storage.
• Stage 2, lifting and air: a trolley jack rated above the heaviest axle load you will lift, rated axle stands, props for trailers and tipping bodies, a compressor with a long airline and clip-on chuck, and an impact wrench.
• Stage 3, fabrication: an angle grinder, pillar drill, vice, and a welder, with fume extraction and suitable respiratory protection from day one (see below).
• Stage 4, hydraulics and diagnostics: hydraulic pressure test gauges and adapters, a hose crimping service or supplier on call, and whatever diagnostic tools your main machine brands make available to owners.
• Consumables worth stocking: filters for each machine, common hoses and fittings, bearings, shear bolts, fuses, bulbs, and the oils and greases each machine specifies.

Safe systems HSE expects

HSE's agricultural maintenance guidance begins with Safe Stop: handbrake on, controls in neutral, engine off, key out, before anyone approaches or starts work on a machine. Machines should be isolated, not just switched off, and stored energy in hydraulics, springs or compressed material released before work begins. Anything held up by hydraulics must be prevented from descending by a mechanical stop or prop.

For vehicle repair, HSE is specific: never work under a vehicle supported on jacks alone, always use axle stands; prop raised bodies rather than relying on hydraulics; apply brakes and chock wheels; disconnect the battery before electrical work; and never blow out brake dust, but use a vacuum or other dust-free method. Tyres can explode during inflation, so the airline must be long enough for the operator to stand outside the likely explosion path, and wheel and tyre work, especially on split-rim wheels, needs competent people.

If workshop hoists or cranes are used to lift loads, they fall under LOLER and need thorough examination by a competent person.

Welding fume is a cancer risk

In February 2019 HSE issued a safety bulletin after mild steel welding fume was reclassified as a human carcinogen. HSE no longer accepts any welding without suitable exposure controls, because there is no known safe level of exposure. Indoors, that means engineering controls such as local exhaust ventilation (LEV) for all welding; where LEV alone does not adequately control exposure, suitable respiratory protective equipment (RPE) must be added. Outdoors, appropriate RPE should be provided.

In practice, budget for an on-torch extraction system or a mobile extraction unit alongside the welder, plus powered respirators for those who weld regularly. LEV must be maintained and periodically examined and tested.

Electronics, software and the right-to-repair picture

Modern tractors and combines depend on software for engines, emissions systems, transmissions and hydraulics. Many faults need a diagnostic tool to read codes, reprogramme a replacement part or clear an emissions-related derate, and historically those tools were available mainly to dealers.

In the United States this changed significantly in July 2026. The Federal Trade Commission and five states (Illinois, Arizona, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin) settled their antitrust case against Deere & Company. Under the stipulated order filed on 8 July 2026, Deere must for ten years provide farmers and independent repair providers with repair resources equivalent to those it gives its dealers, including fault code reading and clearing, component reprogramming and part pairing, restarting machines after emissions-related shutdowns, and technical manuals and troubleshooting guidance, on fair and reasonable terms. The order becomes binding when signed by the court.

Outside that settlement, and in the UK, access depends on each manufacturer and dealer. Before buying a machine, ask what owner-level diagnostic software is offered, what it costs per year, and what it can and cannot do. Our guide to farm data ownership and software covers related questions about machine data.

Which jobs to keep and which to send out

A simple rule: keep jobs that are frequent, time-critical and mechanical; send out jobs that are rare, need special tools or software, or carry warranty implications. Typical in-house work includes servicing, wear-part replacement, hose repairs, bearing changes, basic electrical faults and fabrication. Typical dealer work includes engine and transmission internals, emissions after-treatment faults, software updates, and anything still under warranty where an owner repair could affect cover; read the warranty terms before you start.

Training is part of the investment. Our guide to closing the farm skills gap covers courses and apprenticeships, and the FarmFleets machine search is a quick way to confirm model details and service intervals before ordering parts.

Sources

Sources checked 2026-09-25

• HSE: Safe maintenance (agriculture) — checked 2026-09-25
• HSE: Vehicle repair (agriculture) — checked 2026-09-25
• HSE: Change in enforcement expectations for mild steel welding fume (STSU1-2019) — checked 2026-09-25
• Federal Trade Commission: FTC, states secure settlement with Deere & Company — checked 2026-09-25

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