Skills it runs on
The capabilities O*NET rates most important for this occupation — the human ground the work is built on.
See all skills →Farm Equipment Mechanics and Service Technicians
Occupation · SOC 49-3041.00
Diagnose, adjust, repair, or overhaul farm machinery and vehicles, such as tractors, harvesters, dairy equipment, and irrigation systems.
Also called: Farm Equipment Mechanic · Mechanic · Service Technician (Service Tech) · Tractor Mechanic · Agricultural Mechanic (Ag Mechanic) · Agricultural Service Technician (Ag Service Tech) · Dairy Service Technician (Dairy Service Tech) · Farm Equipment Service Technician (Farm Equipment Service Tech) · Field Mechanic · Field Technician (Field Tech) · Agricultural Equipment Mechanic (Ag Equipment Mechanic) · Assembly Repairer
Job family: Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Occupations
Take this to your AI
A source-stamped Markdown brief of this occupation — paste it into an agent, or fetch
/roles/role-49-3041-00/context.md directly.
AI work map
A fast read on where AI already shows up in this occupation, where it stays a copilot, where humans remain in the loop, and what the labor market is doing. Built from observed Claude.ai conversations mapped to O*NET tasks and from published research — measures of usage and exposure, not advice or predictions that the job is going away.
Market signal
Independent published positions, read together — not a forecast.
- Growing fast employment outlook (+11.0% by 2034)
- 3,700 openings/yr
- Moderate AI exposure
- Median pay $52,080/yr
- Work is mostly on-site (not teleworkable)
- 2013 flagged this for computerization (61st); today's AI task-overlap is comparatively low (18th)
18th-percentile task overlap — yet about 3,700 openings a year (+11% projected, BLS) . What exposure means →
AI & job outlook
What today's research says about this occupation's exposure to AI, how AI is actually being used in it, and where employment is headed. These are positions within published studies — measures of exposure and usage, not predictions that this job will disappear.
Exposure to current AI
Each study uses its own scale, so the raw scores are not comparable across rows — the percentile (this job's rank among all U.S. occupations with data) is the comparable figure, and sizes the bars.
| Measure | Rank vs all occupations | Percentile | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall AI exposure (Felten et al.) Low | 10th | -1.2 | |
| LLM task exposure, γ (OpenAI / Eloundou) Low | 16th | 0.1 | |
| AI assistant applicability (Microsoft) Moderate | 38th | 0.1 |
OpenAI's exposure study scores tasks three ways: with a language model alone (α 0.1), with simple added tooling (β 0.1), and including AI-powered software (γ 0.1). Higher means more of the job's tasks could be done at least twice as fast — not that they will be automated away.
This job mostly cannot be done remotely (Dingel–Neiman) — its hands-on tasks sit outside what software-based AI reaches.
Historical automation estimate (2013)
A pre-LLM (2013) estimate of how automatable this job is by computerization and robotics. Shown for historical context only — it is not part of any current AI ranking.
Frey–Osborne probability 0.8 · 61st percentile among occupations · Moderate
Job outlook
Independent U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics employment projection for 2024–2034 — a labor-market forecast, not an AI-impact forecast.
| Outlook | Growing fast · +11.0% by 2034 |
| Projected annual openings | 3,700 |
| Employment 2024 → 2034 | 39,000 → 43,300 |
“Annual openings” counts new jobs plus replacements for workers who leave the occupation, so it can be large even when growth is modest.
Where this work sits on the global GenAI gradient
The ILO's 2025 global study scores generative-AI exposure on the international ISCO-08 occupation system, not US SOC. Bridged through the published (and approximate, many-to-many) IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 crosswalk, this US occupation corresponds to the international occupation below. Exposure here means how much of the work's tasks today's AI can attempt — task overlap, not automation, adoption, or jobs lost.
Farm Equipment Mechanics and Service Technicians sits at the 24th percentile of 427
occupations on the global GenAI task-exposure gradient
— exposure eased from 2023 to 2025. Each dot is one occupation; the
ringed one is this work. Exposure is task overlap, not automation or jobs lost.
17% mean task exposure (2025)
24th percentile of 427 placed occupations
−2 pts shift 2023 → 2025
| International occupation (ISCO-08) | Task exposure (2025) | Most tasks fall in |
|---|---|---|
| Agricultural and Industrial Machinery Mechanics and Repairers · 7233 | 17% | Not exposed |
Read the whole six-band gradient on the GenAI exposure gradient page. The crosswalk is approximate: a US occupation can map to several international ones, and the ILO scores describe the international occupation, not this exact US role.
Tasks
All 14 tasks O*NET lists for this occupation, ordered by importance. Each links to its own page with AI-exposure and observed-use detail.
- Reassemble machines and equipment following repair, testing operation and making adjustments, as necessary. Core · importance 4.6
- Examine and listen to equipment, read inspection reports, and confer with customers to locate and diagnose malfunctions. Core · importance 4.5
- Maintain, repair, and overhaul farm machinery and vehicles, such as tractors, harvesters, and irrigation systems. Core · importance 4.5
- Record details of repairs made and parts used. Core · importance 4.5
- Dismantle defective machines for repair, using hand tools. Core · importance 4.5
- Clean and lubricate parts. Core · importance 4.5
- Repair or replace defective parts, using hand tools, milling and woodworking machines, lathes, welding equipment, grinders, or saws. Core · importance 4.4
- Test and replace electrical components and wiring, using test meters, soldering equipment, and hand tools. Core · importance 4.3
- Tune or overhaul engines. Core · importance 4.0
- Calculate bills according to record of repairs made, labor time, and parts used. Supplemental · importance 4.0
- Drive trucks to haul tools and equipment for on-site repair of large machinery. Core · importance 4.0
- Fabricate new metal parts, using drill presses, engine lathes, and other machine tools. Core · importance 3.6
- Install and repair agricultural irrigation, plumbing, and sprinkler systems. Supplemental · importance 3.5
- Repair bent or torn sheet metal. Core · importance 3.2
Work activities
- Maintain repair or maintenance records.
- Test mechanical equipment to ensure proper functioning.
- Reassemble equipment after repair.
- Adjust equipment to ensure optimal performance.
- Repair defective engines or engine components.
- Service vehicles to maintain functionality.
- Read work orders or descriptions of problems to determine repairs or modifications needed.
- Inspect mechanical equipment to locate damage, defects, or wear.
- Confer with customers or users to assess problems.
- Disassemble equipment for maintenance or repair.
- Test electrical circuits or components for proper functioning.
- Install machine or equipment replacement parts.
- Replace worn, damaged, or defective mechanical parts.
- Repair worn, damaged, or defective mechanical parts.
- Clean equipment, parts, or tools to repair or maintain them in good working order.
- Lubricate equipment to allow proper functioning.
- Adjust vehicle components according to specifications.
- Move large objects using heavy equipment.
- Fabricate parts or components.
- Calculate costs of goods or services.
- Install piping for installation or maintenance activities.
- Repair pipes to stop leaking.
- Repair structural components.
Knowledge, skills & abilities
O*NET importance rating, from 1 (not important) to 5 (extremely important).
Knowledge
| Mechanical | 4.7 | |
| Customer and Personal Service | 3.8 | |
| English Language | 3.7 | |
| Computers and Electronics | 3.7 | |
| Engineering and Technology | 3.5 | |
| Physics | 3.4 | |
| Mathematics | 3.4 |
Transferable skills
| Equipment Maintenance | 4.3 | |
| Repairing | 4.3 | |
| Troubleshooting | 4.0 | |
| Operation and Control | 3.8 | |
| Complex Problem Solving | 3.4 | |
| Operations Monitoring | 3.4 | |
| Quality Control Analysis | 3.4 | |
| Equipment Selection | 3.3 |
Abilities
| Manual Dexterity | 4.0 | |
| Finger Dexterity | 4.0 | |
| Control Precision | 4.0 | |
| Multilimb Coordination | 4.0 | |
| Problem Sensitivity | 3.9 | |
| Visualization | 3.9 | |
| Near Vision | 3.9 | |
| Deductive Reasoning | 3.8 | |
| Arm-Hand Steadiness | 3.8 | |
| Extent Flexibility | 3.6 | |
| Inductive Reasoning | 3.5 | |
| Information Ordering | 3.5 | |
| Oral Comprehension | 3.4 | |
| Written Comprehension | 3.4 | |
| Flexibility of Closure | 3.4 | |
| Hearing Sensitivity | 3.4 | |
| Oral Expression | 3.3 | |
| Selective Attention | 3.3 | |
| Static Strength | 3.3 | |
| Trunk Strength | 3.3 | |
| Visual Color Discrimination | 3.3 | |
| Auditory Attention | 3.3 | |
| Speech Recognition | 3.3 |
Essential skills
| Critical Thinking | 3.5 | |
| Active Listening | 3.1 |
Skills in demand
Skills employers ask for in job postings for this occupation (Lightcast), with whether each is a common or specialized skill.
Tools & technology
| Example | Category | |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Excel | Spreadsheet software | Hot technology |
| Microsoft Office software | Office suite software | Hot technology |
| Microsoft Outlook | Electronic mail software | Hot technology |
| Microsoft Word | Word processing software | Hot technology |
| Computerized maintenance management system CMMS | Facilities management software | |
| FarmLogic FarmPAD | Data base user interface and query software | |
| ServiceMax | Data base user interface and query software | |
| Web browser software | Internet browser software |
Work context
How characteristic each condition is of the job, on O*NET's 1–5 context scale (higher = more present in day-to-day work). Each condition links to how it varies across all occupations.
How to get in
- Job zone
- Zone 3 — Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed
- Education
- Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
- Typical entry-level education
- High school diploma or equivalent · BLS, the typical path — not a requirement
- Related experience
- Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.
- Preparation level
- SVP (6.0 to < 7.0) — total schooling plus on-the-job experience.
What to study: Agriculture, Agriculture Operations, and Related Sciences . Fields of study crosswalked to this occupation (NCES CIP–SOC), not a requirement.
Education of current workers
Share of people in this occupation at each level of education.
| Post-Secondary Certificate | 51.5% | |
| High School Diploma | 43.3% | |
| Associate's Degree (or other 2-year degree) | 3.0% | |
| Some College Courses | 1.6% | |
| Less than a High School Diploma | 0.5% |
Interests & work styles
The interests and personal qualities O*NET associates with people who do this work.
Career interests (Holland / RIASEC)
| Realistic | 7.0 | |
| Conventional | 4.3 | |
| Investigative | 3.0 |
Interest areas
| Mechanics/Electronics | 6.5 | |
| Physical/Manual Labor | 5.2 | |
| Engineering | 4.5 | |
| Transportation/Machine Operation | 3.4 | |
| Agriculture | 3.2 | |
| Nature/Outdoors | 2.6 | |
| Construction/Woodwork | 1.8 | |
| Mathematics/Statistics | 1.6 | |
| Information Technology | 1.6 |
Work styles
| Dependability | 2.5 | |
| Attention to Detail | 2.4 | |
| Cautiousness | 1.8 | |
| Perseverance | 1.8 |
Wages & employment
U.S. · annual wages (BLS OEWS)
| 10th percentile | $36,920 |
| 25th percentile | $45,660 |
| Median (50th) | $52,080 |
| 75th percentile | $63,070 |
| 90th percentile | $76,860 |
| People employed | 36,880 |
Industries that employ this occupation
Where these workers are employed, by number of jobs (national, BLS OEWS). Pay shown is the occupation's national median, not industry-specific.
| Industry | Workers | National median pay |
|---|---|---|
| Wholesale Trade · Sector | 27,390 | $55,600 |
| Farm and Garden Machinery and Equipment Merchant Wholesalers · National industry | 24,460 | $55,180 |
| Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting · Sector | 3,190 | $45,900 |
| Other Services (except Public Administration) · Sector | 1,620 | $52,460 |
| Retail Trade · Sector | 1,460 | $50,610 |
| Manufacturing · Sector | 1,430 | $55,780 |
| Management of Companies and Enterprises · Sector | 310 | $62,110 |
| Educational Services · Sector | 250 | $75,680 |
| Construction · Sector | 140 | $49,090 |
| Transportation and Warehousing · Sector | 70 | $48,900 |
| Real Estate and Rental and Leasing · Sector | 60 | $49,720 |
| Utilities · Sector | 50 | $35,210 |
Where this work is most concentrated
Industries where this occupation is far more common than in the economy as a whole. The location quotient is how many times more concentrated it is here (a value of 5 means five times its economy-wide share).
| Industry | Concentration | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Farm and Garden Machinery and Equipment Merchant Wholesalers · National industry | 896.48× | 24,460 |
| Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting · Sector | 31.5× | 3,190 |
| Wholesale Trade · Sector | 18.97× | 27,390 |
| Other Services (except Public Administration) · Sector | 1.53× | 1,620 |
| Manufacturing · Sector | 0.47× | 1,430 |
| Management of Companies and Enterprises · Sector | 0.46× | 310 |
| Retail Trade · Sector | 0.39× | 1,460 |
| Educational Services · Sector | 0.08× | 250 |
Related occupations
Part of the Agriculture career cluster.
- Mobile Heavy Equipment Mechanics, Except Engines · 49-3042.00 Compare →
- Industrial Machinery Mechanics · 49-9041.00 Compare →
- Outdoor Power Equipment and Other Small Engine Mechanics · 49-3053.00 Compare →
- Maintenance and Repair Workers, General · 49-9071.00 Compare →
- Engine and Other Machine Assemblers · 51-2031.00 Compare →
- Electric Motor, Power Tool, and Related Repairers · 49-2092.00 Compare →
- Maintenance Workers, Machinery · 49-9043.00 Compare →
- Bus and Truck Mechanics and Diesel Engine Specialists · 49-3031.00 Compare →
- Millwrights · 49-9044.00 Compare →
- Helpers--Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Workers · 49-9098.00 Compare →
- Control and Valve Installers and Repairers, Except Mechanical Door · 49-9012.00 Compare →
- Boilermakers · 47-2011.00 Compare →
Side-by-side comparisons place two occupations’ pay, preparation, skills, and AI exposure on the same page — same data, same scale, no forecast.
What you can do with this
Options the data surfaces for Farm Equipment Mechanics and Service Technicians — not advice or a forecast. Each is a real cross-link you can follow into the evidence.
Skills that travel
Capabilities this work builds that are used across many other occupations.
Adjacent roles
Occupations O*NET rates as related — the nearby moves on the map.
Paths in
How people typically prepare for this work.
- High school diploma or equivalent · typical entry level
- Job zone 3 — Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed · preparation tier
- Agriculture, Agriculture Operations, and Related Sciences · field of study
Zoom out
On the global GenAI exposure gradient this work sits around the 24th percentile of 427 international occupations.
Write a report on thisheadline · factoids · citation
Farm Equipment Mechanics and Service Technicians show 18th-percentile AI task overlap — and about 3,700 annual U.S. openings
- Farm Equipment Mechanics and Service Technicians rank in the 18th percentile (Low band) for AI task overlap across U.S. occupations — a measure of how much of the work today's AI can attempt, not how much is automated.Eloundou et al. (GPTs are GPTs) + Felten AIOE
- The occupation is projected to see about 3,700 U.S. job openings per year (2024–34), counting growth and replacement — a labor-demand projection made independently of AI.BLS Employment Projections 2024–34
- BLS projects employment to be growing fast (+11%) from 2024 to 2034.BLS Employment Projections 2024–34
- Median annual pay is $52,080, across about 36,880 U.S. workers.BLS OEWS (May 2024)
Copy the whole kit
Farm Equipment Mechanics and Service Technicians show 18th-percentile AI task overlap — and about 3,700 annual U.S. openings • Farm Equipment Mechanics and Service Technicians rank in the 18th percentile (Low band) for AI task overlap across U.S. occupations — a measure of how much of the work today's AI can attempt, not how much is automated. (Eloundou et al. (GPTs are GPTs) + Felten AIOE) • The occupation is projected to see about 3,700 U.S. job openings per year (2024–34), counting growth and replacement — a labor-demand projection made independently of AI. (BLS Employment Projections 2024–34) • BLS projects employment to be growing fast (+11%) from 2024 to 2034. (BLS Employment Projections 2024–34) • Median annual pay is $52,080, across about 36,880 U.S. workers. (BLS OEWS (May 2024)) Source: Singulariki — "Farm Equipment Mechanics and Service Technicians". https://singulariki.com/roles/role-49-3041-00 Note: AI task overlap measures what today's AI can attempt, not automation, job loss, or a forecast.
AssetsShare imageMethodology & sourcesPress & newsroomThe newsroom
Every line is built only from figures this page already shows and cites. AI task overlap means what today's AI can attempt — not automation, job loss, or a forecast.
Sources for this page
Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.
- O*NET 30.3 U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai Microsoft Research
- “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130 OpenAI / academic
- AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans academic
- ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025 International Labour Organization
- IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022 Institute for Structural Research (IBS)
- Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation academic
- Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome academic
Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.
Cite this page
Plain
Singulariki. "Farm Equipment Mechanics and Service Technicians." Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Built from O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/roles/role-49-3041-00
APA
Singulariki. (2026). Farm Equipment Mechanics and Service Technicians. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/roles/role-49-3041-00
BibTeX
@misc{singulariki-role-49-3041-00,
title = {Farm Equipment Mechanics and Service Technicians},
author = {{Singulariki}},
year = {2026},
note = {O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026},
url = {https://singulariki.com/roles/role-49-3041-00}
} Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.