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A comment on On a farm in Missouri, a radical experiment in self-sufficiency (2013).

Re:On a farm in Missouri, a radical experiment in self-suffi... by jessaustin on Wednesday October 01, 2014 @12:00AM (#8392739)
...the tractor developed a leaky transmission. Jakubowski took it to a repair shop, which charged him two thousand dollars. Two days later, the tractor broke down again...

Transmissions can have a variety of problems that render them unusable without repair, but my first response to "it's leaking" would not be "spend $2000". Rather, it would be "spend $40 for another 5 gallons of hy-tran".

I think this guy just wanted to design and build some tractors. Not that there's anything wrong with that!

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Re:On a farm in Missouri, a radical experiment in self-suffi... by rmason on Wednesday October 01, 2014 @01:33AM (#8392989)
Most people would take it as an incentive to learn how to repair tractors but few would go in the direction of building their own tractor. For such an obviously smart guy it's not a very efficient use of either his time or capital.
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