Meanwhile, Greeley County's older fleet continued working. There were repairs, of course, and a few were unpleasantly expensive, but Frank could still distribute many jobs among trusted independent mechanics and the cooperative's own staff. The financial advantage had not grown as quickly as Calvin's most optimistic scenario, because refurbishment costs remained stubbornly real. Yet the cooperative was not paying the same service rates for every specialized task, and it had avoided the finance obligations of a $12.4 million purchase. The comparison that had once existed only inside Calvin's folders was beginning to appear in actual operating results.
Calvin was careful not to celebrate. At a church supper in November, a neighbor told him he must be enjoying watching Doug Sellers struggle after what Doug had said in Wichita. Calvin put down his fork.
"His cooperative serves farm families just like ours," he replied. "Every dollar it wastes is a dollar those families have less of. There isn't anything enjoyable about that." Margaret heard him from across the table and felt a quiet pride that was different from pride in a prediction that had come true.
Winter brought still more pressure. Tri-County's accountant showed Doug that costs from authorized diagnostic work, maintenance, travel, and related service had risen sufficiently to add roughly $340,000 to the cooperative's annual burden compared with its earlier assumptions. Not every hour in the fleet's service log carried the highest rate, which was why the total increase differed from a simple multiplication of forty-two machines by all operating hours. The additional expense nevertheless ate through the cooperative's already narrow margin. Debt payments on the original $14.8 million purchase could not be suspended simply because service became more expensive.
Doug attended a meeting with several member farmers who demanded explanations. One accused the cooperative of buying machines too complex for local mechanics to repair. Another argued that technological progress always required some adjustment and that replacing the new equipment again would be absurd. A third wanted to know why the board had not asked better questions before committing to the purchase. Doug answered as honestly as he could, acknowledging that the fleet had brought genuine operational benefits while admitting that the service-cost structure was worse than predicted. The meeting ended with no easy resolution and a clear instruction from members to find one.
In January 2016, Brandon Cowell attended a regional sales conference and heard service executives discussing increasing demand for authorized support. He remembered Calvin's questions about diagnostic access, questions he had once considered an unusually thorough buyer's concern and nothing more. Brandon was still working in equipment sales and still believed many