“No.”
“Then how?”
“Tom pulled one off a demo tractor.”
Leonard wrote.
Third was Greg Nolan.
Greg had operated Fendt for four seasons.
“Would you buy them again?”
Leonard asked.
“Yes.”
“Wrong question.”
Greg laughed.
“What’s the right one?”
“What has annoyed you most?”
“The learning curve.”
“Controls?”
“Yeah. Vario system is excellent once your hands stop expecting the old tractor.”
“Parts?”
“Better than I expected.”
“Dealer promises?”
Greg paused.
“Tom missed one.”
Leonard stopped writing.
“Tell me.”
“Planter tractor went down. Electronic module. He said next morning. Part didn’t arrive.”
“How late?”
“Two days.”
“What happened?”
“He brought a loaner that afternoon.”
“So you were stopped?”
“About eight hours.”
“Did that cost you?”
“Annoyed me more than it cost me.”
“Good.”
Leonard wrote every answer.
Then fuel.
DEF consumption.
Resale.
Auction results.
Five-year values.
Trade values.
Insurance.
Financing.
Operator training.
He also evaluated what switching would cost beyond money.
His existing implements were compatible but some hydraulic and electronic setups required changes.
Operators would need training.
Leonard himself would need training.
His hired man, Curtis Hale, had operated Deere controls for twelve years.
Curtis was fifty-three and resistant to unnecessary change.
When Leonard first mentioned Fendt, Curtis stared at him.
“All six?”
“I’m evaluating.”
“You hate touchscreens.”
“I tolerate them.”
“You complain about automatic doors.”
“They open too slowly.”
Curtis shook his head.
“You really leaving Deere?”
“Maybe.”
“County’s going to think you lost your mind.”
“The county doesn’t make my payments.”
That ended the discussion.
Leonard also called Prairie Plains.
Not to complain.
To ask questions.
He asked Dan what changes were planned for parts availability.
What service staffing would look like next spring.
Whether critical components could be locally stocked.
Dan answered honestly.
The dealership knew it had capacity problems.
They had lost two senior technicians.
Hiring was difficult.
Corporate inventory systems limited some stocking decisions.
Expansion was planned.
Nothing could guarantee the timeline Leonard needed.
“I wish I had a better answer,” Dan said.
“So do I.”
“Are you looking at another color?”
“Yes.”
Dan went quiet.
“All of it?”
“Possibly.”
“Seventeen years.”
“I know.”
“We’ve taken care of you.”
“You have.”
“Then why?”
Leonard looked at the four-year table.
“Because what worked for seventeen years is not working now.”
Dan did not argue.
Maybe he understood.
Maybe he did not.
Leonard did not need him to.
Two weeks after Tom’s visit, Selby Ag returned with a formal proposal.
This time Tom brought a product specialist and a service manager.
The fleet plan did not simply replace six machines with six similarly sized ones.
Leonard hated sales plans built around model symmetry.
He wanted job coverage.
Two high-horsepower Fendt 900 Vario tractors for primary tillage and major planting work.
A mid-range unit for drilling, grain-cart support, and lighter field operations.
Two utility machines.
One loader-equipped tractor.
Tom explained every recommendation.
Leonard challenged several.
One tractor was larger than Leonard thought necessary.
Tom justified it with drawbar requirements and the ability to serve as emergency backup for the primary machine.
Leonard accepted that.