The largest Case-IH dealer in southern Saskatchewan is giving an excellent deal to a program that will train the industry’s future service technicians.
Young’s Equipment has made a large in-kind donation which allows the school to own the equipment.
“We can borrow machines from any of the industry players, but we really can’t do any invasive-type work,” said Chris Thomson, head of the Ag Technician Program. “When we own the machine, we can plant bugs so we can change how it interacts and have the students do the diagnostics on it.”
Thomson had originally hoped to purchase two pieces of used equipment for $160,000 with money from the Sask Polytech Capital Equipment Purchases Fund. He received several replies from industry, including Young’s Equipment.
“The gift-in-kind is $275,000.” Thomson said. “So we paid $120,000 for about four hundred and some thousand dollars of equipment. It’s a huge thing for us to be able to pull that off.”
This will augment the school’s agricultural equipment base.
“We still have tractors from the seventies which are useful for very basic entry level stuff. As a piece of equipment ages, we just simply use it for the best of its abilities.”
Second year student Morgan Kuntz says the donation improves the quality of his education and training.
“It is great to work on older equipment, such as the 970’s and 1070’s, but the reality is when we get into the work force, we will be working on newer equipment. By giving us these new machines, we can have a better understanding and ability to diagnose problems before we get into the workshops and do this for a living,” Kuntz said.
The in-kind donation includes a Case IH front loader, CVT transmission, combine PTO gear box and core, CASE IH MAXXUM tractor, Case Farmall tractor and two Kubota engines.
“Without trained service technicians, we cannot run a business,” said Tim Young, general manager of Young’s Equipment. “Even the world’s best equipment breaks down now and then. If you don’t have the proper training, you will not be able to fix that equipment and get the farmer up and running.”
The company has about 110 agricultural equipment technicians at its nine locations and Young estimates that about 80 percent are SaskPoly or SIAST alumni.
The company also sponsors five scholarship awards annually.
Young’s Equipment is a family-owned business with nine locations in Regina, Moose Jaw, Assiniboia, Windthorst, Weyburn, Davidson, Raymore, Watrous and Chamberlain.
(Above photo–Chris Thomson speaking at Feb 27 news conference at Sask Polytech in Saskatoon. Photo courtesy of Sask Polytech)
