Farm Equipment Mechanics and Service Technicians
In short: today's best AI models could do about 3% of this job's working time (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) if the work were set up for them, and about the same by the end of 2028 if progress keeps its long-run pace. The people and hands-on work, about 97% of the time, stays with people.
Diagnose, adjust, repair, or overhaul farm machinery and vehicles, such as tractors, harvesters, dairy equipment, and irrigation systems.
37,870 people do this job in the US. $56,550 a year.
A typical 40-hour week
Not yet reviewed task by task- AI could take on1 h
- A person checks AI's work0 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet0 h
- Stays with people39 h
Farm Equipment Mechanics and Service Technicians, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 1 hours, 0 hours become checking its work, 0 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 39 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Record details of repairs made and parts used (under an hour).
Estimates for a typical week of this job, if progress keeps its long-run pace, counting work the best models finish four times in five. Every task is below.
of the working time. Now is projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index.
- 3%
- 0%
- 97%
of the work: Anthropic's measure of what people already bring to Claude at work (2025). It counts help with part of a task, so it can be higher than the share within reach.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
Change assumptionsHide assumptionsLong-run pace, four in five
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 2.4 work days long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 3%. Today's estimate: 3%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
Measured use over time
Of the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled and tied to a work task, no reportable share went to this job's tasks in May 2026; 0 of its 14 tasks showed up.
Each release
| Conversations | Share | Rank | Tasks seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Released February 2025 | none | n/a | 0 of 14 |
| Released March 2025 | none | n/a | 0 of 14 |
| The week of Aug 4, 2025 (released September 2025) | none | n/a | 0 of 14 |
| The week of Nov 13, 2025 (released January 2026) | 0.0021% | 639 of 672 | 1 of 14 |
| The week of Feb 5, 2026 (released March 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 14 |
| April 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 14 |
| May 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 14 |
Measured, not estimated: Anthropic's samples of Claude.ai conversations, each tied by a model to an O*NET task, from the Anthropic Economic Index. It says where Claude's use goes, not how much of this job's working time it covers, so it is not on the same scale as the reach above. The releases differ in their sample, their classifier and the smallest share they report (the June 2026 file rounds each task to a hundredth of a percent, so a smaller task reads as none), which is why a change of method starts a new line. At least 96% of each older release's task-tied use matched this site's tasks, and all of the newest. Claude.ai only, so use through other tools and other companies' models is not in it. Every job ranked.
Robots and the physical work
Anthropic rates 91% of this job's working time as physical work. For 15% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 8% in a purpose-built cell, 7% in a structured facility. 0.22 of 3, the 422nd highest of the 923 jobs.
- Not physical 9%
- No robot shown 76%
- In a purpose-built cell 8%
- In a structured facility 7%
Anthropic's rating, not this site's estimate: Claude Opus 5, searching the web, rated each physical O*NET task by the kind of setting in which a robot it could cite (deployed, sold or demonstrated) does most of the task, weighted by its own estimate of each task's share of the time (What work can robots do?, September 30, 2026, data CC BY 4.0; every job ranked). A robot shown somewhere is not a robot in your building: cost, setup and safety decide that. The share within reach on this page still counts no body work. The robot behind each rated task is under the task below.
The tasks
Sorted by . 14 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maintain, repair, and overhaul farm machinery and vehicles, such as tractors, harvesters, and irrigation systems.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 18% | 6.7 h1.7 h to 2.1 work days | Stays with people | |
| Repair or replace defective parts, using hand tools, milling and woodworking machines, lathes, welding equipment, grinders, or saws.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 17% | 2.5 h50 min to 5 h | Stays with people | |
| Reassemble machines and equipment following repair, testing operation and making adjustments, as necessary.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 14% | 1.7 h38 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Tune or overhaul engines.Done yearly or less by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 13% | 6.7 h1.7 h to 3.1 work days | Stays with people | |
| Dismantle defective machines for repair, using hand tools.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 11% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Test and replace electrical components and wiring, using test meters, soldering equipment, and hand tools.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 6% | 1.7 h38 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Clean and lubricate parts.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Staubli TX90 HE / RX160 washing robots in industrial washing cells (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 5% | 38 min13 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Examine and listen to equipment, read inspection reports, and confer with customers to locate and diagnose malfunctions.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 5% | 1.1 h25 min to 2.1 h | Stays with people | |
| Fabricate new metal parts, using drill presses, engine lathes, and other machine tools.Done more than monthly by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, CNC turning center with automatic bar feeder (Custom Tool, Cookeville TN) (Various machine tool/bar feeder builders) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 4% | 3.3 h1.3 h to 6.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Drive trucks to haul tools and equipment for on-site repair of large machinery.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a structured facility, Cat MineStar Command for hauling (autonomous Cat 789D/793F/797F haul trucks) (Caterpillar) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 3% | 50 min25 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Record details of repairs made and parts used.Done daily by most who do it. | 2% | 17 min8 min to 33 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Repair bent or torn sheet metal.Done more than monthly by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 2% | 1.7 h38 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- Mobile Heavy Equipment Mechanics, Except Engines6% now, 6% by 2028
- Industrial Machinery Mechanics13% now, 13% by 2028
- Outdoor Power Equipment and Other Small Engine Mechanics8% now, 8% by 2028
- Maintenance and Repair Workers, General11% now, 13% by 2028
- Engine and Other Machine Assemblers9% now, 9% by 2028
- Electric Motor, Power Tool, and Related Repairers3% now, 3% by 2028
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
- Machinery, Equipment, and Supplies Merchant Wholesalers26,710 people
- Support Activities for Crop Production3,230 people
- Commercial and Industrial Machinery and Equipment (except Automotive and Electronic) Repair and Maintenance1,710 people
- Merchant Wholesalers, Nondurable Goods (4241, 4247, and 4249 only)1,340 people
- Lawn and Garden Equipment and Supplies Retailers1,160 people
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).
Questions about this job
- How much of the work of Farm Equipment Mechanics and Service Technicians is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 3% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 3% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five. Within reach means a model could finish work that long at that reliability. It is not a forecast of jobs lost or of savings.
- Which tasks of Farm Equipment Mechanics and Service Technicians come within reach first?
- Weighted by the time each takes, the tasks with the most within reach now (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) are: Record details of repairs made and parts used (100% of the task's time now); and Calculate bills according to record of repairs made, labor time, and parts used (100% of the task's time now).
- Which tasks of Farm Equipment Mechanics and Service Technicians stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Maintain, repair, and overhaul farm machinery and vehicles, such as tractors, harvesters, and irrigation systems; Repair or replace defective parts, using hand tools, milling and woodworking machines, lathes, welding equipment, grinders, or saws; and Reassemble machines and equipment following repair, testing operation and making adjustments, as necessary. Together such tasks are about 97% of the working time.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Farm Equipment Mechanics and Service Technicians?
- In the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled for May 2026, no reportable share went to this job's tasks. Anthropic's labor market measure puts the share of the job's tasks seen in real Claude use at work at 0%. These are measures of use, not of how much of the work AI could finish, and they cover Claude only.
- Can robots do the physical work of Farm Equipment Mechanics and Service Technicians?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 91% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 15% of the working time, 7% in a structured facility. Its index is 0.22 of 3. One example: Cat MineStar Command for hauling (autonomous Cat 789D/793F/797F haul trucks) for "drive trucks to haul tools and equipment for on-site repair of large machinery". A robot shown somewhere is not one in every workplace; this site's own estimates still count no physical work as within reach.
- How is this estimated?
- From the 14 tasks O*NET lists for the occupation, each with an estimated length checked against GDPval and a share of the working time, each classed as desk, people or body work, and METR's measurements of how long a task the best AI models can finish, carried forward to the date from the latest, Claude Mythos Preview (early) in April 2026. Data checked November 10, 2026.
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