That time a farmer showed me a diesel fix I still use today

I was out near Lubbock last fall working on a irrigation pump and an old farmer walked over while I was scratching my head over a fuel issue. He just pointed at a little bleeder screw I had overlooked and said "sometimes the smallest thing is the biggest problem." After I got it running he showed me how he cleans his injector nozzles with a brass brush and diesel fuel instead of replacing them. Has anyone else picked up a trick from someone who wasn't even a mechanic?

3 comments

3 Comments

davis.noah1mo ago

That brass brush trick is solid... I've seen guys spend hundreds on new nozzles when a good cleaning would've done the same thing. The real secret is how gentle most farmers are with their equipment compared to what you'd expect from the outside looking in. Sometimes the best mechanic advice comes from someone who just learned what works through trial and error out in the field.

the_wendy1mo ago

Right, because nothing says "tough farmer" like petting your sprayer nozzle clean with a soft brass brush. I guess the real hard part is admitting you've been buying new nozzles out of sheer laziness for the last ten years. At least the trial and error method saves your wallet a beating before it saves your pride.

cora5181mo ago

@the_wendy you're not wrong, new nozzles are a total waste.