Correctly upkeeping equipment helps agriculture businesses succeed in a number of highly important ways.

First, well-maintained equipment is ready to be used when you need them. In a farming business, where timing is everything and the environment can be unreliable, machine breakdowns at an inopportune time can severely interrupt operations or bring them to a halt.

Second, well-maintained devices can work longer and more efficiently than equipment in bad shape. This saves money for other major business ventures, and advances the performance and profitability of the business.

Third, well-maintained machines possess a higher trade-in rate, helping you afford high-quality modern equipment at the cheapest possible cost.

Fourth, machines that are maintained well are considerably less likely to need significant repairs — repairs that not only cost a lot of money but also, as discussed above, may push you to roll back operations or tentatively close down, perhaps at the worst possible time.

Fifth, and maybe most crucial of all, a well-maintained machine is more safe to use. Machine failures, quick emergency repairs in the field, or even dry debris stuck in a machine that ignites a fire, expose machine drivers and crews to injury. This is where an ounce of precautionary maintenance is truly worth a pound of cure.

The infographic below, 13 Farm Equipment Maintenance Tips, is an very insightful guide and reminder that includes simple but essential steps for preserving tractors, trucks, harvesters, cultivators, plows and other agricultural tools in peak condition — whether they have beenat work in the fields for a year or longer than a decade.