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The Rural Voice, 2004-12, Page 54AgriTech A time to repair or replace equipment Janice Becker is a computer enthusiast and journalist living near Walton. ON. The days are growing shorter and. for the most part, the corn harvest is complete. After a few weeks. or maybe only days, to recover from exceptionally long workdays, many farmers will begin the winter task of major maintenance on their equipment or seek replacements for that which just made it through this season. So, in search of sites that would assist in the hunt for parts or new equipment, I started with Prairie Links, www.farmeitofarmer.com. The page is laid out in an easy- to -use format with straightforward listings. If you know what you are looking for, enter the information in the Used Farm Equipment search in the top right section of the home page. This immediately takes you to agdealer.com and a listing of all items that meet your criteria. Not only does the site give a few specs on the equipment, but lists the price in both American and Canadian dollars. the location of the item and offers a picture. Back at Prairie Links, under the Classifieds. there are items to search ranging from antiques to farm property. toys, parts and service to livestock. Once again, I found the layout very convenient to use so you are not searching through hundreds of listings, but can narrow the field to the area of interest. In keeping with its name, Prairie Links is a great place to start a search as it connects you to dozens of other sources. I definitely suggest bookmarking this site. A much more difficult site to use, but possibly more appealing to those seeking a more personalized search, BuyAg, www.buyag.com, asks users to submit a request for sought-after equipment. The submission is then fordvarded to a number of dealers who, in return, present quotes HELP FOR ONTARIO FARMERS IN CRISIS Queen's Bush Rural Ministries Provides - a free confidential service to listen and offer a network of helpful contacts. Call Collect 1-519-369-6774 50 THE RURAL VOICE Check out our great selection of books from the Rural Reading Room on Pages 48-49 through a secure link. The searchable database also allows users to punch in specific information and look through the offerings. Equipment and parts can be bought through the website with all major credit cards, cheques, money orders or BuyAg credit. The Ontario -based EquipmentSearch.com, which recently opened an American head office in St. Louis, Missouri, has been in operation since 1996, serving not just the agriculture sector, but transportation industries as a whole. If you want to go straight to the agriculture section, try www.agriculturesearch.com. By simply choosing from a list of equipment types, manufacturer, year and the options of new, used or for rent, your choices appear. Photos of featured vehicles are an interesting look at the offerings and price ranges. With user-friendly instructions, individuals can advertise one item for just $29.95, until the item is sold. Another site to check out is farmequipmentauction.com that has listings from North American, Great Britain, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. By clicking on the country, a province, state or territory can then be chosen. Upcoming auctions are posted or you can register to be notified by e-mail when auctions of interest arise. Antique seekers can go to www.yesterdaystractors.com. There is a huge amount of information here and a buff could spend a great deal of time on this site. Each website mentioned has numerous other links and interesting material so go searching. You may be a farmer if...you convince your wife that an overnight, out -of -province trip for equipment parts is a vacation. This joke is thanks to Prairie Links, which credits @gOnline, Grainnews and Ron Petrie of the Regina Leader Post. Contact me at jlbecker@wightman.ca or through The Rural Voice office.0 i