Rent or buy, the issue is that if a harvester breaks down in the field
it could be 3 ~4 days before a technician gets to the field, diagnoses
and has to order a part, wait for said part and come back to your field to
replace it. That machine being down for two weeks during harvest could
mean the farmer losing a whole lot of money.
"Somewhere in Dallas, some poor bastard is wondering why his phone rings off the hook with calls for the Nevada Division of Mental Health & Developmental Services, the Jackson County Florida Chamber of Commerce, a yacht club in New York….."
And NASA, apparently
http://sbir.gsfc.nasa.gov/award_firm_list/selection_nid/3513...