Service Story
Bringing the Shop to the Field
How Mobile Service Capabilities Keep Catesa Farms Moving
By Scott Perkey, regional sales manager at Stellar
For large-scale farming operations, productivity is measured in acres tilled and crops harvested. Every minute of downtime matters, especially during planting and harvest seasons, when weather windows are tight and equipment is expected to perform at its highest level at any time of day or night. That reality is something Catesa Farms knows well. Founded in 1927, the family-owned operation has spent nearly a century growing and evolving alongside Tennessee agriculture. Today, the farm spans approximately 9,000 acres across six counties, producing corn, soybeans, wheat, milo, strawberries and watermelons. George McDonald, whose greatgrandfather started Catesa Farms, currently runs the operation.
Managing thousands of acres across multiple counties presents unique challenges, particularly when it comes to maintaining equipment. With fields stretching hours away from the farm ' s main property, transporting machinery back to a central shop for repairs or routine maintenance is often impractical.
" When you have a machine go down in the field, you can ' t necessarily haul it two hours back to the shop to work on it," says Kyle Cato, operations manager at Catesa Farms. " We have to bring our shop to the field."
The Challenge: Keeping Equipment Moving Across Six Counties
A service vehicle is nothing new for Catesa Farms, but purchasing a new mechanic truck in 2024 helped to bring their productivity into this century. Now the operation has a truck that is capable of bringing all the necessary tools, parts and resources directly to the machine. The result has been faster repairs, reduced transportation costs and more productive equipment hours.
The mechanic truck in Catesa Farm’ s fleet serves as a fully equipped mobile workspace, allowing the farm’ s technicians to perform everything from preventative maintenance to major repairs without leaving the field.
" Now we have our shop in the field," says Cato. " It has the capacity to bring all the tools and lubricants necessary to repair equipment in the field."
July 2026 | www. FarmersHotLine. com | 27