That afternoon, I was towing my neighbor's disk harrow to chop in her rye and my barley. Though I don't share her memories of horse-drawn machinery, I have long experience with a shovel and hoe. The tractor helps. Although my involvement in tractor repair is new, my understanding of internal combustion and Newtonian mechanics spans almost 40 years. Nearly every possible repair is easily within my ken, given a shop manual and occasional advice.
Parts are large and practically self-explanatory.
A cracked bearing is visibly defective. A burned out starter won't crank. My tractor has never caught a virus. In retrospect, I saw that the day had neatly compassed the new and old economies, while highlighting the truth that the really important stuff endures. Physical work requires physical strength.