14 Industry News INTEROPERABILITY CONCERNS The lack of interoperability between different equipment brands has long been a source of frustration for some farmers. Allowing consumers the right to bypass some digital locks – such as that proposed in Bill C-244 – could change this. However, Klotzbach reiterates that manufacturers will “draw the line” at actions that circumvent safety features. McGrath says “timing is everything” when it comes to resolving equipment problems and that timing of repairs factors into many safety issues. “A repair that happens to your combine at harvest – clearly, there’s a huge sense of urgency and anxiety that goes along with getting that piece of equipment back up and running…The sense of urgency, the economic necessity and livelihoods are at stake, and the right to repair helps encourage a diverse repair market to get these things done quickly, affordably, and in a means that works for any particular producer at any particular time.” REPAIR – OR MODIFICATION? The difference between repair and modification is critical. Maines says while manufacturers support repairs, they often do not support modifications. Increasing the horsepower of a tractor, for example, can be dangerous. It can also be unfair to any subsequent buyers of the machine, who may not realize the modification has been made. “About 33 per cent of the equipment that comes in on trade now has either been [modified] or had delete systems installed to disable the diesel emission fluid requirements of the engines. Those are modifications to the operating system. That’s not a repair.” Klotzbach says modifications – often called “chipping” – have often been associated continued from page 13 with operators trying to bypass emission sensors. The consequences of doing so are often a failure to meet engine emissions rates designed by the manufacturer while also incurring reduced performance and greater fuel consumption. “The other part of chipping is trying to get enhanced performance, getting more power out of that engine,” says Klotzbach. “You’re putting more power to those drives. And those drives are more susceptible to failure, possible catastrophic failure because they’re not designed to handle that kind of power. The outcome of that is more broken parts, and sooner, and maybe it creates an unsafe situation. It’s all a very delicate balance in the design.”•
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