[michaelt]

There's actually something called a "Machinery Cooperative" where several farmers club together to buy a combine harvester which they all share.

Of course, it operates at a different level to the co-op kiliantics describes; you can't have 10 farmers share a $800K machine unless your mean member has $80K cash on hand.

[bluGill]

Except that all farmers in an area need the combine on the same day. Which is why a lot of farmers don't own a combine - they hire a crew that comes with not only a combine, but also semi trucks, grain carts and all the other special equipment needed for harvest. Then when your farm is done they move to a new area (north in North America) where the harvest is ready. However at the end of the day someone needs to pay the multi-millions of dollars that the harvest operation is.

[raptor99]

You know, I was going to poke fun of you at first, but I've had the thought and notion several times that it would be so nice if I could share equipment with other people physically close to me (neighborhood, area, etc). Most of the equipment that I do have or own sits unused most of the time, and I feel it would be nice for others to benefit from it as well at a reduced cost since we could all share it somehow.