In order to determine needs for teaching various competencies in agricultural mechanics courses, a study was conducted to determine the types and frequencies of service/repair operations performed by an Arizona agricultural machinery company from January 1 to June 30, 1981. Data were obtained from 1,232 service orders at the Arizona Machinery Company in Buckeye, Arizona, which services all types of farm machinery. Data were also gathered from interviews with the shop foreman, a field serviceman, and the sales manager. The study found that jobs involving power train, electrical, hydraulic, cooling, and air conditioning systems represented two-thirds of all tasks performed by mechanics at this major farm machinery dealership. Nearly two-thirds of all service orders received by the mechanics involved work conducted in-shop. Of the jobs performed in the field, nearly one-half involved air conditioning and hydraulics. More than two-thirds of all service orders involved work conducted on tractors. The implications of the study for vocational education are that agricultural mechanics in Arizona require a broad range of mechanical competencies and that, when developing specialized curricula for secondary or postsecondary programs in agricultural power and machinery, developers should pay attention to providing instruction that ensures that students have the opportunity to experience hands-on training. (A list of these competencies, the knowledge, and skills needed by agricultural mechanics make up a large part of this document.) (KC)