Ballpark figures below so you can budget. Expect a real number before the truck moves — and ask for one if it isn't offered.
Expect a call-out charge to get the rig to you plus an hourly rate on site — commonly that pencils out to somewhere in the low hundreds for a straightforward repair like a cracked hitch or a gate bracket, more for heavy sections, machining- adjacent work, or a long drive out. Nights and harvest emergencies cost more, and honestly, they should. Get the number settled on the call, before anyone rolls.
Often yes, with caveats. Aluminum and stainless want cleaner conditions and usually a different process than mild steel — wind is the enemy of shielding gas, so a shop, lean-to, or even a tarp windbreak makes a real difference. Say what the metal is on the call (a photo helps; a magnet test helps more) and the welder will tell you whether it's a field job or a bring-it-in job.
Yes — it's done all winter, with preheating and patience. Cold steel drinks heat, so joints get preheated (torch or induction) before an arc is struck, and thick sections take longer than they would in July. What stops a job isn't usually cold, it's wind — a windbreak turns a miserable maybe into a routine repair.
Harvest is triage season and everyone knows it. Field-down equipment jumps the line ahead of "whenever" projects like railings. Call, say the words "combine" or "grain cart," and ask for the ETA straight — sometimes that's an hour, sometimes it's "first light tomorrow."
Slapping a plate over a crack without addressing it is how the crack comes back six inches longer. Done right, the crack gets ground out or drilled at the tips, welded, and then reinforced if the design needs it. On anything that goes down the highway, ask the welder to walk you through the repair — a good one will do it unprompted.
Four things: what broke, what it's made of (steel, aluminum, stainless — guess is fine), whether there's power on site (a generator on your end sometimes saves money), and where the machine sits — town address or "the quarter west of the elevator" both work. Text a photo after the call and quoting gets faster still.