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    Home » Everything Amish

    Highland County: Amish Engine Repair?

    Published: Jun 16, 2015 · Updated: Jun 16, 2015 by Kevin Williams | 2 Comments

    771Engine is an Amish-owned engine repair shop in Highland County, Ohio

    771Engine is an Amish-owned engine repair shop in Highland County, Ohio

    By Kevin Williams

    Considering most Amish don't use engines, the odds of finding an Amish engine-repair man seem to be about as high as finding an Amish electrician.   But an Amish engine repairman is exactly what I found while exploring rural Highland County, Ohio last week.

    Three church districts call the area south of Leesburg, Ohio home.  Each church has about 25 families and many of them moved to this less-crowded part of the world from northern Ohio.  I stopped by the shop of Ammon Coblentz, a genial Amish Dad.  Like many Amish fathers he was looking for a way to work from home.  He had been working in construction, but with no experience in engine repair, decided to make the leap.  But first he'd have to learn about repairing engines. So he enrolled in a correspondence course with Stratford Career Institute.

    "Everything was done by mail, I ordered the books and took the tests all by mail,"  Coblentz said.  That seems something of an anomaly in today's world of online testing and online everything.   There's a framed diploma from SCI displayed prominently on Coblentz's wall.   It got me thinking about such courses, take a look at SCI's offerings and programs here.  While most Amish frown upon formal higher education, I'm thinking that there's some wiggle room when it comes to vocational training.  But this was as close to a college diploma as I've seen an Amish person have.

    Coblentz will repair just about any engine imaginable: lawn-mowers, snow-mobiles  When I was there a middle-aged couple brought in a moped.

    "Do you have any experiences repairing mopeds?"  The coupled asked.

    "I think I can probably handle that," Coblentz said confidently.

    This is a busy time of year for Coblentz with it being lawn-mower repair season so he told the couple that he'd get a hold of them in about a week.

    "That's fine, we're not in a hurry," the couple said.

    I asked Ammon about the irony of being an engine repairman when he's not using most of the items he is repairing.   He just chuckled.

    With only 9 acres of land Coblentz said his engine repair shop is a perfect fit.  You can also pick up some free-range eggs while you're there.    These are some other scenes from Coblentz's place.

    Ammon Coblentz's buggy parked outside his shop, stocked with tools of the trade.

    Ammon Coblentz's buggy parked outside his shop, stocked with tools of the trade.

    little chicks which will become broiler hens find a warm spot inside Coblentz's shop

    little chicks which will become broiler hens find a warm spot inside Coblentz's shop

    Horses frolic on the Coblentz property on a warm summer day.

    Horses frolic on the Coblentz property on a warm summer day.

     

     

    « Amish in the News: Mennonite Cemetery Trouble, Mennonites in Nevada, Mennonites in Argentina, and Hutterites in Manitoba
    Weekly Blogroll: Hamless Ham and Bean soup, Rebekah in the Barn; Serenity in Ship, Lemon Sponge Pie, Amish and Yoga?, and German Baptist Singing »

    About Kevin Williams

    Hi, my name is Kevin Williams and I am owner of Oasis Newsfeatures and editor of The Amish Cook newspaper column.

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Jon Fisher

      March 23, 2016 at 12:16 pm

      Is there an address for the location of the Coblentz shop on hwy 771? Contact number? I couldn't find it on google maps. Thanks

      Reply
      • Kevin

        March 23, 2016 at 4:49 pm

        Jon, email me at [email protected] and I can make some suggestions about reaching him!

        Reply

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    Hi There, I'm Kevin!

    Welcome to Amish365, where I share my knowledge of Amish cooking and culture! I’ve spent almost three decades exploring Amish settlements and kitchens from Maine to Montana and almost everywhere in between. I’ll occasionally throw in stories of my travels, journalism adventures (I’m a Pulitzer prize-nominated journalist), fascination with grocery stores and Kmarts, and much more!

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