I can attest to the WD40, Vice Grips, Duct Tape thing.... it's true.
One of the things I loved about farming was the 'spur of the moment' fixes we had to 'invent'. Really, it could be like a riddle and always involved 'thinking out of the box'. No doubt at all 21Dog can verify this.
I remember once, a very long time ago... we were using an 'electronic thinner' for planted crops. A sensor wire went out... and a trip to John Deere revealed a replacement was $92. A quick trip down to our local grocery store, and $4 later, I had the replacement installed and working perfectly.
And yes, some duct tape was involved.