Learnsings.

My dad holds a low opinion of my ability to wield tools and fix machinery. He came by his opinion quite appropriately, for as a child I would avoid work as much as was possible; on a farm, half the work is wielding wrenches. Of course, now I must get things done. And wrenches I do wield.
Mechanical ability is one part the logical ability to figure out how things come apart and go together in space, one part deciding on and finding the correctest tool to do it, and one tiny part the ability to use the tools. The coming apart and going back together part seems to me to be mostly experience. I usually stop one step short or go too far in my dismantling, both ending with frustration. The tool choosing part is also mostly experience, with a small bit of creativity. If you can imagine a specific tool, someone somewhere makes it. And if you don’t want to go to the trouble of finding it, it’s usually possible to create a crude facsimile from others tools in any well stocked shop. Tools are neat. And, most any monkey could use most of the tools we do.
So if you boil that all down, yeah, I’m of the opinion that mechanical ability is mostly knowledge and experience. Of which I have only so far a little of. But anyone could create their own, given the time, effort and necessity/want. It’s a great skill to have, and anyone could have it, really.

There are two skills I should have as a farmer. The ability to weld and the ability to use a cutting torch. I have neither. Yesterday my friend’s dad introduced me to MIG welding. MIG I like. Which is too bad, because all I have is a stick welding system.