Mobile Welding?

E&Jinc.

I'm thinking about going to school to become a certified welder and do onsite welding. How demanding is this and just wondering on someone elses opinion

WarnerConstInc.

Good luck paying for the rig you will need to do that sort of stuff.

Chris Johnson

90% of the welding I have done for structural is completed on site. Runs me around $ 85.00 an hour plus materials.

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Chris

WarnerConstInc.

Yeah, to pay for a 14,000 dollar welder. You can get cheaper but, only a few for more.

rustyjames

Expect to spend a lot of time burning wire because to become proficient that's what it's going to take. Also, there's a big difference learning in a cozy school setting than in the field, on a ladder welding overhead when it's 100 degrees out.

Aggie67

I applaud you for wanting to learn a trade. Do yourself a favor and learn fitting and fabrication, also. Drives me nuts when a guy says he can weld, but doesn't know how to measure and fit.

It can be demanding, but it's not like your humping block or tarring a roof. It takes a steady hand and good concentration.

Also, not every place will make you weld off of a ladder. I actually forbid my guys from doing that.

And if you want to be a rare commodity, learn pipe fitting and welding, and bring a great work ethic to the east coast.

wyoming 1

Or when it is 15 out with a strong wind. The welders here have had a hay day the last 5 years anywhere from $75 to $125 an hour. Now that the oil & gas boom here has slowed we will see what happens. I personaly wouldn't worry about the $14,000 I have alot more invested in tools than that to earn less by the hour. Welding is a noble trade and in the big city that might be a good place to be a union welder? I do not know what a welder makes working for someone else everyone here is independent.

denick

E&J Inc.

If this is going to be your business look into the Insurance requirements. A young guy who does our welding on the side is a great welder. Has his certifications up to doing heavy bridge work. He works a job and does it part time and is great at it. He built himself a shop last year and bought some newer equipment because of the work his reputation is bringing in. Well his biggest new client asked for a certificate of insurance. He makes $50,000. at his day job and had been making another 20,000. clear after work doing welding nights and weekends. The insurance policy and taxes on his new shop are $27,000. a year. Onsite welding is not included in his policy. Big liability in on site welding.

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Nick

"Every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life are based on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving" Albert Einstein

Bender

I would love to try pipe welding

E&Jinc.

thank you that was the awnser i was looking for

JTMcC

Coming out of a welding school a guy will have just a very, very basic and limited understanding of the work. Several years of field experience later he will "maybe" have the knowledge to start working for himself in a particular aspect of the big welding world.

JTMcC.

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Aggie67

JTMcC is spot on correct. It's pretty much like any schooling. You go to school and learn the coursework/basics, get your card for plate or pipe, then you get in the field and apply what you learned to new things, and you never stop learning. We have a guy that was taught welding by the Navy. He's an excellent welder, but at first it was only in a very narrow band of processes and materials, and his lack of knowledge in the other processes and materials made him stick out like a sore thumb. But he was taught the basics very well, and he's a quick learner. He's one of my favorite employees now. But go for it, I say. The only way you'll live a dream is to start going after it.

Greg Di

I keep my Mig welder in my trailer...does that count?

Never actually pulled it out on a jobsite though!

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BigLou80

Then why keep it on the trailer ? I try not to haul around tools I don't use

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BigLou80

E&J

Its very demanding but can be really profitable, I would say the minimum is $85/hour and a good welder doing the right type of welding can get upwords of $200/hour. The up front equipment cost can be a lot depending on what you plan on doing 100's of feet of 0/2 welding cable adds up really fast.

Can you get good enough to weld by looking at a mirror ? or bend over the last three inches of a welding rod(not everything is wire feed) and use that to weld the back side of a pipe up against a wall ? My father has done both of them welding on steam pipe. Like some one else has said you also need to be able to fit all the peices together

I don't think its possible to go to school and get the experience to do all types of welding some one could need on site. I think it will be hard to market your self when you are only able to perform a few welding related tasks.

Best of luck

Lou

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E&Jinc.

thanks for the input. I welded in h.s. but just very basic mig and arc welding. I had a lot of fun just welding pieces of metal together. What makes this field so demanding?

Chris Johnson

The demand is when you need a welder you need a certified welder, which in my area requires a special inspector and when he shows up his first question is 'who's the certified welder and where is his certificate'.

I would say in my opinion the trade is as specialized as plumbing and electrical, everyone thinks they can do it, but until you finish school and have that certificate on the wall, who are you?

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Chris