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Who is seeing youth entering our world?

td25c

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 14, 2009
Messages
5,250
Location
indiana
We see some youth interested in the trades & operating .

Was scoping out a job this morning on some grain bin / leg work .

17 year old kid came in from bush hoggin . He said he ran in to a bees nest & got stung a few times .

We kept measuring off the tubes & figuring out what we needed to do the job .

This boy was thin as a rail & started lookin a little peaked .

I finally said peel your shirt off ......... He got stung a few times , about 25 times .
Sent a hand back to the house for a few taters , peeled them accordingly and taped them around the bee stings .

Swelling went down after an hour & he looked better .

I try to pass down a few old Indian tricks to the kids .:)
 

DMiller

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 21, 2010
Messages
16,434
Location
Hermann, Missouri
Occupation
Cheap "old" Geezer
I was that way, trans work or finals was a great gig but heavy and dirty, brakes always a mess but someone had to get them, I got good at it. Then the electrical started calling with air systems, loved the challenges as you note the ones others would pass on.
 

GaryHoff

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 25, 2009
Messages
810
Location
Alberta, Canada
Occupation
Heavey Equipment Mechanic
I started at a dealership at 18. I did what ever tasks were needed to be done. If it was dirty, wet or messy I was doing it. Did that for 2 years before they started my apprenticeship. That's just how it was. You do your time doing the crap work before you move up the ladder.

Now days the apprentices are embarrassing. They don't have to wash anything because there a specific wash guy now. They fail their first year tests, they lose their drivers licences, and don't want to work any overtime. Spoiled brats I guess. Hopefully this is isn't the norm now.
 

92U 3406

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 3, 2017
Messages
3,100
Location
Western Canuckistan
Occupation
Wrench Bender
I started at a dealership at 18. I did what ever tasks were needed to be done. If it was dirty, wet or messy I was doing it. Did that for 2 years before they started my apprenticeship. That's just how it was. You do your time doing the crap work before you move up the ladder.

Now days the apprentices are embarrassing. They don't have to wash anything because there a specific wash guy now. They fail their first year tests, they lose their drivers licences, and don't want to work any overtime. Spoiled brats I guess. Hopefully this is isn't the norm now.

Oh boy tell me about it. We got a few guys at our shop that are in their 20's and still haven't graduated to their full driver's license yet. I've worked with guys who'd rather wrestle with changing rollers on a completely filthy undercarriage than spend a half hour with the wash wand. Being a full time field tech its an absolute treat to get to work on something clean lol.

I was that way, trans work or finals was a great gig but heavy and dirty, brakes always a mess but someone had to get them, I got good at it. Then the electrical started calling with air systems, loved the challenges as you note the ones others would pass on.

One thing I absolutely loved doing at the dealer I did my apprenticeship through was pins and bushings on excavators. That and assembly/pdi of the big 850 and 1200 excavators. Had a ton of fun working there.
 

Popsicle

New Member
Joined
Jan 2, 2016
Messages
1
Location
Alberta
Started at 18, took me two years of working my ass off in a washbay up in Alberta CA, to get my apprenticeship at the age of 20, W/ a full driver license haha. Now almost a third year. Was very fortunate to have a solid crew of journeyman who fostered the hard work, big reward mentality. They haven't steered me wrong yet!
 

GaryHoff

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 25, 2009
Messages
810
Location
Alberta, Canada
Occupation
Heavey Equipment Mechanic
Welcome to HEF popsicle!! Glad to hear someone recognizes when they have been given a good opportunity, especially with the slow down Alberta has suffered the last few years.
 

Numbfingers

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 28, 2016
Messages
136
Location
Alaska
Occupation
mechanic
For a while, and maybe still, the state was using federal grant money to pay tuition for qualifying students to take diesel classes because there was such a shortage in skilled manpower here to support the need for diesel mechanics. When I worked for Cat, several of the mechanics hired were recruited from the lower 48 because they couldn't fill the positions locally. I'll never go hungry. My oldest son wants to be a mechanic so I've been taking him out on jobs with me. I get to pass on my knowledge while spending time with him before he graduates, and he has a summer job.
 

PJ The Kid

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 11, 2016
Messages
230
Location
KC
Occupation
Mechanic
I think there is a lot at play. Between people getting degrees in bogus things like liberal arts, shop classes being pulled from school, whether it be auto body, welding, ag, construction, auto mechanics. It has been ingrained into my generation (26 years old) that you need a degree to go any where in life. Everyone wants the instant gratification of having the corner office making 100k a year, but nobody wants to work up to that from the bottom. Nobody wants to shovel dirt before they get in a loader for a few years to then become a foreman or super. "They" have devalued almost any and all careers in physical labor and make us all seem like we do it because we are somehow inadequate. There is also a shortage of those willing and able to teach the skilled trades, I went to college and got an associates degree majoring in auto repair. Now most of the instructors have gone back to wrenching themselves. There is no push from highschools to go into skilled trades, a couple years before I started in the automotive program it was a fight just to find a spot to get in, now they have dropped to starting a program every other year due to lack of participation. Furthermore, the cost of skilled trade education is outrageous, along with, at least on the mechanical end, you cant get a job without schooling and certifications. Why pay a huge sum of money for a specialized certification and education for a job where you have to bust your ass when you can get a basic degree for half the price and work in a cushy office and make twice the money from the start? Edit: I also feel like there is a lot of push to do something else by the parents, I know personally my dad and even my uncles tried to push me away from wrenching and do something better, easier with my life. I started for one of my dads old managers at a different shop at 17 and begged that manager not to tell my dad I was working there. I scrubbed the bathroom, scrubbed the floors, replaced bulbs and balasts in the shop, washed and portered cars, even chipped dried concrete from the owners friends bobcat buckets on occasion. I worked my ass off and moved up and then moved on and made my way.
 
Last edited:

mikebramel

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 15, 2012
Messages
1,612
Location
milwaukee
Seems pretty simple from what I see. Most places looking for mechanics or laborers are around $12-15/hr. Sure, if you're a specialist, maybe you'll be at $25-30. But is it worth the hassle to work 12-14 hour days, 100k worth of tools, and never spend time with your family in the on season? You can get a job at a place like Cosco for $14.50/hr with health and retirement, working in A/C and heat, year round, with fixed hours.
 

DMiller

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 21, 2010
Messages
16,434
Location
Hermann, Missouri
Occupation
Cheap "old" Geezer
True, technicians are not getting the pay to justify the work conditions/requirements but the advantages in near future do justify over the COSTCO or big box store jobs.
 

Birken Vogt

Charter Member
Joined
Nov 30, 2003
Messages
5,305
Location
Grass Valley, Ca
There is this new thing they call the "gig economy".

Jobs are getting less permanent so employees are looked on more like independent contractors and sometimes they are classified as such.

Less commitment of employees to employers and vice versa. Chicken and egg.

For the most part I am in favor of this idea. Makes people have to be more nimble and respond to where the work [demand] is.

Being married to an employer has never been as secure as it feels because the employer can always go bust at any time. And the employee has no upside of making extra profit because they work for their hourly or salary no matter what.

Additionally, being an independent makes you feel where the money is going. Have to pay those income tax, sales tax, insurance payments.
 

old-iron-habit

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 22, 2012
Messages
4,233
Location
Moose Lake, MN
Occupation
Retired Cons't. Supt./Hospitals
I had a high school classmate whom designed and built bucket truck booms that reach over rails and are used to inspect bridges. After he met his un-timely death in a 4 wheeler accident I met his son whom was working at the local auto parts store. Dan loves heavy equipment and started working on my classics with me in his spare time. He had helped his dad all thru high school on the boom fabrication stuff. He wanted to become a heavy equipment mechanic, was smart, and a quick learner. He got a union job a year or so later with the Operating Engineers working with a seasoned mechanic as a mechanic's helper. One day in a pinch they put him on a loader to fill in for the day and now 5 years later he is still operating equipment for them. Apparently the heated and cooled equipment cabs is a more comfortable space than under the hood or belly pan. He does get told by the mechanic to fix his own machine if something breaks. It is gratifying when he thanks me for letting him operate my old junk because it gave him the experience to succeed when he was given the chance to operate. I think his words to me was, this new stuff is easy to operate after learning on yours.
 

old-iron-habit

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 22, 2012
Messages
4,233
Location
Moose Lake, MN
Occupation
Retired Cons't. Supt./Hospitals
Being married to an employer has never been as secure as it feels because the employer can always go bust at any time. And the employee has no upside of making extra profit because they work for their hourly or salary no matter what.

This was the one big plus of my union career. Our pension is not held by the company. If an employer goes belly up, the employee's pension was still secure and the next employer paid into the same fund. That being said I had no use for employees that were not dedicated to making the company money. It's a lot easier to get a raise out of a profitable company than it is out of one that is scratching to stay afloat. In my book, attitude and work ethic has to be a top priority no matter where you work or whom you work for.
 

DMiller

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 21, 2010
Messages
16,434
Location
Hermann, Missouri
Occupation
Cheap "old" Geezer
A lot of shops do not have the money to pay around here anymore as the cutthroat shops that use cheap labor for mechanics or operators continues to pull business away. A good local contractor does all his drivers/operators as independent contractors as no need for benefits or incentives as the harder you work the better the pay.
 

Birken Vogt

Charter Member
Joined
Nov 30, 2003
Messages
5,305
Location
Grass Valley, Ca
This was the one big plus of my union career. Our pension is not held by the company. If an employer goes belly up, the employee's pension was still secure and the next employer paid into the same fund

Better not to talk of who holds the pension money in that situation.

Union work is the same boat. Only you are working for the union instead of the man. The down side there is if you want to work in your field for more than wages the union may have something to say about that. Since they own the employee as long as they stay in that field.

There are plenty of other drawbacks but that might exceed the scope of this thread.
 

Buckethead

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 4, 2007
Messages
1,055
Location
Waterfront
Occupation
Operator
I think there is a lot at play. Between people getting degrees in bogus things like liberal arts, shop classes being pulled from school, whether it be auto body, welding, ag, construction, auto mechanics. It has been ingrained into my generation (26 years old) that you need a degree to go any where in life.

I certainly think that is a big part of it. The other thing (thinking more mechanic work than operating here) is that because cars and trucks are more complicated, kids don't grow up helping Dad work on the car, or fixing up their own old car when they get old enough to drive. And I don't know about where you live, but around here, there's less places to ride dirt bikes and quads, that's how a lot of guys got their first wrenching experience, overhauling a little 125 2-stroke dirt bike engine.
 

Junkyard

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 5, 2016
Messages
3,621
Location
Claremore, OK
Occupation
Field Mechanic
I certainly think that is a big part of it. The other thing (thinking more mechanic work than operating here) is that because cars and trucks are more complicated, kids don't grow up helping Dad work on the car, or fixing up their own old car when they get old enough to drive. And I don't know about where you live, but around here, there's less places to ride dirt bikes and quads, that's how a lot of guys got their first wrenching experience, overhauling a little 125 2-stroke dirt bike engine.


My boys won't have the too new and complex to work on. I don't and won't have anything that fancy. My oldest son, 7, is probably one of very few his age that knows what a buzzin dozen is lol. Used to be just about every garage down your street had a craftsman tool box in it. I don't see that so much anymore. $100,000 worth of vehicles in the drive and $1,000 worth of crap in the garage :p
 
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