Careers as a Heavy Duty Mechanic

[Coaldust]

Everything I know about working in Canada, I learnt from Terry and Deaner.

 

[wornout wrench]

Hey Kg.
I started my career as a heavy duty mechanic on June 20, 1976 and retired on June 30, 2018. I was 22 when I got my TQ.

I had a pretty good run.
Most of it was keeping the westcoast logging industry running and most of that was working at in the dark, (afternoon shift). Lots and lots of shift work. Did lots of camp work too.

Would I do it again, hell yeah.
It was a great job. Lots of the time it was just me and a partner somewhere out in the forest fixing what ever the loggers managed to bust up that day. I loved working in the field.

Yes my back is toast but I'm not blaming the job, I take full responsibility for being an idiot and doing this to myself.

I will be honest. There was many a time when I wondered why I chose this job. But give me a week to cool down and I would be back to being my happy self.

There were years of famine but the years of prosperity out weighted the crap years many times over.

I went management 3 times, but never really liked it so went back onto the floor.
Worked forestry most of the time.
I worked 2 dealerships
Did a stint at the tar sands (Hated that place)
Worked as support for a hydroelectric generation plant for 3 years. That was a cool job, was involved in the rebuild of a 125 MW generator. 150,000 HP turbines.
Did time in an aluminum smelter.
Dipped my toes into mining at a coal mine (Could not get away from that place fast enough either).

But always went back logging. I love my P16's, Madil 124's and Cypress 7280's.

I miss it.
Except for the nights when there is a force 10 gale blowing, the rain is coming down sideways.
Those nights I usually savor a nice glass of fine whiskey and remember the good old days instead.

Good luck and if you do decide to go this path be ready for a ride.

 

[Coaldust]

Wornout Wrench,

Much respect. I mean that.

 

[Coaldust]

My friends in Canada showed me how to “Give’r” and how to “Send it”. Very important skills to have in the heavy iron biz. God bless them.

If you ain’t givin’er you ain’t livin’er.

 

[Welder Dave]

Being in Canada, the vast majority (if not all) of the trades require apprenticeships and schooling. Its not as simple as just buying a set of tools and going to work as a mechanic. Without that Journeyman certification you are severely kneecapping your opportunities.

1500 hours on the job, 8 weeks in the classroom. Repeat 3 more times.

It used to be 1800 hours and 6 weeks, for welding anyway. In Alberta a lot trades require that you are either a journeyman or an indentured apprentice to work in the trade of choice. Of course workers from other provinces dispute it but Alberta has the highest standards in Canada for most trades. A few weldors from Ontario and further East have admitted the Alberta standards are higher and the tests are harder.

In fairly recent years they've tried to standardize requirements across Canada so a Red Seal ticket from another province means something. In the past Alberta didn't recognize tickets from other provinces but an Alberta Red Seal and especially Alberta pressure ticket(s) are recognized around the world. Not that other places don't have very good trades people. Welding is a little different because every pressure ticket has to be renewed every 2 years and often every time you go to a new job, you have to pass a job test. If you do pipeline or work in a pipe/vessel shop they want less than 10% failure rate on your X-Rays or they'll send you down the road.

 

[Leroyb]

10k in tools is a good start. Really depends on how you approach the job. Some step on aboard and right away want to be managers. Work is plenty from heavy to precision work. Some places you have to be able to weld and air arc like equalizer beams on dozers. Safety is a big thing. Cribbing and blocking heavy iron . It moves things get messed up. And a rule of thumb don’t hire on until you see your service truck and 8,000 pound is minimum. Schooling will get you basic . But most of it is after work research to keep on top of the changing technology. Pay is good and it’s weekly. If you have your own truck you can rent it and work.. like contract mechanic then your looking at big bucks . Good luck don’t get lazy and push yourself.

 

[DMiller]

With all that being said about me disliking degrees. I am actually considering going to school and getting a degree so I can get that desk job running the show. I still believe that experience trumps education, but the world doesn't see it my way. So if I can't beat'em might as well join them.

Whole purpose of the degree programs was to entry level those that could advance into management, that said there are only a few gonna get there and most do not want what they get when do get there and the floor looks all the more better but cannot return. Ranken was known for those on a Cert that were good self starters, had drive and worked to gain more knowledge, that ended with the Fed money sadly. I see all too many school programs across the trades bent on keeping the cash cow and not delivering quality that is where one has to dig deep to see what is occurring there.

I took on as much as I thought could handle side work wise after getting on the street, that was beyond brutal, little to no sleep, multiple locations eating up machines, tools scattered with doubles to cover My ass in case forgot one someplace. Truck full of tools many hand made as much was not tool truck available back in the seventies if not at a dealer or high volume fleet shop. As got to where broken back several other serious afflictions took their toll moved to a fleet shop then bid out of mechanic altogether. Body does not like me, aged badly, took beatings never intended and just kept up with the floggings until hit 40, over twenty years pulling that load and finally just said done. Read up on the TGIF and history lessons all have revealed in here, may change your mind or at least set you to a path less beatings involved.

Was sub management several times, was actually a office worker for several years, bad diet, bad hours, nerves wrought out and smoked like a coal burner, education did not lend well to where I was so back onto floor.

 

[Sberry]

Everyone ever struck an arc thinks they can weld. A young guy worked for me when he was a kid, when he went to work for tile contractor first hour on the job he was sent to the shop where they were fooling with a torch melting something off. He says how bout I do that and the shop smart azz says if you can do better go ahead. Said he cleaned the tip so it would cut, burned it off, piece hit the floor and someone ran to the office and said, you got to see this.
Good cut weld skills jump right out. When I was slumming it got me a lot of slack especially in places the weld was somewhat a sideline or went along with it. Sign erection, repair shops etc .

 

[Sberry]

I do a lot of trouble shooting. Not a lot of tech or complicated stuff, I hate all that fussy crap but get lots other people worked on and often reassembled wrong, get some after they been at another welding shop where they can run the machine but can't fix.
I so much rather heat and beat, stuck and busted and rig and being on the hook end of cranes. I can operate and skin a grape after jumping on an excavator for 5 mins but in 20 not worth a dam loading out trucks. I been operating equipment since I was a child and doesn't interest me much. I don't mind a bit of crane as most is short enough I can stay with it.

 

[DMiller]

Makes me so self conscious of injuring left eye. Lost so much capability welding, depth perception, ability to scan puddle from different directions, all position welds where can only see with one eye and usually Left side. Can see torch cuts but eye makes it difficult to wear lighter shading so can see cut line marks, now generally make a mess have to dress out with a grinder and unafraid to state my limitations.

 

[56wrench]

well, i might as well add my 2 cents. get into an apprenticeship program. its required in most, if not all, provinces because of legal liability and is part of having minimum qualification standards in the trades. and yes, get your RED SEAL( interprovincial standard ) on the successful completion of your apprenticeship. however, be aware that a first-year apprentice only earns a portion( percentage) of the average journeyman (licensed) rate in the shop, and successful completion of each apprenticeship year moves you farther up the scale. you should have a better chance finding an entry-level position than an 20yr old, especially if you read, write, dress what i would consider appropriate(not sloppy and with no tongue, nose, eyebrow or other facial hardware), show up for an interview early, and are reasonably articulate and enthusiastic. an apprentice mechanic only needs basic tools to start with and adds more as required. do not spend a lot on tools or tool boxes until you know if you are going to stick with it. as an apprentice, there will be days you absolutely hate it and will want to quit, even after you are a journeyman. be able to take criticism and the odd ass-chewing by grumpy old guys like me for doing stupid stuff if you are so inclined. us grumpy old guys survived this long, but some guys didn't. eventually after enough years, you may get to be a foreman and the physical work gets easier but the responsibility increases. its not for everybody or anybody, but it can be a very rewarding career if you are enthusiastic and work hard and try not to get involved with internal shop politics

 

[Coaldust]

Out of curiosity, I checked the websites for all the Anchorage dealerships for Tech openings. A few, but it’s the dead of winter.

Craig Taylor 1 posting for multiple openings

NC Machinery 3 postings

SMS 1 posting

CMI 0

Airport Equipment 0

Yukon Equipment 1

 

[Welder Dave]

Minimum pay rate for apprentice welders is listed below. Employers can pay higher than minimum though. It's not uncommon for apprentices who get their "C" pressure ticket to get paid the same or close to what "B" pressure welders are getting paid because they are doing the same critical work. Once an apprentice becomes a journeyman they have to upgrade their C ticket to a B ticket.

1st. year 60% of J rate
2nd. year 75% of J rate
3rd. year 90% of J rate

Having said this I encountered where the apprenticeship board was really wishy washy. I was off work with a broken collarbone and when I came back the new plant manager was only paying me 3rd. year rate. I questioned it and said if I'm not going to paid the J rate, just lay me off. After a short conversation he asked what I was working on punched my time card out. I contacted an experienced labour lawyer who said to wait and see what my record of employment says. It wasn't ready when it was supposed to be but when I did get it listed me as quitting. The lawyer said that was total BS and in essence I was being laid off if they weren't paying the proper rate. One of the guys in the shop said I was hardest worker in the skid shop and should contact the apprenticeship board.

I contacted the head of the apprenticeship board and he asked the name of the company. In hindsight I should have asked, Why does that matter? I told him the name of the company and he said they're a pretty big company. Then he goes on to say that the wage rules more apply to protect the apprentices. I then asked, What's the sense of getting your journeyman ticket then? He never really replied. Another welder was given 1 day notice and let go. He used to get hockey tickets from the former shop manager. I did hear the new plant manager was the joke of the shop and left the company after having the position less than a year. That gave me some satisfaction. About 2 -1/2 month's later I was in the hospital with what they suspected was encephalitis. It's pretty scary when you can't talk and lose your memory. It took 17 hours before I could say who or where I was. I was getting IV 3 times a day for 10 days. I spent a total of 5 weeks in the hospital and wasn't able to work for about a year. I'm sure the stress from having my job taken away the way it was, was a major contributor to ending up in the hospital.

 

[Coaldust]

Education Trends.

I used to review new text books for some of the major publishers for side cash. Usually $50 a chapter, or so. Being a student and then a teacher, I’ve been around the text book business for a long time.

When I started attending post-secondary education, diesel text books were written for the 11 grade level. Today, they are written for the 7 grade level.

I had a shocking number of freshmen that could not read. These are recent high school grads. So, the books were worthless. Open enrollment Universities have no standards for non-degree seeking students. In other words, if they choose a certificate vs a degree, no min SAT or other entrance exam score is required.

What a scam the text book biz is. Poor college kids get raped on the price of these things. There are only a half-dozen or so authors writing diesel and auto text books, and I know most of them. Two of them are good acquaintances. The authors don’t make much money, because not many diesel text books are sold in a year.

I got away from using text books. The manufacturers have great learning material for free, especially Cat. Plus, I used a lot of my own hand-outs and notes. Saved the students a lot of money.

It’s just wrong for the public college book stores to be a profit center.

Anyways, I’m all over the place with this post.

Summary:
kids can’t read
Text books are a scam
I stopped requiring text books

 

[Truck Shop]

Now for my positive thoughts, things others haven't posted that go with the job-things you learn to like. Like the flavors of the different grades of oils and lubes. Personally I like a nice synthetic 50 wt
transmission oil, I have found several that have a nice bouquet. There are several flavors of dirt, dirt with coolant, dirt with chassis lube, dirt with motor oil and the best flavor dirt with 80/90 with
a dash of limited slip additive-FOMOCO is the best. Then it's the flavor of brake dust biscuits sprinkled with a little diesel soot very flavorful great on Saturday morning around 7:00 am for a little
pick-me-up. But you learn as time goes by you haven't quite tasted all the dirt there is and you find after several years there's a bunch more flavors out rolling down the highway headed for a skunk.

I hired a young feller who spent two years going to diesel school at WWCC. After about one and half months he figured out he wasted his money on school-He quit, He couldn't stand the filth and
having to shower before bed time.

 

[DMiller]

Oh what he will have missed with the organic clutch dust that managed to get into EVERY crevice on a hand and would not scrub away, Detroit Engine oil that was as good a stain at India ink!!!

Do so remember the days could not smell anything but diesel, for days, as nose had loaded out trying to find a bad cylinder staring at exhaust ports running at high idle! And dirt, Road grime, Quarry slurry, the LANDFILL when worked trash equipment. Still remember the blade ram had to change in a loaded truck oozing and reeking maggots crawling across my arm, puking was the easy part of that day.

 

[Coaldust]

Truck Shop,

We have a lot in common. If you like the flavor of 80-90 with additive, try the new grape flavored Delco 75-90 synthetic gear lube ! Too funny.( Read the third bullet point on the label).

 

[Coaldust]

DMiller,

Good point about those landfill machines. Tetanus and all the HEPS! I had a colleague at Halton get two hypo needle sticks in the same week! I’ve been fortunate to have avoided the landfill and maggot wagon scene.

 

[DMiller]

Grape Scent, now THAT is hysterical!!! Oh Yeah, dump work, crawlers, compacting wheeled articulated dozers, compactor trucks with Leach Bodies and the industrial top loaders, strike a gas axe flame or arc weld on any of these and even after repeated washings or having left the dump to private service the odor just returned and burnt. Makes me want to wretch currently. The smell was bad enough but the maggots was the worst, sneak up a pant leg or drop on your ear from something dripping above. Final puke massage was honey buckets.

LANDFILL DUMP BEHIND THE SCENES UP CLOSE: MrBigTrucks101 - YouTube

 

[Truck Shop]

Oh what he will have missed with the organic clutch dust that managed to get into EVERY crevice on a hand and would not scrub away, Detroit Engine oil that was as good a stain at India ink!!!

Do so remember the days could not smell anything but diesel, for days, as nose had loaded out trying to find a bad cylinder staring at exhaust ports running at high idle! And dirt, Road grime, Quarry slurry, the LANDFILL when worked trash equipment. Still remember the blade ram had to change in a loaded truck oozing and reeking maggots crawling across my arm, puking was the easy part of that day.

And just think you did that while the boss sat at his desk over paid looking at porno.