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Where are the Mechanics?
- Thread starter glsahl
- Start date
kshansen
Senior Member
- Joined
- Mar 11, 2012
- Messages
- 11,165
- Location
- Central New York, USA
- Occupation
- Retired Mechanic in Stone Quarry
Good luck!
While I may sound very negative about the place I retired from back in April. I have kept on good terms with the local boss and the guy who got thrown in to take up the maintenance work for the quarry. May be once a month I get a call or text asking "Is there a parts book for such and such?" or "I know you had caps to plug off fittings when you pulled a hose, where are they?"
Then there was the time a week or so back. I was at the local NAPA dealer we had dealt with for many years. The owner of several stores was there, who I only slightly know, well he says to me: "Come to my office and we will talk" The manager of the store says: "Not him, but that guy" Pointing to another much younger guy at the counter. Seems that guy was applying for a job. The manager then says to me: "I would not even ask you to fill out an application!" He has offered me a job at least half the times I stopped in since retiring! Depending on how finances go he may talk me into it someday, if I get bored!
Blk prince
Senior Member
kshansen,I stopped driving last July. I get calls from ex boss and will go but check weather forecast first. My way of thinking is you called me,I was not looking.Now you are in control and whenever possible use the barter system. If you are owed 8 hrs pay,get boss to buy new tires for wife's car or pay your fuel bill for a month. Just to bypass taxes.
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caterpillarmech
Senior Member
Thanks everyone. It will be a construction company. 600 employees. 500 pieces of equipment. Will let ya'll know soon. New boss text last Monday. "What color truck do you want?" Guys like us don't get asked questions like that. We are told. What a refreshing change of pace. I seem to have gone up on the respect chain since turning in my notice. Odd isn't it. One more week to go trying real hard to not get short timer attitude. Will finish cleaning out my service truck tomorrow. I'll still be here gents. Machines are in my blood.
LOL, I was never so loved as I was after I was laid off from the CAT dealer in one of the downturns. I heard through the grapevine that several mechanics were dismayed at my departure.... I was thereafter known as "That miserable SOB that always got me the right Sh*t!" to those boys. 
So, what color did you pick? All I got was six months unenjoyment.....
So, what color did you pick? All I got was six months unenjoyment.....
caterpillarmech
Senior Member
He said white or silver? Give me the silver one! I've had seven white ones. Figured the silver wouldn't look like as much as a work truck. Met his Tuesday after work. /was told truck was at the shop getting bed liner sprayed in. Then it gets the tool box and diesel tank. Will post it up next week.
apetad
Senior Member
- Joined
- Jul 24, 2012
- Messages
- 385
- Location
- Leander, Texas
- Occupation
- Compact Construction Equipment Sales
Good Luck! You are one of the best I have ever known. If you get around Leander look Me and Michael up! He left there and has gone back to school and works here part time now!
caterpillarmech
Senior Member
Well fellas, it has been an interesting week. Boss took it easy on me. Monday I get thrown to the wolves. Trial by fire! It will be nice dealing with one company. All of the guys are great, good nature'd and always have a story. It is quite a shock coming from the cooperate structure. I will have three Caterpillar trucks, two John Deere trucks, three independent trucks, and my own welder, mechanic and a parts runner. Monday will be head down and back in the game. Oh, and here is the new ride! Not too shabby!
caterpillarmech
Senior Member
Got to post a pic of my last one. Barely made 25,000 miles on it. 
The new one has a bit more get up and go for some reason.
The new one has a bit more get up and go for some reason.
fixou812
Senior Member
- Joined
- Dec 17, 2013
- Messages
- 677
- Location
- Buffalo NY
- Occupation
- Millwright Equipment Mechanic Welder
Half the mechanics i know are older and or busted up to where some of their parts don't work as well as they once did.
But they still work hard and do a good job.
But they still work hard and do a good job.
fixou812
Senior Member
- Joined
- Dec 17, 2013
- Messages
- 677
- Location
- Buffalo NY
- Occupation
- Millwright Equipment Mechanic Welder
Bump
Wes J
Senior Member
This is my first post, but thought I would chime in as this is a very interesting topic to me.
The repair industry is in the same boat as other industries like manufacturing and farming. We can simply get more done with far fewer people. 30 years ago, every town bigger than 2500 people had a transmission shop, usually more than one. Rebuilding your cars automatic transmission was something you could count on doing multiple times in the life of the average car. Same thing with engines. If you put 100,000 miles on an engine, it needed to be rebuilt.
Today, things are much different. Cars routinely go 200,000 miles without even changing the spark plugs. The odd transmission or motor that does fail will just be swapped for a remanufactured unit that was rebuilt in a large factory in an assembly line style. I would be amazed if the average auto dealer mechanic ever does any kind of engine work more complicated than changing a head gasket, and there is likely only one or two guys in the shop who can handle that task.
It's essentially the same thing in the world of heavy equipment. 30 years ago, if you got 10,000 hours out of a diesel engine you considered yourself pretty lucky. You would take it down to the local dealer or machine shop and have it rebuilt. Today, we can get 25,000 hours with a few valve adjustments and maybe and injector or two. When the motor does fail, everyone today is in such a hurry that they can't wait 2 weeks for their motor to be rebuilt. They will swap in a reman unit for roughly the same price and be up and running a little sooner.
I know the local Bobcat dealer and the local Kubota dealer don't have anyone on staff who can do internal work on an engine. They all just swap them. In this way, being a mechanic has gone from diagnosing, disassembling, ordering parts, and rebuilding to just changing out components. IMO, it's a real dumbing down of the trade.
10 years ago I worked in a truck repair shop. We did in-frame engine rebuilds and transmission and power divider rebuilds in house. But, we never worked on heads, we just bought reman heads for every engine we rebuilt. There was not a single guy in the shop who knew how to install a valve seat or run a valve grinder. Once in a while we would replace cam bearings. If an engine spun a main bearing, we just swapped it with a reman. In that 6 man shop, there were only 2 guys who ever did any engine work.
So, manufacturers have made great strides in reliability meaning we need less mechanics. The move is toward swapping components for reman units meaning the mechanics we have need less skills. The result is that mechanics are feeling their wages being squeezed. The old guys who can do component level repairs are left working on older equipment that is not supported by the reman industry. The problem there is that folks aren't willing to spend as much money on that old equipment.
That leaves mechanics in a tough spot. It's hard to negotiate higher wages when the industry is making it possible for lower skilled guys to get the job done. There will always be a place for the highly skilled (and highly paid) guys, but we will need fewer and fewer of them to keep the wheels turning.
The repair industry is in the same boat as other industries like manufacturing and farming. We can simply get more done with far fewer people. 30 years ago, every town bigger than 2500 people had a transmission shop, usually more than one. Rebuilding your cars automatic transmission was something you could count on doing multiple times in the life of the average car. Same thing with engines. If you put 100,000 miles on an engine, it needed to be rebuilt.
Today, things are much different. Cars routinely go 200,000 miles without even changing the spark plugs. The odd transmission or motor that does fail will just be swapped for a remanufactured unit that was rebuilt in a large factory in an assembly line style. I would be amazed if the average auto dealer mechanic ever does any kind of engine work more complicated than changing a head gasket, and there is likely only one or two guys in the shop who can handle that task.
It's essentially the same thing in the world of heavy equipment. 30 years ago, if you got 10,000 hours out of a diesel engine you considered yourself pretty lucky. You would take it down to the local dealer or machine shop and have it rebuilt. Today, we can get 25,000 hours with a few valve adjustments and maybe and injector or two. When the motor does fail, everyone today is in such a hurry that they can't wait 2 weeks for their motor to be rebuilt. They will swap in a reman unit for roughly the same price and be up and running a little sooner.
I know the local Bobcat dealer and the local Kubota dealer don't have anyone on staff who can do internal work on an engine. They all just swap them. In this way, being a mechanic has gone from diagnosing, disassembling, ordering parts, and rebuilding to just changing out components. IMO, it's a real dumbing down of the trade.
10 years ago I worked in a truck repair shop. We did in-frame engine rebuilds and transmission and power divider rebuilds in house. But, we never worked on heads, we just bought reman heads for every engine we rebuilt. There was not a single guy in the shop who knew how to install a valve seat or run a valve grinder. Once in a while we would replace cam bearings. If an engine spun a main bearing, we just swapped it with a reman. In that 6 man shop, there were only 2 guys who ever did any engine work.
So, manufacturers have made great strides in reliability meaning we need less mechanics. The move is toward swapping components for reman units meaning the mechanics we have need less skills. The result is that mechanics are feeling their wages being squeezed. The old guys who can do component level repairs are left working on older equipment that is not supported by the reman industry. The problem there is that folks aren't willing to spend as much money on that old equipment.
That leaves mechanics in a tough spot. It's hard to negotiate higher wages when the industry is making it possible for lower skilled guys to get the job done. There will always be a place for the highly skilled (and highly paid) guys, but we will need fewer and fewer of them to keep the wheels turning.
theironoracle
Senior Member
- Joined
- May 5, 2012
- Messages
- 940
- Location
- PACWEST
- Occupation
- OWNER/OPERATOR MOBILE HEAVY EQUIPMENT REPAIR
Wes J,
You have presented some very good thoughts on this subject but I think I must disagree or at least provide a rebuttal.
1st paragraph: we do get more done with fewer people however there is way, way more getting done than 30 years ago. Cars/pick ups are going twice as far but again there are way more than twice as many and there are way more guys in construction traveling 50 miles each way to work every day.
Paragraph 2: I can only speak to heavy equipment repair in this case. I just did a tranny in a D8R zero remand were available in the cat system, Morton would have to build one. Last cat grader I did an engine in; no 3306 long blocks available from cat. Last John Deere 6 liter motor I rebuilt none were available from Deere. The cat engine was at 14,000 hours, D8 trans at 8700 hours, Deere engine was at 7000 hours.
Paragraph 5: people would still love to be able to balance the talent in their shop like this. That is the point of this thread.
Paragraph 6: manufacturers have made great strides in reliability, however equipment is exponentially more complicated, wiring harnesses diagrams are 10 plus pages not one easy to read page. Machines have been built with emphasis on getting more done with less everything, easier to operate, less emissions etc....
I can't speak to wages. I believe I get compensated correctly for my efforts.
People on here looking to hire guys I don't think are cheaper guys!!!!! HMO!!!!TIO
You have presented some very good thoughts on this subject but I think I must disagree or at least provide a rebuttal.
1st paragraph: we do get more done with fewer people however there is way, way more getting done than 30 years ago. Cars/pick ups are going twice as far but again there are way more than twice as many and there are way more guys in construction traveling 50 miles each way to work every day.
Paragraph 2: I can only speak to heavy equipment repair in this case. I just did a tranny in a D8R zero remand were available in the cat system, Morton would have to build one. Last cat grader I did an engine in; no 3306 long blocks available from cat. Last John Deere 6 liter motor I rebuilt none were available from Deere. The cat engine was at 14,000 hours, D8 trans at 8700 hours, Deere engine was at 7000 hours.
Paragraph 5: people would still love to be able to balance the talent in their shop like this. That is the point of this thread.
Paragraph 6: manufacturers have made great strides in reliability, however equipment is exponentially more complicated, wiring harnesses diagrams are 10 plus pages not one easy to read page. Machines have been built with emphasis on getting more done with less everything, easier to operate, less emissions etc....
I can't speak to wages. I believe I get compensated correctly for my efforts.
People on here looking to hire guys I don't think are cheaper guys!!!!! HMO!!!!TIO
Wes J
Senior Member
The examples you give seem to reinforce what I am saying. A D8 size machine is pretty large. I don't know how many were made, but to me it's a pretty low volume machine. I'm not surprised that there were no reman parts for it. The 3306 motor is getting pretty long in the tooth. I don't think they made any that weren't natural gas fueled for at least 20 years. If it was a C7, you could swap it with a reman from dozens of sources. I don't know about the Deere. I know you can buy reman engines for 50 year old Deere farm tractors.
Maybe I'm a little over dramatic, but I still see it as a concentration of a few really skilled guys who make a good living and a slug of low skilled guys plodding along. That's kind of the tempo of the current US economy. I work in manufacturing (CNC machining) and it's the same in our industry.
Maybe I'm a little over dramatic, but I still see it as a concentration of a few really skilled guys who make a good living and a slug of low skilled guys plodding along. That's kind of the tempo of the current US economy. I work in manufacturing (CNC machining) and it's the same in our industry.
The learning curve is ever steeper, with more and more specialization. I started about the time electronic ignition came in on car engines, everything was till carbureted. Diesels maybe had a solenoid to shut the fuel off, lol. When I moved over to the other side of the parts counter the attitude was (and mostly still is) that the three P's applied, if you had a Pencil and a Pulse, you were a Parts man. All you had to do was look in the book, write down part numbers and then go grab them off the shelf. It's a whole different world now. Consider that in the parts department the number of models to deal with is expanding every year, the parts books and ordering systems are mostly online, and the major manufacturers have promoted the customer's use of online parts lookup and ordering. Today's parts techs fall into two categories "Give me the part number and I will type it in" and a very few smart and experienced people that are essentially tech support for everybody else including their fellow employees. Add to that the fact that all the software keeps changing and you have a never ending learning curve. Same thing for mechanics, with each model year you get new and different emissions equipment, new and weird systems and designs, updates, fixes, plastic controls, some engineer's wet dream being tested by the customers. It ain't pretty, but if you're good there's opportunity out there.
wornout wrench
Senior Member
Wes J.
Great first post. I have to agree with many of your points.
I am at the end of my career, only have a few more years left and then I will close up my tool box and fade away and let the next generation of mechanics take over.
They will have their issues just like we did.
Some of the old guys that I worked with years ago had time on steam engines. I wonder what they would think if they saw these new DD16 engines we run in our trucks now. Hard to even tell it is an engine with all the plastic and wires on it.
But we progress.
When I have to work on one of the new things that you need to plug a computer into, I call one of the young fellows over. 1, because they are better at it than me and 2, because I want them to learn it, this is their time.
Where will the trade be in another 20 years?
I have no idea.
I just know that I am really looking forward to retirement.
I have a few friends that I will continue to help keep their old logging machines running, but it will be mostly in an advisory position, and hopefully their guys will be able to get it figured out.
Great first post. I have to agree with many of your points.
I am at the end of my career, only have a few more years left and then I will close up my tool box and fade away and let the next generation of mechanics take over.
They will have their issues just like we did.
Some of the old guys that I worked with years ago had time on steam engines. I wonder what they would think if they saw these new DD16 engines we run in our trucks now. Hard to even tell it is an engine with all the plastic and wires on it.
But we progress.
When I have to work on one of the new things that you need to plug a computer into, I call one of the young fellows over. 1, because they are better at it than me and 2, because I want them to learn it, this is their time.
Where will the trade be in another 20 years?
I have no idea.
I just know that I am really looking forward to retirement.
I have a few friends that I will continue to help keep their old logging machines running, but it will be mostly in an advisory position, and hopefully their guys will be able to get it figured out.
theironoracle
Senior Member
- Joined
- May 5, 2012
- Messages
- 940
- Location
- PACWEST
- Occupation
- OWNER/OPERATOR MOBILE HEAVY EQUIPMENT REPAIR
Wes J,
I also want to second wornout wrench, very good first post. I am currently spending lots of hours at a place that employs 300-400 people. I am there because mechanics are not available to hire. Last week they hired an 18 year old to start training to be a mechanic, basically they are trying everything to fill their shortage of at least 4 mechanics. The local cat dealer which has stored in California Oregon and Washington have posted 40 technician openings! This is the crisis this thread is trying to deal with. This crisis is only going to get worse as machine technology increases and the workforce ages.....TIO
I also want to second wornout wrench, very good first post. I am currently spending lots of hours at a place that employs 300-400 people. I am there because mechanics are not available to hire. Last week they hired an 18 year old to start training to be a mechanic, basically they are trying everything to fill their shortage of at least 4 mechanics. The local cat dealer which has stored in California Oregon and Washington have posted 40 technician openings! This is the crisis this thread is trying to deal with. This crisis is only going to get worse as machine technology increases and the workforce ages.....TIO