Welding vs. Paint & Fab vs. Heavy Equip. Operator

100% agree. If I were to stop what I do today, and start over, I would debate electrical or hvac for sure.

 

Thanks for the thoughts!

I think welding is a more rounded skill to add if you’re not sure if you’re looking for a second career or just a side hobby / income. I’ll keep y’all posted what he decides.

 

With Welding you can make stuff at home with minimal tooling and sell it. Firepits, ornamental gates, all sorts of things that people will pay money for.

Plus if demand gets high enough it can morph into a full time business.

A while back I was seriously thinking of buying a TIG setup and getting good at it. I've got a basic little transformer driven stick welder now. Someday I'll do it. I've got a cousin that can do literally anything with a welder. Dude's gifted.

I've got another cousin that's a heavy equipment operator in a logging company. The way you get a job in his outfit is start out setting chokers, then start as a faller, etc. eventually when your back is too jacked up to hump a chainsaw up the PAC NW mountains if you're squared away you get promoted to drive something. They usually send them to school of some sort or do an OJT kinda thing.

Obviously every place is different.

 

Thanks for your thoughts and your feedback (and your service).

I'm trying to convince him to move to South Dakota and do a welding program here so we can hang instead of staying in a craphole state ha. We shall see!

 

Lots of recommendations for Heavy Equipment Operator but a consideration not mentioned is his eyesight.

HEO needs to have good depth perception or they can make a VERY expensive error when judging distances.

 

Knew this crane op for mammoet when i was up north dude got payed 50/hr to sit in a crane all day and maybe move one piece. Gravy.

 

Coming from a code welder:

I would choose Electrician.

The ones I see don’t do shit but ride around and change light bulbs

 

Electricians do have a pretty good gig. Everyone I know who's done the job for decades though has hands that are just wrecked.

HVAC, Plumbing and Electricians all do relatively well during downturns and can move easily. There's a ton of niche jobs out there that nobody does anymore. Have you tried to get a watch serviced lately? Good luck. You can make a great living doing that.

 

Pick a union skilled trade. Wages depend on location, but here in the Bay Area wages for a skilled union trade top out around $70 an hour currently. You also get put through an apprenticeship and come out fully certified in your specific trade. I’m a union fire sprinkler fitter for almost 20 years and wouldn’t change a thing. It’s hard on the body but worth it on pay day and have a solid retirement to look forward to.