This is going to sound odd, probably because I'm an odd guy. To an extremely long story short: I grew up in a shop, mostly farm equipment repairs. Worked in a truck repair shop and one year in a car dealer shop while I was in college. Degree in mechanical engineering. Don't like working as an engineer, 6 years chained to a desk was enough of that. Started a CNC machine shop. Found out I liked fixing machine tools much more than I like running them. For the last 3 years I've been doing field service on CNC and manual machine tools as an independent contractor through a large company that sells parts and service for a few dozen brands of machines. I provide the tools and transportation, they find the work and handle the money. I get paid an hourly rate just a few dollars less than my shop rate. I'm good at it. I do electrical, controls, mechanical, etc. Basically, anything that needs to be done. The problem is that it's 100% travel and most times overnight. The first year I stayed in a hotel over 100 nights. That was fine then, but now I have a 1 year old son and it's not really fair to my wife, who also works full time. Also, things have been very slow and I put too many eggs in one basket. I've tried to find local work fixing and rebuilding machine tools, but haven't come up with much. Larger places have their own people or have new equipment that is serviced by a dealer. There are 4 other companies in the area providing the same services, so lot's of competition for a fairly small market. Anyway, I'm trying to find a way to stay busy without so much travel or going back to a desk. I was thinking heavy equipment or truck repair is an option. Are there independent contractor opportunities in this line of work? I've never actually been employed as an equipment mechanic, but I have most of the tools needed and I think most of the skills. The equipment I have worked on is really old, but maybe still relevant (old IH TD-9 and Cat D4 and some old Bobcats). I have rebuilt many engines and gear boxes. I'm very good on the electrical stuff and hydraulics. I can weld and obviously have a handle on machining. I have a small line boring rig I built. I still have my shop and machine tools, so I can work on anything that can fit through a 12X12 door. I have a class A CDL. I don't know if it would work out to go back to work for someone as an employee, but I'm not too proud to do so under the right circumstances. I guess the question is am I qualified to repair heavy equipment? Is there a place for a guy like me? How do I go about finding work? I don't really know anyone in the industry in this area. Hope that makes sense.
Craigs list ad might be your friend, its free, but you sometimes have to weed out the kooks. Also, Important thing, you will need insurance, if you are working on machinery, in a customer's shop. A neighbor of one of my service clients had hired a cl mechanic, to fix an old truck. and he ended up burning down their house, then running away. That particular neighbor was once a customer of mine, but I hadda collect on a $400 bill, from him, and he didn't like that... So in a way this was kinda divine karma, but what I'm saying, is stuff happens...
Yes CL will get you more than your share of crazies. Word of mouth works too. Look around and start taking notice of the smaller companies that have equipment. Make some cards, talk to their guys, drop in with cards and key chains, hopefully they'll end up in the machine and they'll know to call you when it won't start. Part stores sometimes will lead you to work as well. It's pretty easy to get busy. Getting paid is another thing. Be as up front as possible about your terms and get setup to take credit cards.
Look in to the Agricultural Industry .... They need people with your skills . Being your from Peoria IL you wont have to go far to find work . Farms , Fertilizer plants , Grain elevators ..... They all need a feller that can turn a wrench & multitask ! Good luck Wes .
Mechanic, welder, millwright yada yada....
Wes, to answer your questions, it sounds like you are well qualified and resourced to do about whatever...not sure about the "freelance equipment repair"? But if you mean that you have given consideration to self-employed "pulling on the big wrenches" for the next 20 years or so, ok... and then when you're in your 50's and waking up with sore knees, bad back and hands / fingers that won't loosen up till 10 in the morning, have at it! To me (and many others I'm sure) to get paid well for something that I was college educated in (not sucking in diesel fumes all day) (even chained to a desk, as long as I can reach the coffee pot!) doesn't sound so doom and gloom . There is going to be a need for someone to do the "bull-work" for a long time to come, so if you want to do it bad enough, you will eventually find your niche in the industry. Don't sweat the part about not knowing anyone in the Peoria area...The HEF community is a pretty good resource for all "big wrench" turning info. Regards, Bob
I do carry my own liability insurance. I'm 33 and already have carpal tunnel and bad knees, so that's nothing new. Surly my perspective will be different in 20 years, but for now, I prefer working with my hands to working at a desk. I enjoyed college, but found that the actual work of an engineer is incredibly boring to me. Luckily, I graduated with little debt and pretty quickly paid it off. I'm sure I can do the work. I'm not sure I can convince customers of that fact. The nice thing about contracting through an OEM is that the customer just assumes that you are some highly trained employee of the company and you are there to save the day. Many times I am working on machines I have never seen before. The customer doesn't know that, and am always able to fix the problems, so everything works out in the end. But it feels different trying to land the job on your own. Human psychology is a major obstacle. Your ability to actually do the work typically has very little to do with your ability to get the job. The bigger the customer, the worse it is.
College educated people are indoctrinated in the politically correct notion that all people are equal, that degrees, qualifications and experience are what makes them different. In reality you could take 3 people with the exact same degrees, qualifications and experience and the results of their efforts would vary considerably. You remind me of myself in my younger days. Although I was uneducated, it was very easy for me to adapt to working on equipment that I had never seen before. I could think my way through most anything and learn new trades easily, working alone. I think you are like that too. You operate using reasoning rather than memorized procedures. The most rewarding work environment may be one where your unique and diverse abilities are required, as opposed to one where a monkey can be trained by repetition. Not many people have what you have.
Yes, I agree. However, it's not easy to monetize that skill set. I don't know how to articulate it. The world does not reward the jack of all trades. Most people would rather hire a person of moderate skill that claims to be a "specialist" in one specific area than a person of high skill who can tackle any job. Even if the latter can do the job better or cheaper or both, they still prefer the "specialist". I've known extremely smart people who really believe that. I worked for a guy who was an outstanding truck mechanic. He would take his motorcycle to the dealer for service instead of working on it himself. He really thought the kid at the dealership who took a weekend course in bike repair was better qualified to fix that thing than he was. Car dealers are even worse. People will take their car to the dealer for repairs over and over and let the dealer fire parts at it trying to fix it. These people will drive right past qualified independent shops that could actually fix their vehicles to go back to the dealership believing them to be experts. Anyway, I'm getting a bit far afield. How do you guys advertise on craigslist? I've sold some things using it and had mixed results. I seem to get equal parts normal people, crazy people, and complete silence.
There are places that reward a jack of all trades. I'm one, actually damn good at a couple of them. Smaller companies that like to have a person fit multiple roles are what you'd look for. Where I'm at now is that way. They really look for multiuse employees. Keeps things interesting for sure. CL is a 50/50 deal. I've gotten some good work off of it and some not so good. You'll have to learn what to turn down. It would be a good way to hopefully generate a few contacts that begin the word of mouth snowball. Stick your head in a few places. Being there in person goes a long way.
I'm retired so I don't know the current job market very well. My thinking is that the smaller the company the farther you get away from the "qualified expert specialist" mindset, which is a byproduct of indoctrination. People with skills that far exceed their "qualifications" are often the ones who start small businesses. But small companies are not really known for generous compensation. edit: Junkyard beat me to it. The farther you go from large metropolitan centers, the better the results from Craigslist, at least as far as buying and selling goes.
My observation is when the boss of a trucking company or whatever gets mad at the last mechanic he picks up the phone and calls the next one on his list. So if you are on that list, when your number comes up you can stay employed by those type of guys as long as you keep them happy.
I've been following this with interest and know most if not all to be true. Smaller places tend to more emphasis on a broad range of skills but not necessarily reward them at what most experience craftsman feel it is worth. The larger shops want experience and monkeys because they believe they do the specialty repairs fast and have the special tools required for the specialty. I have found that to be true for the most part. The problem for the large shops is they think there are people lined up down the street that can do the monkeys job. They also have the special people who are "protected" that, short of kidnapping someone's baby, will never be shoved out the door. All that is politics and that goes on everywhere anyway. Two things needed to find those jobs are shoe leather and a grape vine of communications. Get on the road and start talking to the shop people and leave something with them so they can call you if they hear of something coming up. Once you establish a reputation of dependability and honesty you will probably spend little time looking for work in the future. Good Luck!
Starting a equipment repair business with 0 experience? Not a great plan Kinda like a guy being a journeyman machine tool repairman on his first day of the job. If financial stability and time at home with your family is important get hired on with a construction company you would be an amazing plant mechanic they absolutely will appreciate your wide range of skills and mechanical aptitude get your 60 hours and a paycheck every week Do your side work at home build your knowledge and reputation in the business
I started a mobile equipment repair business when I only had 1 1/2 years of diesel experience, but that was 1981 and equipment was tinkertoy simple. The stuff I was working on was made in the sixties and seventies. I was 26 years old. I don't ever remember seeing a repair manual back then. We called the dealer for torque specs. Now that everything is electronically controlled and special tools are often needed to work on newer machinery, it gives the dealer monkey an advantage over the much smarter independent mechanic. This is exactly what the manufacturers and dealers want. Sorry for the lack of constructive ideas. There is no doubt that someone needs the exact skill set you have and would be willing to pay dearly for it, maybe even take you in as part owner, but for both parties to make the connection and realize they are good for each other is a long shot. Good thing Craigslist is free.
Considering you're in Peoria, maybe look at local 649. I'm not recruiting. When I worked trucks, I bounced all over looking for a place that followed through on what they promised. Ultimately wound up joining local 701 mechanics. Spent about 15 years in various shops with good insurance and building retirement. Last year the last shop I worked at closed. It was heavy equipment repair under 701 contract. Now, the catch. That was about the only place to work on heavy equipment under 701. In chicagoland, there is a demand for heavy equipment mechanics. In chicagoland , everything heavy equipment is under local 150 operating engineers. They are very protective of their craft. So i took withdrawal from 701 and currently working under permit in 150. I know some guys frown on unions. I used to be one. But you can't argue with good wages and unbeatable benefits. 649 is operating engineers in your area. You have several dealers right over in east peoria along 116. Good luck in whatever path you choose. I hope this helps and apologize if it was unwanted info.
Check, there was also no internet, in the old days... Now, you can hunt up some good internet videos, of repairin just about anything...
LOL. Good repair videos. Like Scotty Kilmer?
A decent looking service truck and a tiny amount of mechanical ability is all it takes to get started, as long as you're willing to work for what the other guy is charging, show up at a moments notice, fix neglected junk quickly and cheaply etc. The trouble will come when you expect to get paid twice as much as Jim Bob because you're more productive/can handle more complicated whatever. If Jim Bob only charges $X, why are should I pay you $2X? especially if I'm uninformed enough to think that the dealer is the only place to get good service, and I'm taking chances with any independent. One way to look at being an independent mechanic is are you going to be a commodity or a specialist? You seem to have the skills to be able to specialize in electrical controls, if you get the reputation for being able to fix stuff others walk away from, then you can justify the price you're worth. Of course that's the opposite of what you have to do to get started, fix the kids broken wagon wheel to get the word out. If you want more time with the family, going independent isn't a typical move. Maybe something like an industrial mid/lower level manager? You're just going to have to deal with paperwork to make good money. And industry is willing to pay for the mix of experience and degree in a way that Jim Bob's customers aren't willing to pay.
I take back anything positive I said about craigs list... Just found out that the bustards started charging a $5 fee for all service related ads, as of march 15, this year! I will prolly end up buyin an ad a week, or so, but not as much as I used to post. Don't get me wrong, I'm not the type that posted 5 ads a day, on 5 different computers, but I generally dod OK, posting 1 ad per night, alternating in 2 areas, which border each other. I don't think I abused the system, but I've seen other landscape contractors who have. Buncha worthless a$$hats ruining a good thing, fer everybody else...
That's a bargain compared to what newspapers charged us before Craigslist came along.
This will be an unpopular opinion, but I think they should charge for all the ads. Even if it was 49 or 99 cents. Just something to make posting an ad take a little more effort and commitment to weed out all the garbage that people put up now. Charging for private party car ads has mostly cleaned up that section by pushing all the dreamers and arsehats with a thousand "keywords" at the bottom of the ad over to facebook. I've sold two rigs since the fee instigation, and both times I've figured it was money well spent. $5 on a thousand or more is nothing. Classified newspaper ads are $50-75 in the big paper and don't have pictures or a search function.
I agree on the fact that the newspapers charge too much for ads in a reader base, that is rapidly disappearing... Craigs list is a part of fleabay, which is an all too powerful monopoly. I would be in favor of busting up the divisions of fleabay, facebook, youtube, all concentrate power in too few hands...
Could you expand on this? Seems to me that if ebay owned Craigslist they would destroy it.
My $0.02 is get some experience first. Heavy equipment is dangerous stuff. Sure common sense is great and all but it isn't a replacement for experience. Working in a shop for a couple years with guys who've been in the industry 20+ years who can mentor you is invaluable. Learn from them, rather than making costly mistakes that have to come out of your own pocket book. Speaking for myself only here: I've been doing this full time since 2009 and I feel my skill level is finally to where I'd be comfortable jumping out on my own. Mind you I did handicap myself for a year or 2 by working mining shutdowns for $$$ over experience.
My bad, just saw this, tonite: https://www.forbes.com/sites/ryanma...nority-stake-back-to-craigslist/#560dcace6c1d
Sounds like a hostile takeover that failed. Screw ebay.
Not to hijack this thread, but Ive also thought a lot about this, im at a dealer now but think about venturing out into a field truck of my own (doing away with work politics and what not ). The only thing that scares me is all the tooling that is needed for newer equipment, dealer subscriptions to software and service information. Im good with electrical but when youre diagnosing a Tier 4 final engine, it seems like you would need a little more "backup" to rely on. And often times the customer software we are able to get is different than the "dealer" versions. I can pick through fault codes confidently but to do some of these tests and calibrations required, it could be a slippery slope
Just try to stay debt free. You will be lucky to collect 80% of what you bill and some of them will waste a lot of your time that you can't bill for. If you can survive long enough to figure out who to avoid it gets better.
Dozer tech, you don’t necessarily have to have all the same software that you have at the stealership. I just started out on my own a few months ago after leaving a dealer due to politics and bs. I have Cummins insite but haven’t used it much. There is so much work out there that doesn’t require a computer. This week alone I installed an engine in a compost screen, fixed a dozer transmission leak, took apart a final drive and ordered parts, replaced an injector and ran an overhead, plus this time of year I do plenty of a/c work. I try to bill out 40-50 hrs a week which means I probably work 50-60 hrs a week which is plenty. It’s nice to have factory support but it’s not necessary. I’ve been looking at some diagnostic tools but haven’t pulled the trigger on anything yet.
No clue where this went but here's my experience. There's a huge demand for industrial equipment repair in addition to machine tools. This might be slightly easier to break into than heavy equipment repair. I worked for a shop with hydraulics and punematics in the title. The fact was we'd work on just about anything. The bread and butter was 15-60HP rotary screw and 5-15HP piston air compressors which lead to a lot of other work of by the way while you are here can you look at this as well. We worked on compressors everywhere but lots of car dealerships & repair shops, a national tire chain, and a fair amount of factories. He had service agreements set up with most customers where we'd service their compressors every 3-6 months which was enough in it's self to keep 2-3 guys busy. While we were servicing a compressor if something was broken we usually had the parts on the truck to fix most basic things and run their backup system to insure it would work when they needed it. Compressors are usually kept in a corner and get 0 attention till they stop working but when they do they cripple a business. A lot of times we'd show up for a broken compressor and then get them agree to letting us service their compressor to prevent down time. He had 1-2 diesel compressor on hand for emergencies and then some rental machines as well to save the day. He could usually have someone there pretty quick when a shop was down. it was amazing the amount of shops who did 0 maintenance before something broke and we started servicing their equipment. I'm guessing if you stopped by 200 shops with air compressors you'd have a decent amount of work. We then worked through miner fixing things like loading docks, cardboard balers, and clothes carousels in the back of big box stores they are a middle man between big box stores and contractors, I think there's several other companies out there that do the same thing. We also worked on things like diesel compressors, tree trucks, all the equipment at a plant that made plastic ponds, rebuilt hydraulic cylinders for a bunch of heavy equipment, car lifts and other automotive shop equipment, and were the people to call when the OEM didn't want to support old obsolete junk. Most of our work was word of mouth though he did have a basic website but it doesn't come up on the first page when searching air compressor repair Denver.