I really want to become a heavy equipment mechanic/tech and at age 34 have decided I am going to enroll in the John Deere tech program next fall. I've been doing a lot of research on the subject and despite some of the negatives I have seen, still want to do this. I have a passion for fixing things and though it may sound odd...hard work. (I know..who LIKES to bust hump?) Anyway, I live in the adirondack region of NY State and I have been looking for job listings. Not that I need or would be hired into an HE job right now, but just to get a feel for what is out there. Unfortunately, I have seen very little. It appears the vast majority of these jobs are out west or in the south which is kind of bumming me out. I know I could work on trucks etc, but it's not as appealing to me (no offense truck guys) but I am not completely opposed to it. My question I guess would be...if I were to learn HE through the John Deere program and say a dealership position does not pan out, would these skills translate to other makes and models? I find it odd, with all of the logging and other construction jobs that the need for these technicians isn't more prevalent in the area. Unfortunately, with family and my wife's career as an educator in the local school, I am unable to relocate to the "hot spots". I'd even consider the Ag/Turf tech stuff but once again, even with the number of dealers and even farms, the listings seem few and far between. Did anyone encounter a similar situation when starting out? Is it just one of those things where, once you're trained you have to make yourself known? I know nothing comes easy and I have no illusions about the work involved, I just hope I am not making a mistake in my choice of future career. My wife is supportive as having a degree and skill set is better than not having either or.. the tuition for the program isn't astronomical either so there's another plus. Any input would be helpful. Oh and before I get the "it's a young man's game" or I'm too old yadda yadda... I'm in better shape than a lot of younger people I know of lol.
I'll answer two of those points: Who likes to work hard? Most of us. If you aren't driven by the satisfaction of looking back at the day and knowing you went at it hard, you might not be cut out for this. As for being to old, in this game, 34 is a whippersnapper. There will be a lot of demand as time goes on, because at 43 I am younger than most. You just have a little catching up to do. If you become a good HD mechanic you can take that knowledge and work on anything. You might be better at Deeres, but you can handle any brand. Understanding the principles of how things work is most important. Good luck Mitch
Thank you for taking time to reply. I appreciate people who do work hard to be sure! I've always had a respect for mechanics of any sort and can remember being a little guy taking junk parts off old cars at a step grand parents farm . I know doing something for a living isn't the same as weekend wrenching but I also LOVE fixing my jeep regardless of the hassle inexperience sometimes brings...I had tossed around the idea of auto tech but decided to go for the bigger challenge. Thanks for the encouragement!
Yair . . . JeepGeek . Speaking from a different culture and from half a world away I would mention that any experience you could get/courses you could do on maintenance welding would be an asset if you really want to get into the earthmoving equipment game. Best of luck in your endeavours. Cheers,
Thanks man! Yes, I plan on also taking a side course in welding as well as possibly some extra courses in diagnostics. There's a company called Veejer Enterprises that has some methods apparently making diagnostics (at least electrical) much easier to digest. I have some electronics background but it was years ago I was in school. Have never welded before so yes...definitely will learn all I can. I'm not going to go in with a know it all attitude for sure either. I know some people will come out of school thinking they've got it all down. The course I plan on attending is big on hands on experience which will suit my learning style perfectly and anything I can learn from seasoned vets will be appreciated. I'm really hoping there will be opportunities for me when I am done. I'm trying to work on a bit of a tool collection up front too as well ...thank you ebay! ha ha.
Yes jeepGeek .The John Deere tech school sounds like a good start. Never hurts to broaden the horizon with another skillset that you could offer a future emloyer. I attended a Diesel Tech school rite after high school and It helped me gain some knowledge. Where as learning went it was mostly people I was around like(Doug) the Farmer I worked for in high school. The teacher at the diesel tech school (Keith) was pretty sharp, WW-2 Navy veteran that also was a service manager at an IH dealership . He had a million stories as he was a mechanic in the Navy working on Detroit Diesels. Then after Tech school I hired on with (Glen) Owner of a truck & equipment repair shop. LOL... Glen had a crackerjack of a training program, He would allow a fella about 3 day's and If he wasent satisfied he sent them on down the road. One thing I liked about Glen is he dident care how you done the job (wasent one of these guys standing over your shoulder telling ya what to do) Just that the job was done on time & correct. As I near my mid 40's in age I look back & realize the training those men gave me and am thankful for it. On the flip side I look around at my job and on bad days I blame alot on Doug,Keith,and Glen for the education. Good luck on your mechanic training jeepGeek.
Thanks a lot fellas! I just spoke with one of the program instructors on the phone...he does the Ag/Turf program. I told him I was leaning more towards the heavy/construction grade stuff and he mentioned that with the economy it has seen somewhat of a downturn. Anyone have any input on that? If I were to say..do Ag tech but decided to later go in to HE is it possible? I think right now, I want to do what will provide steady work....so I have until next fall to decide what to go into. What is the upside or down side of either. I appreciate the input guys...
hey td 25c I thought I was the only doug the farmer being my last name is farmer and I farm for a living well almost make a living farming. you have some very good posts about your 16b;wish we could get together some time and talk. jeepgeek,iam 37 years old and went through the ag tech program in the mid 90s when it was still ag and do not regret it, it sure has saved me a lot of money not having to call the dealer everytime something needs fixed. would love to talk to both of you my cell is 252 916 2927
Cool...may take you up on that
LOL hd16b. Thats great to know more than one Doug that farms. Actually Douglas (farmer I worked for in high school ) is who taught me how to build the adapter plates on an engine repower project. He had a pretty nice shop equiped with machine tools. We were always building crazy stuff. We'd pull in an old IH grain truck with a blown 345 engine. Then wedge a Dodge 440 in it with some fabricating Yeah hd16b ....If you have any questions post them on the 16-b thread an I'l try to help if I can.
Hey there JeepGeek You can not go wrong with a trade. What you learn at the John Deere school will cross over to a lot of different applications. Hey, they are all just nuts and bolts, just a little different how they put them together. A good foundation skill is something you can grow. I am in my 38th year as a heavy duty mechanic. I love logging but have done lots of other things. Some things are big, some are small. When I started there were no computer, heck pilot operated controls were just showing up. Oh dear lord how I remember the old Hitachi's with the long linkages to the control valve behind the cab. Groan. When I finished my apprenticeship my boss told me to quit and go work at a few other jobs and see how the other guys did it. Good advice. With the skills you will learn they will last you a life time. You sound like you are ready and don't worry about turns in the economy. I have survived many. Listen to what the old timers have to say. I tell the young guys now that if they are not asking me questions, and I'm not thinking about an answer for them, then neither of us are learning. 38 years and I am still learning. Imagine that Brian, the Wornout wrench
Very good advice. I think I am probably going to head in the HE direction over the AG. My reasoning being I think if one didn't pan out it may be easier to translate the skills of HE to the AG or no? I'd have the hydraulics and other skills etc. Also, I really just like the idea better. I have to get a dealer sponsorship and there are a few Nortrax dealers within reasonable distance from me. The instructor I spoke to on the phone last night seemed a slight bit skeptical because I live 2 hours from the school, have kids etc. I told him driving is nothing to me... I do it for a living (Pizza Delivery lol) and as far as kids, my wife has summers off, is home before 4pm and home on weekends so yeah... it will be rough on both of us for 2 years but I can handle it. Up State NY kind of sucks sometimes... I was baffled by there not being any of these classes offered at the campuses closer to me considering it is mainly rural up here. But anyway... you're all awesome and I am really appreciating the advice. I'd hook you up with some free pizza but you all live in Way Out There ville lol.
Theres nothing wrong with busting your hump for a living and if heavy equip is what your interested in then go for it. The work will come. I wanted to repair equipment but had to start out on cars, then went to work on trucks and now I work for a construction company taking care of a fleet of pickups, trucks, and equipment. All the different experiences has paid off for me
Awesome! I have some, but no professional, experience with cars. I think even after completing my courses I may take a course at a small tech school for trucks too just to expand my base. I don't want to become stagnant for sure....
I was given the "oh it's hard work and it's a young man's job" speech by a couple of people...one an auto tech and another an older fellow I ran into shopping for tools. I get looked at with skepticism when I say I am up for it I guess because A] I am a pizza guy and we're not Thought of as hard working lol...some are not but I am. I also did warehouse jobs and construction in the past. Also, I'm not a huge hulking dude by any means so maybe I look soft to them lol....joke is on them.. I'm like a n Ox! I do need to up my game with computers and electronics though. I have a background in electronica but I kinda slacked off when learning...young and stupid.
Hey, free pizza. I'm in hahaha So what would be the tip to the west coast and will you get it here in 20 min. Don't listen to the other peoples excuses. I worked with a guy that was 50 years old when he got his trade. I was 25 training him, his kids were the same age as me. One of the best mechanics I know of is a tiny little dude. He makes up for brawn with brains, man is he good, taught me lots. If it is what you truly want to do, go do it. Just remember this, something is ALWAYS BROKEN They need us mechanical types more then they know hahaha
Yeah, Willie59 is actually an oompa-loompa. You must be bigger than him.
Ha! Free pizza doesn't require a tip. Now plain ol' delivery? Hmmm... 20 minutes that far I'll settle for a case of beer and a beach. Let me ask you guys though... what about tools? Do you use the truck brands? How do you not go broke when it costs, to me right now anyway, 2 weeks pay just for 6-7 wrenches!?! I have a bunch of Craftsman right now but I hear they're no good for the daily wrenching. I've been scouring ebay for used Snap-on, Mac, Matco etc and see some good deals...may use that to pick up some essentials like ratchets, sockets, crowsfeet etc on the cheap.. but what are you all using? How about boxes?
Yair . . . JeepGeek Wow! Is that so. I always thought the good American stuff, Snap-on, Proto and such like was pretty reasonable over there. Cheers.
I'm lever puller not a mechanic by trade so my tools don't get used much. But a man who has been a heavy diesel mechanic his whole life told me "a 1" wrench is 1" no matter who you buy it from". Now that's not to say that a cheap Chinese knockoff is the same as a snap-on but when getting started I cann't see justifying spending thousands on tools when hundreds will get you going.
Can't talk too much for the Craftsman wrenches of today but many of my wrenches are Craftsman and most are in the range of 40 years old. There are some places where I do think the Snap-on/Mac tools are a better choice. A couple are the flair nut/tubing wrenches and the off-set angle wrenches. I would not be replacing any of the Craftsman until I knew what the most used ones for the particular machines I was working on the most needed.
Scrub Puller....you should check their websites...even if I was making bank I'd still think the prices were a bit steep...I know they're good stuff but still. Yeah I have a US made craftsman set.....maybe one of the last LOL.
Yeah JeepGeek.... Nothing wrong with craftsman tools. Have some Snap-on & Mac specialty tools but run mostly Craftsman & some chinese tools. Hands down the tool I use the most in a day's time would be The leatherman www.leatherman.com Dont leave home without it. When the Leatherman is past it's limits I next go for the "grab & go bucket a tools" LOL. Have a Craftsman box at the shop but alot of my work is field service for myself & customers who call with trouble.Mostly travel light and dont try to carry the whole shop around as alot of calls can be simple repairs at times. One thing I like about the bucket is its easily transferable to different vehicles depending on the situation and what truck is needed at the job. Looks like Sears still carries shop tool chests. http://www.sears.com/craftsmanbrandshowcase/dap-120000000284484
Very cool! I'm a bit of a tool junkie and buy random tools when I have extra cash ....comes with Jeep ownership lol. A friend of mine who was a VW tech used a craftsman box for his job for years . Don't get me wrong...the fancy boxes look sweet but I'm a tight wad lol. If I absolutely had to get a big box, I saw extreme tools, Montezuma and Lista for thousands less....just wanted to get a feel for what everyone is using. My next major purchase for school may be a camper lol...the school is 2 hours away, I'm too old for dorms and 20 year olds, too cheap to rent an apartment and don't like having room mates. Apparently there's a year round campground in the town and I couldn't care less if I had to bunk in a small trailer or just rent the in-laws for the semesters...
A word or two of advice - Take your schooling seriously. If you don't understand how something works, you don't have a hope in hell of fixing it when it breaks. All you can do is change random parts and cross your fingers. - get along with the mechanics you'll work with. They each have a different skill set, you'll have much to learn off each & every one of them. - if you already know it all, you'll never learn a thing. You never stop learning in this trade.
Noted! I've already been doing a lot of research. My biggest concern is learning the electrical aspect. Hopefully I can figure it out easily...if not, I'll put in some extra time after class. I'm going in with an "i know nothing" attitude and plan on gaining everything I can from seasoned vets so no issue there. Even in my crap job I have know it alls who think they can do my job better than I despite 8 years...then they get spanked and complain that I'm kicking their asses or do too much ( makes them look bad and they hate it). But...that is MY field of expertise. This... even though I may know a few things and have a big interest in it... I don't know a thing compared to you guys and won't pretend to. I think that's one of the things that made me decide to go into this too...things change and you are always learning. Where I am now...not so much. Sure, room for improvement if you're a slacker but once you've "mastered" it... there's nowhere else to go.
What you would learn in school can be found in text for self study. Try getting a job with a logger. You will be in and out of the dealerships picking up parts and can build a rep that could lead to the dealership job if that's what you are after. I know a logger who pays his lead mechanic about 1800 bucks a week. You wont make that at a dealership around here. And dealership techs often will be further train in a certain system and not crossed train limiting their skill set especially techs in the shop. A tool box produces no income. Some guys out of school I have been around had a good understanding , more knew less theory of operation than my young children have picked at the dinner table. And yes you will never stop learning. And once established having or finding a job should not be a problem. Show them your tool set and your foots in the door then it's up to you.
I'm not quite sure how the loggers operate around here. There's a few of them but I see a lot more from canada than locally. where I live it is heavily regulated being a state "park" and not quite as booming as other places. Something to consider I suppose. You see more road and utility crews around than loggers and they all seem to want trained people and I guess I don't blame them when their gear costs boat loads. Thanks for that heads up though. If anything I can also do extra classes at the local votech school that teaches on all kinds of different equipment as well. I look out for mechanics helper jobs at the bus garages now and then too.