After a miserable day under a D6k (a new one, hydrostatic drive) I asked "how did I end up as a mechanic?" I then thought about my childhood spent in B.C. watching the logging trucks and machines, the first time I rode in a semi, first time a I ran a skid steer, and my first few months as an apprentice mechanic.... I could go on and on. I guess in short, machines just amaze me. If I didn't enjoy being a mechanic, I wouldn't do it. I am at work doing things that as a kid I only dreamed of doing. So, if you are an owner, operator, mechanic or all of the above, what go you into Heavy equipment?
Me too. I don't think that there's a a machine in the world that doesn't intrigue me to some degree. Where it started for me predates my memory, but we have 8mm films of me "driving" my grandfather's then-new 1970 Economy Power King tractor. I'm a '68 model, so I started young Grandad also had a John Deere M and a Massey Harris, and I always loved to go to my grandparent's house because I might get to drive the tractors Grandad was an old farmer who didn't believe in wasting gas joyriding so taught me early on how to do something useful with the equipment instead of just riding around. A little bit later when I was in school I worked summers and vacations for my father's plumbing business, and we did a lot of domestic water and sewer hookups, all dug by hand until 1986 when we got our first backhoe, a Deutz-Allis mini that we still use. It didn't take me long to find side work for the little backhoe, which led to buying a bigger backhoe, which led to a dozer, etc... About 10 years ago I got involved with the Corps of Engineers, and started operating for them on a contract basis for a few months every year. This got me in contact with other contractors who did govt. work and it's kept me pretty busy ever since. As far as the mechanic part goes (I fit in the "all of the above category":drinkup), my Dad, Grandad, and uncles were always working on tractors, cars, motorcycles, go-karts, chainsaws, etc., so naturally I followed in their footsteps. I had dirt bikes, carts, and later on, my '67 Chevelle, none of which would run for long without constant wrenching. Well, maybe they would have run just fine in many cases, but I was constantly working on them trying to get them to go just a little bit faster By the time I was in college I was working nights and weekends in an automotive shop that built engines- mostly circle track stuff with some street, drag,and boat motors thrown in. I got started with diesels with the aforementioned backhoe and my Dad's little fleet of plumbing trucks- he had gas trucks for years, but in the late '80's he wanted to convert to diesel. We always maintained our own trucks, so it fell to me to learn to be a diesel mechanic, which was obviously of great benefit to me when I later got involved with heavy equipment. Regarding doing things you dreamed of as a kid, that surely applies to me as well. As a younster I was always in awe of the big machines, especially the dozers, and dreamed of what it would be like to run one. Now I know. And no matter how miserable the job,working conditions, or people are, there's always that little hint of childlike awe in running the big machine that makes it fun:drinkup
I was always crawling on the farm equipment as a kid, couldn't keep me away from it. Got into lawn maintenance when I was 13, then into landscaping/hardscaping that required mini ex and skid steer, did that through high school. Got into residential excavation about 5 years ago doing basements, footings, utilities, etc.. Now I'm a union apprentice playing with the real big toys I've always wanted, can't get enough of it.
Well I'm not a mechanic, or an owner, and I'm not really an operator (yet!). I've always been a tom boy, and even though I lived with my mom, my dad has always been and still is my idol. I was always in the dirt or sittin on his lap while he was on the tractor or in the excavator or runnin some type of machine. I've always been fascinated with big trucks and the construction industry. When I was a little girl (well littler then I am now I guess haha) I used to say I wanted to be a construction worker. . . Well the response to that was always "No sweetie that job is for boys.". So I shyed away from it. Well you can't stop true love! So here I am again and I'm goin for it! I'll be a heavy equipment operator even if the family disapproves . I kinda like bein rebellious anyways :tong. I'll have the most manliest job out of both of my brothers . Hopefully I'll be a union apprentice this fall.
watching mighty machines!!! cant belive no one said that yet!!! but really i statred at the bottem at a warehouse now made my way to top pay rate and posted reach truck (crown) in the freezer, decided there must be something better out there, spent a while watching the guys in my area doing the sewer and water down the street, watched dirtman and burnout, got some tips from them went to school, one HEO operator certificate, AZ, DZ later i had finnaly found what i was missing, the love of ripping mother nataure a new hole to bleed from! unfortunitly im back at the warehouse...... also intrested in taking equipment repair class, was poking around down at tormont lucky boys down there!
I have no one to blame but myself.:tong
brick and block are to heavy to lift 40 feet by hand and to expensive.
Beer and road trips ... nothing better than getting turned loose for a weekend with the guys out of town and away from home ..
:lmao :yup I keep saying I must find a proper job before I get toooo old, just seems I never have the time to look properly. As a very young child it used to upset my mother that if ever I got a dinky toy as a present with tyres on the wheels they had to come off, neither of us know why I did it, maybe it was just because I could :beatsme I guess I just never grew up
Air conditioning! My Dad was a miner, so I always just wanted to do what he did. Also, my first few jobs were blue collar, hauled hay, worked in a lumber yard, construction and the like. Always as a laborer. Not that I didn't enjoy laying hot mix in 110 degree weather, but the guys in the trucks and the loaders and such were all in air conditioned cabs!! So I guess I got where I am today because of air conditioning!!:usa
Grew up with it, riding with dad and grandpa on machines and all i ever wanted to do when I was younger was go to work with dad. Same story today, a day off to me just seems like a waste of time and I don't feel comfortable when I take a day off unless its to accomplish somthing at the house or a personel project(I had yesterday off and it drove me nuts all day). I enjoy doing what I am doing although to do it over again I'd go to the Marine Corp in a heartbeat. Trbo
high pay ,steady work, and never having to travel,
i grew up on a farm so i have always loved tractors,i started out as a laborer, one day the loader guy did not show for work i got the chance and never looked back.
Pretty much like everyone else I have had a fascination for machines, big and little. Loved to sit in the sandbox and play with with the 'machines', then progressed to pulling things apart but not having the brains to put em back together. Like pulling apart the lawnmover, not that there was anything wrong with it but had trouble putting the cylinder back in, so the retired Diesel mechanic next door showed me a trick using an old coffee can and a pair of vice grips. Spend a decade on the land using all sorts of machines and then moved to the city and needed a job, only real gig for someone who loves using machines in a city is earthmoving.
I got brought to a gravel pit when I was 10, I was friends with the owners kids. Driving a bulldozer at that age tends to get you hooked.
Just could not stand working indoors. Hey Eric are you in Globe? I heard they were going to fire the mine back up.
No, I live in Silver City N.M. Last time I drove through Globe they were doing lots of reclemation work there. That was a few years ago. I hope they do fire it up again, I know ther are lots of out of work miners in AZ and NM. Thankfully I'm not one of them!
Was always sitting watching some sort of machine working on a site somewhere as a kid. If not doing that I was playing with toys or watching programs or drawing machines. Never been interested into anything as much as I am into machines and operating them, outside of my family that is. I'm still that kid at heart, the toys have just got biggr now and I get paid for it. Can't ever see myself doing anything else. Hope my 4 month old son will follow me into becoming an operator himself one day.
Thanks Eric, we used to live in AZ, and in the mid 70s all of my wifes brothers and 1 brotherinlaw lived in Silver City and worked in the mines. Take care.
Do not know where I got it from as my dad worked at the steel mill his whole life but my moms dad was a old railroad hand engineer on the old steam engines , and all my uncles on my moms side were truck drivers this was back in the 60's when they had old belt driven tag axles and small sleepers and mostly cabovers .I drove a million miles in my backyrd while all my Tonka toys and Buddy L and lest us not forget Marx trucks would be a millionare if I had mainaged to keep my Toys in good condition but do not know what happened to them . Also when I was about 10 yrs old I could ride around withthe county workers and they let me run the loader a old AllisChamer 6G that was a good machine then they traded for a IH loader that one was over my head it had power shift or something like that . BUt that all happend in the days where old hands would try to teach you something and young kids were eager to learn and not like todays youth of pure lazy and not a clue of what real work is . Mydad and me we had or problems but he taught me one thing do not be afarid of work and do your best when you do something .SURE MISS the old ways as nobody was sue happy .now days if you manage to forget and leave your finger in the door . 1st words out of their mouth is I am going to sue . So sad . Tony
Tonkas got me started at a ripe old age of ... well whenever I got my first one:beatsme My grandfather (may he rest in peace ) was a great influence to my love of equipment, though he never ran any, he always took me to the John Deere dealership near where they lived to walk the lot and to Leigh Valley Industrial Park (IV I think) that was at that time being built to watch the pans, dozers, hoes moving dirt, blastin and ripping rock and so on. I did all that with him till I was probably 13, never really lost the love for equipment, but got away from it for a while. Then 6 years ago the bug bit again and I've been working my way up ever since.
Well, tonkas were the start, then growing up around farming solidified the deal. Never really did like sitting inside doing paper work. Yet I find myself doing more paperwork already, but at least I sit in the company truck to do that. Aside from that, when I realized I wasnt going to make a living as a male prostitute, I knew I had to find some way to make a living. Moving dirt just seemed to be the way to go from day 1.
Genetic Defect......It's got to be. First time I heard an old Cat diesel load up in the cut....... Still getting those goosebumps. Gonna miss seeing one blow coal when all this emissions stuff catches up!
You said it. Just can't get enough of a 3046. :drinkup
Always loved trucks and big machines as a kid took auto shop in highschool went straight to trade school got recruited by a cement and aggregate company worked on mixers, bottom dumps, and powder trains and jumped at the chance to work on the yellow iron anytime I could year and some change later got my dream job as a mobile heavy equipment mechanic☺
Got the bug early. My dad is a pipeline operator. Me and my brother buried a lot of sticks in the back yard when we were young. Set up our own right of way and built our own stringer trailers for our trucks. Before that, the Kirby folks showed my mom how easy it was to disassemble and clean the new vacuum. I think I was 4. I guess I shouldn't have been watching! Mom came home to a pile of new vacuum parts :thumbsup
That's a good one! Should have posted it on the "Joke of the day" thread!!!
This is how it begins.
Was 21,tried half a semester at the county college,was just like high school which I couldn't wait to graduate.Dad was brilliant,got a letter from Eisenhower recommending him to West Point where he went but being it was the Depression,he felt guilty leaving his family to fend so he quit,never got his dream of being an engineer.He got into the excavating biz both as an owner and as an operating engineer coming from the school of hard and harder knocks,always told Mom I wasn't going to get my hands dirty,was going to be a lawyer or doctor.Welllllll,after a bunch of gas pumping ,no future type jobs,one day Dad says I'm buying a backhoe,gonna teach you how to run it,then it's going to be yours. Yeah,right,barely knew what a backhoe was.40 years later,THANKS Dad!!!!!
Born into it.... never made enough money to get out. 50 years now and counting.
I always loved watching machines work when I was a kid, old track loaders digging basements or graders fixing potholes. Eventually worked on farms and got to drive tractors. My dad bought a 62 Willys that needed a lot of TLC and I got to drive that in the bush when I was 12. My dad was always working on his cars to keep them going and I would have to pass wrenches and hold the trouble light. My grampa was a mechanic too so I guess its in the blood. But I can clearly remember thinking how cool it would be to be a Caterpillar field service mechanic when I saw a service truck in the small town that I grew up in. I can remember thinking how great it would be to be able to fix a Caterpillar machine that was broken down. Many years later I put myself through school and eventually became a Cat field service Tech. My own little dream come true, even though there are days when I wondered why the hell anyone would ever want be a Heavy Equipment Tech (isn't that how this thread got started?). But eventually the reward comes from knowing that whatever obstacles are put in front of you there's always a way to get that machine working again. As an instructor I'm now able to share my passion with people getting into the trade. As my students get into the working world and tell me how much they love their job well that's another great reward for me. Great stories so far, keep em coming!
I love it when someone restarts an old thread. When I was a kid, my father was management for MB, (a large BC forestry company that no longer exists). While he was working his way up the ladder we moved every several years. Some of the stops included logging camps. I loved living in those camps in the 60's and 70's. There was always so much going on, real community spirit, maybe one TV station if you were lucky. Most of the kids all played together, the older ones looking after the younger so to speak. One of my favorite places to play was in the boneyard. I would spend hours and hours climbing over the old machines, sitting in the seats, pulling leavers and such. I have always had a love of machines. What makes them tick. To this day I can still sit there and watch a good operator for hours. I wouldn't say that my trade fell into my lap, it wasn't what I always wanted to be. I had excellent grades in school, I could have went on to university if I wanted but I had no idea what I really wanted to major in. The division that my dad was at had an opening for several apprentice mechanics and he asked if I was interested. I had always loved shop classes, managed to break my finger one time when I skipped out of typing class to go to auto shop. So when an opportunity like that presents it self, well you grab it. I will be the first to admit that I was a little green the first few years. Lots of young guys in the shop then, lots of fun. I still get a thrill when I get in the cab with a good operator. I have been in the trade since 1976. yeah there are days when I wonder why I do it, but if I had to do it all again, I would I a heart beat,
Some good stories here, might as well add mine to the pile. I grew up on the same farm that I own and operate today as my main business, lots if fun machines to operate. And repair of course. I got into the excavating business 20yrs ago sort of by accident. A buddy of mine was a one man show doing it with a loader backhoe and a couple of gravel trucks. I would help him out once and awhile on jobs he had. After a couple of summers of that we bought a 50,000lb excavator together. Later I built a dump truck out of a 378 pete that I had. After about 8-9years of working together I bought another excavator on my own. We live 25 miles apart, and I was getting more and more work close to my farm. As years went by I kept adding more machines to the line up.(D8H, JD700J, Cat 973c, and a cat 406) most of the work I do is demo, farmstead cleanup, ditching, road repair and some new construction. 3 years ago I hired a full time guy to help out. I still work with my buddy on some jobs, if one of us needs help. He has expanded in to the gravel pit business, more cool things to play with screens and conveyers:cool2 I am glad to had gotten into it.