| dwarfy123 |
Hey guys, I just graduated from high school, and I am interested in becoming a heavy duty mechanic. I really love working on my car, and fixing things, and I was wondering if anyone could give me some info about this job. Do I have to be an apprentice before going to Nait? What is the payrange like for this occupation? Any info would be great.
Thx |
|
|
| boarderfatty |
For alot of people passionate about their cars, this can be a wrong step from what I have heard from others, not through any personal experience, because first off it is not your vehicle, and nothing like your vehicle. Plus with your vehicle you can work on it as long as you want, or as little as you want, and you will always appriciate the end result, vs working in a shop you are forced to work on others vehicles 40+ hours a week to see them be driven off and neglected by their drivers. I have seen mechanics who have lost their passion for their cars due to working on others that they will often neglect or refuse to work on their own.
I am not saying that this is a bad career descision, because it can be quite good, but make sure you are confident in your passion for heavy duty mechanics before you waste alot of time and money trying to attain a position in life that you will not enjoy.
In my opinion if you polled most 780 members out of highschool, which seem to be very few, most will be mechanically inclined, wrench on their own cars/others as a side, or be in another unrelated trade, but few will choose to make a career out of it. |
|
|
| ChromeDragon |
| Become a mechanic and you will no longer want to work on your own vehicles. |
|
|
| omniman69 |
quote:
Originally posted by ChromeDragon
Become a mechanic and you will no longer want to work on your own vehicles.
this isn't always true.
i am a heavy mechanic, and i love comin home to wrench on my own shit after a hard day "at the office"
good way to release stress and if u got the passion, it sometimes can help u build on it.
mike |
|
|
| Adam |
quote:
Originally posted by ChromeDragon
Become a mechanic and you will no longer want to work on your own vehicles.
Absolutley disagree.
I enjoy working on my own stuff...even after 10 years in the trade.
Heavy Duty and working on your car is completely different you should know....and there is many different ways to be a tech...off road, agri, highway, trailor, auto.....
Do some research through your school before you set your mind to it.
As for your questions, not sure on the first one if you have to be signed up or not before you go to school and pay range is depending on where you work...at my dealership people make anywhere from 19.xx an hour up to almost 40 an hour....plus overtime |
|
|
| BLK_LBL |
Originally posted by ChromeDragon
Become a mechanic and you will no longer want to work on your own vehicles.
become a HD and you wont want to work on your own car... you wont need to because its a great trade and the pay is very good, so you can just buy a new car
:beer: |
|
|
| ChromeDragon |
Haha, there are jobs now, yes. In the future? Who knows. When I finished my second year of heavy equipment there was next to nothing for jobs in the city.
I've known a lot of guys in the field who can't be bothered to do actual work on their own vehicles now. Maintenance stuff maybe, but pretty much anything that takes more than an hour, they have someone else do it. Although that may have more to do with the ridiculous amount of hours they work now.
It's definitely not a bad field to get into. There is lots of opportunity both here and abroad. |
|
|
| BLK_LBL |
quote:
Originally posted by ChromeDragon
I've known a lot of guys in the field who can't be bothered to do actual work on their own vehicles now. Maintenance stuff maybe, but pretty much anything that takes more than an hour, they have someone else do it. Although that may have more to do with the ridiculous amount of hours they work now.
its the "more money than time" thing... its like that with lots of things though.. like a lawyer paying someone to cut his grass.. cutting grass is easy, but for some people, its just better to pay someone else to do it so you can enjoy your spare time insted of cutting grass or replacing brake pads.
but with any trade, it depends on who your employer is. im a heavy equipment apprentice, i work in town, i work 40hours per week, im home every night.. i make decent money.
i have heavy equipment tech friends that work out of town, work 12hour shifts, night shifts, field calls, gone for weeks at a time.... and they make big money.
same trade, but very different pay and hours |
|
|
| TrevorK |
quote:
Originally posted by ChromeDragon
I've known a lot of guys in the field who can't be bothered to do actual work on their own vehicles now. Maintenance stuff maybe, but pretty much anything that takes more than an hour, they have someone else do it. Although that may have more to do with the ridiculous amount of hours they work now.
Many instructors I've talked to feel the exact same way (regardless of what trade they are in) - once they are paid to do it for a living they don't enjoy it as a hobby as much. |
|
|
| 93vg30e |
I am a heavy duty field mechainic up north near fort mckay, i work 14 on 7 off 70-80 hours a week, i currently live in edmonton.
have my own company supplyed service truck, do my own thing its great! i manily work on construction equipment from skidsteer's to excavators and the odd pickup truck that breaks down on site.
i got my start working in a rental equipment store and learned the basics then worked in a highway tractor engine shop for a while and then ended up doing suspension on heavy haulers. I am only a second year tech, but the oppertunities are out there if you can learn the stuff and prove you can do it.
If you are crazy enough to work up north you can make sweet cash and have a pretty good living. (i make more then both my brothers who are 27 and 29 who graduated from business when they were 24 and both work for large oil related companies, i am 20!)
If your interested in doing it i would recomend getting on with a dealership ie peterbilt or kenworth and learning some basics, see if you are really interested and wana do it. They will give you shit jobs for the first while but stick with it and they will give ya more responsabilty and then you can only go up from there. |
|
|
| Realistic |
tons of jobs in fort mac as a HET.
plenty of overtime
Starting salary is just under 100,000
i know a guy whose made 160,000 so far this year. |
|
|
|
