Posted by 135 Fan on November 26, 2010 at 20:49:46 from (68.149.56.30):
I wanted to get some opinions since there are a lot of farmers and occasional welders here as well as more experienced welders. (The people of late who just want to attack anything I say need not respond)
A while ago I needed some O/A cylinders for a small job but no one rents cylinders for less than a month and you have to pay for the entire contents regardless of how much you use. I didn't want to pay 2 or $300 for $20 worth of gas. I was thinking there has to be more people in my situation that need a torch for a few hours but don't want spend $500+ just to do a small job. I was thinking of a rental shop that would rent a complete outfit with cylinders but only charge for the gas used. There would also be other welding equipment for rent. Maybe even a complete self contained skid(or small trailer) complete with torch, welder, grinder, vice etc. that has everything a person would need. Say a farmer got a deal on some drill stem and wanted to put up a nice steel fence. He could rent the skid for a weekend and save hundreds over hiring it out. I also have never seen special tools like track cutting machines for rent. I'm sure there must be shops and welding trucks that do long cuts and big circles on occasion that don't want to fork over $2000 or more for a machine that's not used very often.
I also looked into what welding courses were available locally. There's only two places that offer courses. The technical school that does the apprentice training has beginner welding courses in the evenings. The courses are 36 hours for $600. There are seperate courses for O/A, stick and MIG welding. To take all 3 would cost $1200. The other place mostly caters to welder testing and training for professional welders or people who want to get into the welding trade. A pre employment welding course covers 252 hours of practical welding and 144 hours of theory. Students can challenge the first year apprenticeship after completing the course. The total cost for the course, the books and the apprenticeship tests is $7225.00 They will do private instruction for non professionals but charge $35 an hour. I don't think they get too many hobbiest types but if you want to learn how to weld titanium, that's the place.
So what I was wondering is if it would be a good idea to have a rental shop specifically geared to welding and also offer more reasonable welding courses for non professional welders. I was thinking maybe have courses for 3 to 6 people at a time and cover several different areas. Maybe 3 neighbors could come together and take a 10 or 20 hour course to update their welding skills. I could charge somewhere in the $10 to $15 an hour range as long as I had at least 3 students. I was even thinking I could go into places like Home Depot and see if I could advertise a course for people that bought a welder but have never used one. Maybe offer a 10% discount or something?
So my idea would be to have a specialty welding rental(also have welding supplies for sale for convenience) and also have welding courses for beginners or even people with more than the basic skills. I wouldn't really be competing with the other 2 places that offer courses. As far as renting, there are tons of places to rent a welder but no where to rent a torch and cylinders. Even the places that rent welders, usually don't have the rods and other stuff you need to go with the welder. Do you think I could be onto something? What would you be willing to pay for a welding course? Thanks in advance for your feedback. Dave
We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today. [ About Us ]
Today's Featured Article - Farmall 460: That's My Girl - by LeAnn R. Ralph. How many sounds can you think of that are as familiar to you as your own breathing? What about the hum of your refrigerator? Or the thump of your clothes dryer? Maybe the engine of your car? You hear those sounds every day, and you don't think much about them, do you. I can think of a few common, ordinary sounds in my daily life, too.
... [Read Article]
All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of any part of this website, including design and content, without written permission is strictly prohibited. Trade Marks and Trade Names contained and used in this Website are those of others, and are used in this Website in a descriptive sense to refer to the products of others. Use of this Web site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy
TRADEMARK DISCLAIMER: Tradenames and Trademarks referred to within Yesterday's Tractor Co. products and within the Yesterday's Tractor Co. websites are the property of their respective trademark holders. None of these trademark holders are affiliated with Yesterday's Tractor Co., our products, or our website nor are we sponsored by them. John Deere and its logos are the registered trademarks of the John Deere Corporation. Agco, Agco Allis, White, Massey Ferguson and their logos are the registered trademarks of AGCO Corporation. Case, Case-IH, Farmall, International Harvester, New Holland and their logos are registered trademarks of CNH Global N.V.
