Lanse, good on you for having a clear direction in life. The only thing I"d say to you is give this trade 5 years or so to make sure you really like it. Making stuff in your own garage for fun and profit is one thing, doing it every day for a boss who has a bottom line to meet is quite another. I know a lot of guys who entered the trade with dollar signs in their eyes, not wanting to waste a lot of time in school. Many regret entering the trade. It"s a filthy business a lot of the time. You will get zero respect from most of your bosses, and in my experience, most if not all of the welding shops I"ve been through have been a lot more like the Lincoln shop than the Hobart one. I"m not saying for an instant that it"s not honest honorable work, but it can get you down physically and spiritually if you end up working for the wrong people. The most dysfunctional, violent and dispiriting place I ever worked was a welding shop making roll-off containers. The office got shot up one weekend by a disgruntled worker, another made a special tool for slashing his co-workers tires on his way out of work after shift, another loosened all the lug nuts on the bosses truck trying to kill him. Another was almost shot by police while beating up his wife with a coffee table leg, another arrested for assault, and most of the guys were alcoholics or drug abusers. Are most shops like that? Probably not, but in my own >personal< experience, this trade tends to attract a lot of marginal types who have taken very little pride in themselves or their work, who are doing it for the money, who are now tied down by family, mortgage, child support or alimony payments and can"t do anything else. I don"t believe you are one of those types, but not all of them were either to start with, so I urge you to give this thing a good solid go like I know you will, but make sure that it is exactly what you want to do before taking on life"s more permanent commitments. BTW, nothing you did in school was a waste. You never know where life will take you and what you will make use of in the future. If you decide you would like to get into something else, all that "other stuff" might eliminate the need for a lot of remedial work later on. People change, what we enjoy changes, our goals and values change. Don"t be closing any doors by getting tied down to any one thing early on. And if I offended anyone, I didn"t mean to. Welding is good honest work if that"s what you like. To me it has always been the dirtiest and one of physically hardest of all the trades. My brother has been welding for almost 20 years and it has taken a hard toll on his body and spirit. At almost 50, with commitments he can"t slough off long enough to retrain, it is unlikely he will be able to transition to anything else at this point in his life. He regrets getting into the trade. Yes he was making very good money for awhile, over $90k a year doing oilfield related work, but it is unreliable, and you must never get into the habit of thinking it will last.
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 - Fire in the Field A hay fire is no laughing matter-well, maybe one was! And a good life-lesson, too. Following World War II many farm boys returned home both older and wiser. One such man was my employer the summer I was sixteen. He was a farmer by birth and a farmer by choice, and like many returning soldiers, he was our silent hero: without medals or decorations, but with a certain ability to survive. It was on his farm that I learned to use the combination hand clutch and brake on a John D
... [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.
