My Dad is a heavy equipment mechanic so I grew up working on just about everything that he did. I got experience with farm equipment, small gas engines, gas engines in cars and trucks, diesel engines in heavy equipment, etc, etc. Basically if it got brought to us I either worked on it myself or helped.
Graduation saw me going into the Navy as a Machinest Mate where I got experience with boilers, turbines, different type pumps, different type air compressors, heat exchangers, centrifugal oil purifiers, large bearings, gearboxes, pneumatic controls, valves, etc. If it was in the "engine" room on a ship I got to work on it eventually. I spent 6 years there and finally got out as an MM1 (E-6).
Getting out I went to work as a helper for a company doing HVAC and plumbing repair for about 6 months til I found something else. I left there and spent 2 1/2 years MIG welding fabricating bodies and anything else that needed to be built for service trucks, utility trucks, etc, of all types.
Money then led me into industrial maintenance. There I spent about 5 years doing everything that needed to be done in and around a hot dip galvanizing plant, then to a plastic recycling/extrusion plant, and finally to Metromont where I worked on their concrete batch plants. Those years tought me a little more welding, and alot about electrical troubleshooting for both single and three phase systems, components, and the associated control systems. I also got a taste of working with PLC's but not enough to really do much.
That all came to an end when Dad's business picked up to the point he needed help and I've been working on heavy equipment now, full time, for nearly ten years. With the variety of things we do I've worked on most major brands and types of construction equipment in at least some capacity whether it's mechanical repair, welding, or portable machining. We also do alot of crane work on the old Northwest, Bucyrus, and American brand friction cranes as well as taking on the newer hydraulic ones when needed. Basically if it walks, crawles, and moves dirt, or anything else for that matter, we're not afraid to tackle it. We usually get 99.999% of our work by word of mouth and as such wind up getting all the old, odd, or otherwise screwed up stuff that nobody else wants or knows how to work on.
Beyond that I've done carpentry work, plumbing, and wiring on my own house, as well as the houses of friends. I'm pretty much the guy that everyone comes to when they need something done that they don't know how to do themselves.They kniw if it's something I don't know how to it, I'll learn it, for one just to be able to do it and too simply to extend my knowledge into new areas.... I love to learn new stuff....
