I like the idea of mobile welding because each day is a new challenge. Sure pipe has its glory but still going mobile is where you have to use your experience, past and present to figure out exactly what and how to complete the job so your customer will be satisfied. Can be long hours in any type weather. But the final satisfaction and pride in your work will get you new customers and a road to success.
100% true. Coming off my worst winter since I have been in business. COVID-19 has shut down a lot of the spring work... things are just picking up. Working on a pick up bed repair and have a power wheel jeep in the shop for a repair... who would have thunk that? Have a trailer repair in the que, and working on drumming up more work now.... never a dull moment, a constant struggle.... if it was easy, everyone would be doing it.
Hi, Great video young man. As a mobile welder to farmers and other industries in the UK I can highly recommend you get some leather knee pads lined with floor type felt. I got some 11years ago from my local supply and they were £36 ($50?) back then and trust me they saved my knees. The knee pads are still going strong to this day and have been used in cow muck, soil, clay, soft mud, gravel and you name it those pads have been used on or in it. I have pasted a description taken form a UK website selling them for £20 per pair today. They could even be the same maker? I just cannot remember. Anyway, mine were made in the USA I think the sales guy told me and they were the last pair they had. Keep up the great work young man. Kunys KUNKP299 KP299 Heavy-Duty Leather Thick Felt Knee Pads
Thank you for the information. I normally wear Carhart double knee pants, I have had neoprene pads put in between the pants and the "double knee" layer. Works very well. The pants in this video were from an old job uniform so I keep the pads on the truck just in case. That particular set I was using in the video was packing material from an order I got. I am still using the almost 2 years after I started using them. I like "free" stuff like that. Better to reuse something that would have otherwise ended up in a landfill. I will definitely look into the knee pads though. I have been beating up on my knees for years.
My first job was welding those at WRMI in b.c, floor, set the jig then hang a fabbed wall jig it a set edge placement, hang a formed front sheet for the cable lift 40yrds, hang second wall fully tack out and weld atleast a few feet both sides of the walls door side, then pull the jig hang a door set the hinges, fab the pipe-hook and hoop latch system, s6 everything. Cable lift front ends fabbed and weld the thing out, slap a ladder inside. The shop even had a robot welding jigged up pockets on panels for the small dumpsters. Even Caught my first rattlesnake there, fucking desert 🌵
Sounds like quite a process. Thanks for the feedback and insight. I always imagined that most companies were using some sort of automation, but there was a time before automation. What are you doing now?
Dumpsters are tough. Not from a challenge standpoint... but by time they get to us they are usually in pretty sad shape.... and the customer usually wants a bottom dollar(as cheap as possible), fast fix. It is good filler work, but with tight margins with what the market is willing to pay it can be difficult to turn a good profit.
Any pointers for a guy in LI NY trying to start a side hustle, specifically most available types of work and a good machine to start out with? I have a full time job and want to make some money on the side doing something I like. I’d rather take work home to do as opposed to mobile welding which is a bigger investment... Much appreciated
Sorry for the delay in responding. Things have been really busy. The best advice I can offer is to start small with what you can afford. The most available type of work really depends on where you are, and what you are good at. What you want to do is a major contributing factor. Logistics would be the next factor... what do you have power for? Are you going to work out of the garage in your home? Do you have enough power in your panel to support a 220v welder, or have a dedicated circuit for it? What process are you most comfortable with? Are you artistic? Are you more geared towards repairs? Do you have an area of expertise that could lead to a niche market you can serve? Get an idea of what you want to make/do then gear your "shop" to fitting that market. In this day and age a simple DC multiprocess machine that runs on 110/220 is relatively affordable. My ESAB Rebel came in at just under $1500, and has MIG, TIG, and Stick capabilities. My Miller Multimatic 200 came in at just shy of $2k with a few more capabilities. Personally, I try to stay away from the 110v only welders, but a few of my machines can run on both voltages if they need to. The inverter machines are a little more forgiving, on a home electrical system, than the transformer machines. They will also run off a basic generator which will allow you to go mobile if you decide to go in that direction. I think the key is to have a few plans on what you are going to do, and to set yourself up to pivot to an alternate plan if the first one doesn't work out. If you are artistic folk art can be something you work on in down time when the customer base may not support a side hustle... have a few irons in the fire, but find the balance to not have too many that you can't support with a small operation. Constantly assess what you are doing, pay attention to the jobs that come in versus the ones that don't, let that guide where you steer your business. Another thing to assess is pay attention to the work you enjoy/like(want) versus the work you dread/dislike(don't want).... not that you should turn down work in the beginning, or ever... charge more for the work you don't like. Do your best to keep your rates reasonable, fair, and consistent. Hope that helps. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask. Good luck.
@@WeldingInformation That is great info, I had some questions about machines which you seem to have answered, I was looking at either the ESAB 205 or the Miller multimatic 220 which I believe are both 110 and 220 capable. Not knowing what kind of work I could learn or pick up I thought the ability to weld aluminum may come in handy with the AC capability. I went to BOCES to learn and came out decent in all the process, mig was the easiest in my opinion, then stick and tig I believe required the most skill. I will be working out of my garage and have a 220 line in there for my compressor so i should be good to go but may need to change or add a receptacle. I wouldn't say I'm artistic, I'm looking to do any work to hone my skills and would like to start doing jobs I can work at in my garage since I won't be mobile in the near future. Where do new welders go to pick up work they can take home? What kinds of work should I look for that isn't too advanced to start off with? At this point I'm not doing this to make a living, just want to learn with a view towards building a small side business.
@@nicvanorton6795 if you are good with aluminum it is worth it to get a machine that can handle that material. My Millermatic 200 will run a spool gun to do aluminum. Details: Miller Multimatic 200 Auto-Set Elite Welder 907518 Might be worth looking into. The key is to start out with what you can afford. There are a lot if great machines in the market. When I was first purchasing my equipment new I actually called Miller tech support and had a conversation with a technician about what would best suit my needs. I think starting out it is always better to buy used to keep costs down, less overhead is better in the beginning. In the metro NY area there is always equipment for sale, and if you are willing to drive you can probably pick up some good used equipment. I never pay more than $.60 on the dollar for any used name brand equipment. So if you find a used welder, look up the price new and about 60% of that value should be the top of what you are willing to pay for it. (50% or less for non name brand). When it comes to work a lot of it is "take what you can get". Little art projects are good to hone skills and generate revenue. There are tons of things you can make, look at pintrest, easy, Google and anywhere online for ideas. The other option is to put up a Craigslist ad offering welding... offer to pick up projects for customers for free, figure out a rate that puts you below the rate full service shops offer... ideally you want to beat them by 1/3. I see guys advertising in my area for $75 an hour (that is almost $50 less than what I charge an hour), I would imagine they probably don't have insurance that I carry. So you need to put the leg work in to figure out the going rate in your area, then figure out how much you need to make per hour and try to offer a price that is fair to you and gives incentive to potential customers to give you a shot at earning their business.
@@WeldingInformation Great, thanks for all the info. I didn't know about the Miller Multimatic 200 Auto-Set Elite Welder but it looks like something I may be interested in and I will keep an eye out for good used
@@nicvanorton6795 I bought mine to go on my second truck, I have been using it in my shop quite a bit and I am very happy with it. I used to run my spoolgun of my 211 autoset, but will likely swap them out. For now the 211 is staying on the truck. I believe the 200 is the same as the 215, but the 200 comes in the portable case. The 200 comes with a Bernard mig gun, and 215 comes with a Miller gun. They both seem to have the same capability... look at both, but the 215 is a few hundred dollars less. The only real difference I see is one is in a portable case for a few hundred dollars more.
I am a better welder than I am a video guy. Goal was to capture the full day of work in more of a time lapse for reference. Slow motion was never intentional. Always wanted to keep the videos as short as possible.
@@WeldingInformation Oh sorry, I just thought that the slow motion was intentional because you had mentioned it was the reason the battery having died. Just a suggestion was all because I found myself focusing on the slow motion instead of the structure of the repair. Which was what I gravitate toward.
@@vtrombly if memory serves it was a new device and I thought "hyperlapse" was a time delay that would speed up the events of the day. I didn't check it until much later in the day to find out how wrong I was. I believe I corrected it in future videos. It still kills the battery pretty quick to capture a full day.
They were garbage. The weldcote rods normally come with a light brown to grey coating, they were a dark brown I have never seen. Switched rods and didn't have any more issues. Point is to problem solve on your feet... machine was set right, had a good ground, metal was as clean as I was going to get it... so whats left? Bad lead? Bad stinger? Open a new pack of 5p+ and all the issues went away. What would you say it was? Magic rods? The other point is to have a spare can of rods. I have had a few boxes damaged with the flux chipped away... having a spare can has saved my ass at times.
So, are you a private contractor? I do similar work, only I weld in a shop where the rolloffs get delivered to us. I work for Mobile Container Services, minus the mobile of course, I only get paid 14$/ hour but hey, I've only been welding for about 9 months so far. I work with one other guy, and we get about one rolloff done per day, 6:00 AM - 3:30 PM
I guess you could call me an "independent" welder. I own my own company, and bill for services. So I work for anyone who needs me. Currently, we are finishing a pool job; I might start a video on it later this week, and post it once the job is fully complete. The container industry is a tough one. Whether it be dumpsters or Conex boxes, there are tight margins. I ran a special last year to try to keep enough work coming in to support another welder. Long story short, there was about $300, of the $975 I was advertising, to pay someone for a down and dirty plating repair on the rails. That may sound like a lot when you are making $14 per hour, but it isn't a great number. At best it would be a break even job, by just covering costs. It beats laying a guy off though. Shops that do repairs of this nature, like the company you work for, drive the price down on this type of work. The customers are not looking to spend a lot of money on something that is going to get destroyed again... it is the nature of their business. I will stop short of calling them "cheap", they want the box repaired just enough to get back on the road and earning as soon as possible at the lowest possible price. That is just good business. It is a good place to get your start though. You can create a pretty good mental toolbox with some problem solving skills if you pay attention. An experienced welder in my area makes between $25 & $35 per hour... learn as much as you can. Being a welder is great, I have interviewed some great welders... but the stand out applicants are the ones who have a broad background and solid problem solving skills. Oh and before I forget, I advertised the special, mailed out flyers to all the local companies and only got a handful of calls. I would say that at $975 plus tax my "special" wasn't special enough.
I’m thinking about rigging out my truck for mobile welding. I saw someone mention that welding on a truck may damage the battery. Is that true? How about the truck’s computer system?
It really depends on the truck. The older the truck the less computer systems there are. The rule of thumb is disconnect the battery to avoid any issues. Technology is constantly changing and vehicles are getting more and more high tech. Be aware of any systems, sensors, or wires where you are welding, move them if necessary. Disconnect the battery before welding on any vehicle. Do both of those things every time and you shouldn't run into any issues. I have welded on vehicles without disconnecting the battery and been fine, I am more comfortable with it the further I am away from any of the computers.
This was a barter job. I know the owner personally, it was a fair trade of services. I have done similar arrangements with landscapers trading services. Anywhere there is a garbage hauling company, there is an opportunity. Best bet is to make phone calls
It is what was on the truck. Too light for anything else I do, paid for on another job and left over. So yes that is what went in... it is overkill and unnecessary, but the price was right, it was still cheaper than buying metal.
This was a barter job. So no money physically changed hands. They provide me with dumpsters at no charge, and I do welding for them when they need it. Most of the dumpster work I do is done as filler. I offer a lower rate to customers or flat rate the work with the understanding that it will be worked on in down time. Most companies that run dumpsters are usually looking for a cheap repair, so I discount the rate if they are flexible with the time the repair takes. This was a full day job, mobile service; Full 10 hour day, so that works out to be $1250. While most dumpster owners would scoff at that price, it is what I would charge for any other job for that amount of time....
Sorry for the delay in a response. The short answer is that it depends on the job. Most repairs I work on a time and materials basis. Repairs are tricky to quote up front, because we never really know what we sre getting into before we open everything up. I will quote jobs, but I let the customer know at the first indication that my quote wasn't sufficient; if I feel I quoted the job too low(job went sideways, or I found a larger problem behind what I could see) to cover the work involved. That is a key on jobs like that. I typically build in 10-33%% of extra time into every up front quote to cover any thing I failed to anticipate(even then it doesn't always cover it); the scope of the job influence the margin that i use. This is where an open dialog with your customer is very important. It is always a difficult conversation when you need to revise a quote mid job, but it is 100% necessary. You NEVER want to surprise a customer with a significantly higher bill than what you quoted at the end, after the work is all done. It makes you appear dishonest. A lot of larger companies want quotes up front, and almost every customer is looking for a ballpark figure at a minimum. The customers that say "come in and fix it" are few and far between. The customers that understand the time and materials model are more versed in automotive and heavy truck repair. As far as coming up with that figure. I know my hourly/daily operating costs which is always my start point. I evaluate this number on a quarterly basis. From there I look and the job and picture the work that will go into it and keep a tally of hours or days in my head. From there I write the work out in a detailed quote for 3 reasons: 1) It allows me to mentally work the job through and put it on paper to catch anything I missed; 2) it clearly spells out the work I am doing for the quoted price; and 3) it allows me to add the "changes" to the invoice so the customer is able to see where the added time or materials came from and compare it against the original estimate if the need arises. Detailed quotes take time, but it has saved my ass many times. I had a job go for more than triple the quoted price. I was able to show that the customer more than doubled the scope of the original work, and that my crew had put in work well above and beyond what the original quote encompassed. The customer also assigned work outside of the metal scope to our crew which was also detailed in my quote. There were open lines of communication all throughout the job and we openly discussed the work as it changed. The customer had sticker shock when we tallied everything at the end of the job, but when he saw it in writing he was able to understand the work completed. The customer has used me for other work since and we still have a good working relationship as a result of that job. Hope that helps.
Actually, he didn't pay a dime. It was a trade off for his services on another job of mine. He stopped by the job several times throughout the day and saw the work going into it. If you ask me he got a song of a deal on the repair... but we both needed each others services... Not sure what you feel was "milked" on this job.
This video is more than 5 years old. I had less technical and videography skills then, than the (still) very limited skills I have now. If memory serves me correctly, it was a settings issue on the device I was using. I thought it was a time lapse feature, and clearly it wasn't.
Like the vid, question you prob get asked all the time but how much do you charge for a job like that. I have a lincoln power mig 210 which i use for jobs here and there but am interested in knowing how to price jobs. I used to worling for a company at an hourly wage. I do structural in NYC.
Pricing is probably one of the toughest parts of the work. Figuring out what the job costs you is the first step. I constantly reevaluate my operating costs....currently it is around $78 per hour which includes my basic operating costs(insurance, rent, lease payment etc)and my salary, but does not include consumables such as electrodes, gases etc. How would I price a dumpster job like this one? Specifically the 6" patch I run on special at $975+tax, materials and about 10 hours of work. The door work was an extra few hours which would have added about $125 per hour over the time billed for the patch. Companies with dumpsters usually are not looking to spend more than $1000-$1500 on a repair of this nature. Hope that helps.
@@WeldingInformation thanks for the reply def brings to perspective where i stand on pricing and now realize i may have underbid some jobs where profit could have been more. Hope to see more work as you post. Thanks
@@vinnybro13 it is hard to say with dumpster guys... I have heard them balk at the $975, and a third of that is the steel for the job.... I struggled for a long time on figuring out how to price jobs... at least for me, knowing what it costs for me to operate my business has helped me to better scale my pricing.
This is an ongoing problem. The short answer is "I don't". There are times I am very busy, and times where I am super slow. Every year for the last 5 years, business has slowed down starting around Thanksgiving and continued through the end of January. I have learned to anticipate this time of year. I am currently moving out of my seabox and into a shop, and have a new truck to work on. I sold my original truck, in order to get a crew cab that will work better when I have to pull daddy duty while working. I have the white truck listed at the moment as well. Looking to cut out unnecessary redundancy. So my point is this. You learn the trends of your area, specifically how it relates to your business, and plan accordingly. If there is a consistent hole in your schedule, at the same time every year... well that is your vacation time..... or the time to do an overhaul on your equipment. Beyond trends like that.... I charge more when I am really busy, and charge less when i am slow. I never go under my bottom line though.... maybe for cash in the right circumstances... but even then I do my best to stay at or slightly above my operating costs. I started doing work on dumpsters to keep things going, to keep working coming in. The profits are not as great, but it keeps income coming in to cover expenses like insurance, lease payments, and rent. My old mentor used to say "a day working for less, beats a day working for nothing". It gets easier every year to work through the slow period. Some of it is because I expect it to be slow and plan ahead to cover my expenses in advance... the other part is because I am more willing to take on lower paying work in this time of year.
It would. It was new to me at the time, I was still working through the kinks on it. It was second hand, so I was having issues with it. Literally just dropped it off for dealer service yesterday to get it 100%. But it absolutely could have done the whole job. I still prefer stick in spots because I feel it gets a better penetration. Might just be in my head, who knows. Sure there is a scientific answer out there.
Welding Information stick definitely stronger I feel but for time that will be saved MIG all the way for me, maybe looks a little neater to compared to my stick welding ha. Trying to get the balls to have a go at this kind of thing myself, currently self employed working for a company but wouldn’t mind taking the chance!
@@js3463 best of luck to you. I am just starting to see a return on the work I have put into the business. It takes time and a lot of sweat equity. Start small and add little by little. It can be done, just have to see it through.
@@WeldingInformation ok I am down in South Jersey I like watching your videos Im a welder to and was volunteer firefighter. I work for a defense manufacturer fab and welding military parts I been doing side jobs that turn into a side business I am slowly growing just brought my second truck and looking to go full time with it soon. its little hard managing bigger jobs and working a full-time job as well but I get it done.
I still have the balance of those Weldcote 6010 rods... did not like the way they were running at all. Burned a bunch of the Fleetweld 5P+ since... knock on wood, no issues with them!
It's hard to say what I make in a year doing this, as I have a career position as a firefighter that pays most of my bills. The business has progressively increased sales over the years, however I have reinvested more money into the business than I have taken as a salary. If this business was all I had, we would be living a decent life, but we wouldn't be getting rich. Also, if this was my only source of income I would probably have moved to a different area with a lower tax rate and bought a piece of property for both my home and shop to sit on. I can tell you the gross sales in 5 years have gone from about $45,000 to over $140,000 in just over 5 years. I don't know about your tax laws wherever you are, but I know if I ran this business as a sole proprietor I could take 40% off the top of the business as a reasonable salary. I lose about 1/4 of the year to being in the firehouse not including overtime. So my gross sales would be slightly higher, however I would have to get health benefits for my family... so I would call it an even trade off. I believe with hard work and a commitment to this craft that anyone cane make a good living doing this type of work. Hope that answer helps.
@@WeldingInformation interesting circumstances and perspective. Eh I've been welding for a decade with a pocket full of certs but I'm looking into finding a different field of work that pays better. I make custom aluminum canopies and handrails in NJ/NY and never touched anything near 50k lmao
@@kyleg8230 anything you do is going to take time to build. I worked for more than a decade in Public Works before becoming a career firefighter... never had time to build a business before I got "on the job"; but after going back to the academy found people calling me to fix things: weld this, weld that, turn some wrenches. It developed slowly. It was scraping to make it work for quite some time the progress was slow. It was working with old used equipment. It was late nights, and all nighters... and not in my 20's; in my mid 30's to early 40's... but little by little it has grown and grown. Honestly, it is the inspiration for the channel. I got some things right and I got some things wrong. I wanted to share my experiences to steer people away from the mistakes I made and guide them to the lessons I learned ( ideally before making the same mistakes). There are a lot of options to weigh before going out on your own... and to be honest it is a very personal choice. You can win big, you can lose big, or you can end up with a result somewhere in between the two. You have to evaluate your situation and go from there. You can start out small with a side hustle, or go all in and risk whatever money you can scrape together. I can tell you there are days I regret my choice and wish I just worked for someone else... there are days I am truly grateful that I started this adventure and can't imagine working for anyone else. That being said having certs is great, but maybe you need to diversify your skill set. Welding is more than welding... a fabricator is worth more than a welder. If you aren't making enough money, it is time to branch out. Got to be moving forward. Got to be warning more, have to grow as an individual and a tradesman. Times are tough right now with this Coronavirus.... but maybe it will become an opportunity to pivot into something else. Good fabricators are hard to come by. Not sure where you are in Jersey, but you are welcome to swing by the shop for coffee if you want to chat.
@@WeldingInformation yea I layout, drill, cut grind ive ran a Bridgeport from time to time ive worked on trailers and boats and industrial blenders and canopies and exhausts. I was told from the beginning to keep picking up skills so I did but every year it gets worse. I have great references too I'm just getting worn down and I'm not 30 yet. I'm in Morris County. If you ever been to maplewood I built all the canopies and sunshades on the old post office building they redid with Starbucks and apartments.
@@kyleg8230 I might know a thing or two about that building. High end job for sure, can attest that your work is still standing. My shop is in Essex County, not far from Maplewood at all. I will try to reach out soon. Keep an eye on your email
Is putting plates in a common thing you would do as a mobile welder? I'm about to start school for welding and I'm just browsing youtube videos trying to figure out what types of stuff I would be doing as a mobile welder.
It depends on where you are, and who you work for. I rarely turn work away, I take whatever work comes in the door. I see a lot of "plating" type work with construction and garbage/recycling companies. Construction companies with dump trucks look for holes in the dump body to be patched. Garbage/recycling companies typically need the bottoms of the dumpsters rebuilt, less plating and more of building a superstructure on the lower portion of the dumpster, but similar to plating . If you are starting welding school plan to learn as much as you can. Versatility is an important basis to gain from school. A pipe certification superceeds a plate certification, so if the program offers an accredited pipe certification, in would suggest you consider pursuing it. With a pipe certification you can do plate welds as well. Best of luck in school, keep your eyes open, there is so much to learn.
Mobile welders rock !!! I need something welded and a mobile welding was right on time salute
I like the idea of mobile welding because each day is a new challenge. Sure pipe has its glory but still going mobile is where you have to use your experience, past and present to figure out exactly what and how to complete the job so your customer will be satisfied. Can be long hours in any type weather. But the final satisfaction and pride in your work will get you new customers and a road to success.
Thank you for this video, I am starting to get side work and I eventually would like to turn it to my permanent job. I just bought a new bobcat 250!
Congratulations! Best of luck!
Welding Information thank you sir, just finished up another one!
You never know what you going to do one day from another.
100% true. Coming off my worst winter since I have been in business. COVID-19 has shut down a lot of the spring work... things are just picking up. Working on a pick up bed repair and have a power wheel jeep in the shop for a repair... who would have thunk that? Have a trailer repair in the que, and working on drumming up more work now.... never a dull moment, a constant struggle.... if it was easy, everyone would be doing it.
Hell yeah as long as you’re happy and the customer is happy that’s all that matters
Be real, you still wake up at 5:30 on Sunday. Haha, I can’t sleep in for shit.
Nah. My sleep pattern is a mess. Every week is different
Hi, Great video young man. As a mobile welder to farmers and other industries in the UK I can highly recommend you get some leather knee pads lined with floor type felt. I got some 11years ago from my local supply and they were £36 ($50?) back then and trust me they saved my knees. The knee pads are still going strong to this day and have been used in cow muck, soil, clay, soft mud, gravel and you name it those pads have been used on or in it. I have pasted a description taken form a UK website selling them for £20 per pair today. They could even be the same maker? I just cannot remember. Anyway, mine were made in the USA I think the sales guy told me and they were the last pair they had. Keep up the great work young man.
Kunys KUNKP299 KP299 Heavy-Duty Leather Thick Felt Knee Pads
Thank you for the information. I normally wear Carhart double knee pants, I have had neoprene pads put in between the pants and the "double knee" layer. Works very well. The pants in this video were from an old job uniform so I keep the pads on the truck just in case.
That particular set I was using in the video was packing material from an order I got. I am still using the almost 2 years after I started using them. I like "free" stuff like that. Better to reuse something that would have otherwise ended up in a landfill. I will definitely look into the knee pads though. I have been beating up on my knees for years.
My first job was welding those at WRMI in b.c, floor, set the jig then hang a fabbed wall jig it a set edge placement, hang a formed front sheet for the cable lift 40yrds, hang second wall fully tack out and weld atleast a few feet both sides of the walls door side, then pull the jig hang a door set the hinges, fab the pipe-hook and hoop latch system, s6 everything. Cable lift front ends fabbed and weld the thing out, slap a ladder inside. The shop even had a robot welding jigged up pockets on panels for the small dumpsters. Even Caught my first rattlesnake there, fucking desert 🌵
Sounds like quite a process. Thanks for the feedback and insight. I always imagined that most companies were using some sort of automation, but there was a time before automation. What are you doing now?
Structural steel fabrication welding and erecting , beams & columns, site welding. Company I work for is small but has a crane truck. Vancouver b.c
Gonna start building some stuff for myself pretty soon, washplants.
@@workingclass6750 best of luck! Thanks for taking the time to watch, if there is any way I can help, let me know.
do the jobs you do require libaliaty insurance? thanks if you get into the garbage truck relineing hopper its not bad.
Yes. Everything requires insurance. You need to cover your behind from the unanticipated
I do mobile welding in SW Florida, I do bunch of turd polishing, dumpsters,trassh compactors and heavy junk. Dumpsters are the worst.
If your motivated and skilled, you can kill it. Lots of peeps come down here and lose their motivation.@Atlantic Coast
Dumpsters are tough. Not from a challenge standpoint... but by time they get to us they are usually in pretty sad shape.... and the customer usually wants a bottom dollar(as cheap as possible), fast fix. It is good filler work, but with tight margins with what the market is willing to pay it can be difficult to turn a good profit.
Gotta love a meatball job!
Any pointers for a guy in LI NY trying to start a side hustle, specifically most available types of work and a good machine to start out with? I have a full time job and want to make some money on the side doing something I like. I’d rather take work home to do as opposed to mobile welding which is a bigger investment... Much appreciated
Sorry for the delay in responding. Things have been really busy.
The best advice I can offer is to start small with what you can afford. The most available type of work really depends on where you are, and what you are good at. What you want to do is a major contributing factor. Logistics would be the next factor... what do you have power for? Are you going to work out of the garage in your home? Do you have enough power in your panel to support a 220v welder, or have a dedicated circuit for it? What process are you most comfortable with? Are you artistic? Are you more geared towards repairs? Do you have an area of expertise that could lead to a niche market you can serve?
Get an idea of what you want to make/do then gear your "shop" to fitting that market. In this day and age a simple DC multiprocess machine that runs on 110/220 is relatively affordable. My ESAB Rebel came in at just under $1500, and has MIG, TIG, and Stick capabilities. My Miller Multimatic 200 came in at just shy of $2k with a few more capabilities. Personally, I try to stay away from the 110v only welders, but a few of my machines can run on both voltages if they need to. The inverter machines are a little more forgiving, on a home electrical system, than the transformer machines. They will also run off a basic generator which will allow you to go mobile if you decide to go in that direction.
I think the key is to have a few plans on what you are going to do, and to set yourself up to pivot to an alternate plan if the first one doesn't work out. If you are artistic folk art can be something you work on in down time when the customer base may not support a side hustle... have a few irons in the fire, but find the balance to not have too many that you can't support with a small operation.
Constantly assess what you are doing, pay attention to the jobs that come in versus the ones that don't, let that guide where you steer your business. Another thing to assess is pay attention to the work you enjoy/like(want) versus the work you dread/dislike(don't want).... not that you should turn down work in the beginning, or ever... charge more for the work you don't like. Do your best to keep your rates reasonable, fair, and consistent. Hope that helps. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask. Good luck.
@@WeldingInformation That is great info, I had some questions about machines which you seem to have answered, I was looking at either the ESAB 205 or the Miller multimatic 220 which I believe are both 110 and 220 capable. Not knowing what kind of work I could learn or pick up I thought the ability to weld aluminum may come in handy with the AC capability. I went to BOCES to learn and came out decent in all the process, mig was the easiest in my opinion, then stick and tig I believe required the most skill. I will be working out of my garage and have a 220 line in there for my compressor so i should be good to go but may need to change or add a receptacle.
I wouldn't say I'm artistic, I'm looking to do any work to hone my skills and would like to start doing jobs I can work at in my garage since I won't be mobile in the near future. Where do new welders go to pick up work they can take home? What kinds of work should I look for that isn't too advanced to start off with? At this point I'm not doing this to make a living, just want to learn with a view towards building a small side business.
@@nicvanorton6795 if you are good with aluminum it is worth it to get a machine that can handle that material. My Millermatic 200 will run a spool gun to do aluminum. Details:
Miller Multimatic 200 Auto-Set Elite Welder 907518
Might be worth looking into. The key is to start out with what you can afford. There are a lot if great machines in the market. When I was first purchasing my equipment new I actually called Miller tech support and had a conversation with a technician about what would best suit my needs. I think starting out it is always better to buy used to keep costs down, less overhead is better in the beginning. In the metro NY area there is always equipment for sale, and if you are willing to drive you can probably pick up some good used equipment. I never pay more than $.60 on the dollar for any used name brand equipment. So if you find a used welder, look up the price new and about 60% of that value should be the top of what you are willing to pay for it. (50% or less for non name brand).
When it comes to work a lot of it is "take what you can get". Little art projects are good to hone skills and generate revenue. There are tons of things you can make, look at pintrest, easy, Google and anywhere online for ideas. The other option is to put up a Craigslist ad offering welding... offer to pick up projects for customers for free, figure out a rate that puts you below the rate full service shops offer... ideally you want to beat them by 1/3. I see guys advertising in my area for $75 an hour (that is almost $50 less than what I charge an hour), I would imagine they probably don't have insurance that I carry. So you need to put the leg work in to figure out the going rate in your area, then figure out how much you need to make per hour and try to offer a price that is fair to you and gives incentive to potential customers to give you a shot at earning their business.
@@WeldingInformation Great, thanks for all the info. I didn't know about the Miller Multimatic 200 Auto-Set Elite Welder but it looks like something I may be interested in and I will keep an eye out for good used
@@nicvanorton6795 I bought mine to go on my second truck, I have been using it in my shop quite a bit and I am very happy with it. I used to run my spoolgun of my 211 autoset, but will likely swap them out. For now the 211 is staying on the truck. I believe the 200 is the same as the 215, but the 200 comes in the portable case. The 200 comes with a Bernard mig gun, and 215 comes with a Miller gun. They both seem to have the same capability... look at both, but the 215 is a few hundred dollars less. The only real difference I see is one is in a portable case for a few hundred dollars more.
Great video. Slow motion was kinda more of a distraction to me than just normal speed just IMHO.
I am a better welder than I am a video guy. Goal was to capture the full day of work in more of a time lapse for reference. Slow motion was never intentional. Always wanted to keep the videos as short as possible.
@@WeldingInformation Oh sorry, I just thought that the slow motion was intentional because you had mentioned it was the reason the battery having died. Just a suggestion was all because I found myself focusing on the slow motion instead of the structure of the repair. Which was what I gravitate toward.
@@vtrombly if memory serves it was a new device and I thought "hyperlapse" was a time delay that would speed up the events of the day. I didn't check it until much later in the day to find out how wrong I was. I believe I corrected it in future videos. It still kills the battery pretty quick to capture a full day.
Oh hell yeah , blame the crappy rods .
They were garbage. The weldcote rods normally come with a light brown to grey coating, they were a dark brown I have never seen. Switched rods and didn't have any more issues. Point is to problem solve on your feet... machine was set right, had a good ground, metal was as clean as I was going to get it... so whats left? Bad lead? Bad stinger? Open a new pack of 5p+ and all the issues went away. What would you say it was? Magic rods?
The other point is to have a spare can of rods. I have had a few boxes damaged with the flux chipped away... having a spare can has saved my ass at times.
So, are you a private contractor?
I do similar work, only I weld in a shop where the rolloffs get delivered to us.
I work for Mobile Container Services, minus the mobile of course, I only get paid 14$/ hour but hey, I've only been welding for about 9 months so far.
I work with one other guy, and we get about one rolloff done per day, 6:00 AM - 3:30 PM
I guess you could call me an "independent" welder. I own my own company, and bill for services. So I work for anyone who needs me. Currently, we are finishing a pool job; I might start a video on it later this week, and post it once the job is fully complete.
The container industry is a tough one. Whether it be dumpsters or Conex boxes, there are tight margins. I ran a special last year to try to keep enough work coming in to support another welder. Long story short, there was about $300, of the $975 I was advertising, to pay someone for a down and dirty plating repair on the rails. That may sound like a lot when you are making $14 per hour, but it isn't a great number. At best it would be a break even job, by just covering costs. It beats laying a guy off though.
Shops that do repairs of this nature, like the company you work for, drive the price down on this type of work. The customers are not looking to spend a lot of money on something that is going to get destroyed again... it is the nature of their business. I will stop short of calling them "cheap", they want the box repaired just enough to get back on the road and earning as soon as possible at the lowest possible price. That is just good business.
It is a good place to get your start though. You can create a pretty good mental toolbox with some problem solving skills if you pay attention. An experienced welder in my area makes between $25 & $35 per hour... learn as much as you can. Being a welder is great, I have interviewed some great welders... but the stand out applicants are the ones who have a broad background and solid problem solving skills.
Oh and before I forget, I advertised the special, mailed out flyers to all the local companies and only got a handful of calls. I would say that at $975 plus tax my "special" wasn't special enough.
Welding Information are u hiring I’m interested
Iain MacLean
Which mobile container services do you work for? (Which state)
I work for the same company as you but we are located in North Carolina.
@@juanzunigarobertson4434 we're in ohio, neat
How long was that job you good man
That was a few years ago. If memory serves me correctly I was there 2 days, on separate projects.
How much was is for all that one day
It was a trade in services. No money changed hands. He provided dumpsters for me and I repaired the box for him.
I’m thinking about rigging out my truck for mobile welding. I saw someone mention that welding on a truck may damage the battery. Is that true? How about the truck’s computer system?
It really depends on the truck. The older the truck the less computer systems there are. The rule of thumb is disconnect the battery to avoid any issues.
Technology is constantly changing and vehicles are getting more and more high tech. Be aware of any systems, sensors, or wires where you are welding, move them if necessary. Disconnect the battery before welding on any vehicle. Do both of those things every time and you shouldn't run into any issues.
I have welded on vehicles without disconnecting the battery and been fine, I am more comfortable with it the further I am away from any of the computers.
Customer shows up wearing shorts. My
How do i get jobs like these?
This was a barter job. I know the owner personally, it was a fair trade of services. I have done similar arrangements with landscapers trading services.
Anywhere there is a garbage hauling company, there is an opportunity. Best bet is to make phone calls
Got a page on here too if you want to check it out, looking for some business tips. facebook.com/devriescustomwelding/
A R plate just laying around ? So you use it on a free bee ? Dumpster repair requires nothing more than rusty old flat bar .
It is what was on the truck. Too light for anything else I do, paid for on another job and left over. So yes that is what went in... it is overkill and unnecessary, but the price was right, it was still cheaper than buying metal.
Excellent work sir! Was that 1/16” diameter wire you were burning?
Josh Devries Yes, Hobart XLR-8 1/16" I find it to be relatively faster than running SMAW.
Welding Information absolutely would be faster!
What kind of voltage you running on the trailblazer to burn this wire?
What do you charge? For instance how much did you charge for this job and how do you determine it?
This was a barter job. So no money physically changed hands. They provide me with dumpsters at no charge, and I do welding for them when they need it. Most of the dumpster work I do is done as filler. I offer a lower rate to customers or flat rate the work with the understanding that it will be worked on in down time. Most companies that run dumpsters are usually looking for a cheap repair, so I discount the rate if they are flexible with the time the repair takes.
This was a full day job, mobile service; Full 10 hour day, so that works out to be $1250. While most dumpster owners would scoff at that price, it is what I would charge for any other job for that amount of time....
How you price out work
Sorry for the delay in a response. The short answer is that it depends on the job.
Most repairs I work on a time and materials basis. Repairs are tricky to quote up front, because we never really know what we sre getting into before we open everything up. I will quote jobs, but I let the customer know at the first indication that my quote wasn't sufficient; if I feel I quoted the job too low(job went sideways, or I found a larger problem behind what I could see) to cover the work involved. That is a key on jobs like that. I typically build in 10-33%% of extra time into every up front quote to cover any thing I failed to anticipate(even then it doesn't always cover it); the scope of the job influence the margin that i use. This is where an open dialog with your customer is very important. It is always a difficult conversation when you need to revise a quote mid job, but it is 100% necessary. You NEVER want to surprise a customer with a significantly higher bill than what you quoted at the end, after the work is all done. It makes you appear dishonest.
A lot of larger companies want quotes up front, and almost every customer is looking for a ballpark figure at a minimum. The customers that say "come in and fix it" are few and far between. The customers that understand the time and materials model are more versed in automotive and heavy truck repair.
As far as coming up with that figure. I know my hourly/daily operating costs which is always my start point. I evaluate this number on a quarterly basis. From there I look and the job and picture the work that will go into it and keep a tally of hours or days in my head. From there I write the work out in a detailed quote for 3 reasons: 1) It allows me to mentally work the job through and put it on paper to catch anything I missed; 2) it clearly spells out the work I am doing for the quoted price; and 3) it allows me to add the "changes" to the invoice so the customer is able to see where the added time or materials came from and compare it against the original estimate if the need arises.
Detailed quotes take time, but it has saved my ass many times. I had a job go for more than triple the quoted price. I was able to show that the customer more than doubled the scope of the original work, and that my crew had put in work well above and beyond what the original quote encompassed. The customer also assigned work outside of the metal scope to our crew which was also detailed in my quote. There were open lines of communication all throughout the job and we openly discussed the work as it changed. The customer had sticker shock when we tallied everything at the end of the job, but when he saw it in writing he was able to understand the work completed. The customer has used me for other work since and we still have a good working relationship as a result of that job.
Hope that helps.
That guy know you're just milking this job for time?
Actually, he didn't pay a dime. It was a trade off for his services on another job of mine. He stopped by the job several times throughout the day and saw the work going into it. If you ask me he got a song of a deal on the repair... but we both needed each others services...
Not sure what you feel was "milked" on this job.
@daniel cain Do you have to practice being an ass hole or does it just come naturally?
@@kwasg3 do you practice being judgemental and presumptuous ?
Works like a snail
@@dcain32810 you are entitled to your opinion. Have a good day.
Dude, we don't need a slo mo spark shot every 2 inches of weld
This video is more than 5 years old. I had less technical and videography skills then, than the (still) very limited skills I have now. If memory serves me correctly, it was a settings issue on the device I was using. I thought it was a time lapse feature, and clearly it wasn't.
Like the vid, question you prob get asked all the time but how much do you charge for a job like that. I have a lincoln power mig 210 which i use for jobs here and there but am interested in knowing how to price jobs. I used to worling for a company at an hourly wage. I do structural in NYC.
Pricing is probably one of the toughest parts of the work. Figuring out what the job costs you is the first step. I constantly reevaluate my operating costs....currently it is around $78 per hour which includes my basic operating costs(insurance, rent, lease payment etc)and my salary, but does not include consumables such as electrodes, gases etc.
How would I price a dumpster job like this one? Specifically the 6" patch I run on special at $975+tax, materials and about 10 hours of work. The door work was an extra few hours which would have added about $125 per hour over the time billed for the patch.
Companies with dumpsters usually are not looking to spend more than $1000-$1500 on a repair of this nature. Hope that helps.
@@WeldingInformation thanks for the reply def brings to perspective where i stand on pricing and now realize i may have underbid some jobs where profit could have been more. Hope to see more work as you post. Thanks
@@vinnybro13 it is hard to say with dumpster guys... I have heard them balk at the $975, and a third of that is the steel for the job.... I struggled for a long time on figuring out how to price jobs... at least for me, knowing what it costs for me to operate my business has helped me to better scale my pricing.
How do you get jobs to stay steady?
This is an ongoing problem. The short answer is "I don't". There are times I am very busy, and times where I am super slow. Every year for the last 5 years, business has slowed down starting around Thanksgiving and continued through the end of January.
I have learned to anticipate this time of year. I am currently moving out of my seabox and into a shop, and have a new truck to work on. I sold my original truck, in order to get a crew cab that will work better when I have to pull daddy duty while working. I have the white truck listed at the moment as well. Looking to cut out unnecessary redundancy.
So my point is this. You learn the trends of your area, specifically how it relates to your business, and plan accordingly. If there is a consistent hole in your schedule, at the same time every year... well that is your vacation time..... or the time to do an overhaul on your equipment.
Beyond trends like that.... I charge more when I am really busy, and charge less when i am slow. I never go under my bottom line though.... maybe for cash in the right circumstances... but even then I do my best to stay at or slightly above my operating costs.
I started doing work on dumpsters to keep things going, to keep working coming in. The profits are not as great, but it keeps income coming in to cover expenses like insurance, lease payments, and rent. My old mentor used to say "a day working for less, beats a day working for nothing".
It gets easier every year to work through the slow period. Some of it is because I expect it to be slow and plan ahead to cover my expenses in advance... the other part is because I am more willing to take on lower paying work in this time of year.
Great video, just subscribed. Would the suitcase welder not have been ok to complete the whole job?
It would. It was new to me at the time, I was still working through the kinks on it. It was second hand, so I was having issues with it. Literally just dropped it off for dealer service yesterday to get it 100%. But it absolutely could have done the whole job. I still prefer stick in spots because I feel it gets a better penetration. Might just be in my head, who knows. Sure there is a scientific answer out there.
Welding Information stick definitely stronger I feel but for time that will be saved MIG all the way for me, maybe looks a little neater to compared to my stick welding ha. Trying to get the balls to have a go at this kind of thing myself, currently self employed working for a company but wouldn’t mind taking the chance!
@@js3463 best of luck to you. I am just starting to see a return on the work I have put into the business. It takes time and a lot of sweat equity. Start small and add little by little. It can be done, just have to see it through.
Welding Information thanks for advice brother, hope to speak to you again 👍🏻
Where in New Jersey are you located?
North Jersey, Essex County
@@WeldingInformation ok I am down in South Jersey I like watching your videos Im a welder to and was volunteer firefighter. I work for a defense manufacturer fab and welding military parts I been doing side jobs that turn into a side business I am slowly growing just brought my second truck and looking to go full time with it soon. its little hard managing bigger jobs and working a full-time job as well but I get it done.
@@gregdavis4548 keep it up man. It isn't easy, I still struggle myself. Looking to start making videos again in the near future, so stay tuned!
👍💪👩🏭 Burn Them Rods My Man!
I still have the balance of those Weldcote 6010 rods... did not like the way they were running at all. Burned a bunch of the Fleetweld 5P+ since... knock on wood, no issues with them!
How much do you actually make a year doing this?
It's hard to say what I make in a year doing this, as I have a career position as a firefighter that pays most of my bills. The business has progressively increased sales over the years, however I have reinvested more money into the business than I have taken as a salary. If this business was all I had, we would be living a decent life, but we wouldn't be getting rich. Also, if this was my only source of income I would probably have moved to a different area with a lower tax rate and bought a piece of property for both my home and shop to sit on.
I can tell you the gross sales in 5 years have gone from about $45,000 to over $140,000 in just over 5 years. I don't know about your tax laws wherever you are, but I know if I ran this business as a sole proprietor I could take 40% off the top of the business as a reasonable salary. I lose about 1/4 of the year to being in the firehouse not including overtime. So my gross sales would be slightly higher, however I would have to get health benefits for my family... so I would call it an even trade off.
I believe with hard work and a commitment to this craft that anyone cane make a good living doing this type of work. Hope that answer helps.
@@WeldingInformation interesting circumstances and perspective. Eh I've been welding for a decade with a pocket full of certs but I'm looking into finding a different field of work that pays better. I make custom aluminum canopies and handrails in NJ/NY and never touched anything near 50k lmao
@@kyleg8230 anything you do is going to take time to build. I worked for more than a decade in Public Works before becoming a career firefighter... never had time to build a business before I got "on the job"; but after going back to the academy found people calling me to fix things: weld this, weld that, turn some wrenches. It developed slowly.
It was scraping to make it work for quite some time the progress was slow. It was working with old used equipment. It was late nights, and all nighters... and not in my 20's; in my mid 30's to early 40's... but little by little it has grown and grown.
Honestly, it is the inspiration for the channel. I got some things right and I got some things wrong. I wanted to share my experiences to steer people away from the mistakes I made and guide them to the lessons I learned ( ideally before making the same mistakes).
There are a lot of options to weigh before going out on your own... and to be honest it is a very personal choice. You can win big, you can lose big, or you can end up with a result somewhere in between the two. You have to evaluate your situation and go from there. You can start out small with a side hustle, or go all in and risk whatever money you can scrape together.
I can tell you there are days I regret my choice and wish I just worked for someone else... there are days I am truly grateful that I started this adventure and can't imagine working for anyone else.
That being said having certs is great, but maybe you need to diversify your skill set. Welding is more than welding... a fabricator is worth more than a welder. If you aren't making enough money, it is time to branch out. Got to be moving forward. Got to be warning more, have to grow as an individual and a tradesman.
Times are tough right now with this Coronavirus.... but maybe it will become an opportunity to pivot into something else. Good fabricators are hard to come by.
Not sure where you are in Jersey, but you are welcome to swing by the shop for coffee if you want to chat.
@@WeldingInformation yea I layout, drill, cut grind ive ran a Bridgeport from time to time ive worked on trailers and boats and industrial blenders and canopies and exhausts. I was told from the beginning to keep picking up skills so I did but every year it gets worse. I have great references too I'm just getting worn down and I'm not 30 yet. I'm in Morris County. If you ever been to maplewood I built all the canopies and sunshades on the old post office building they redid with Starbucks and apartments.
@@kyleg8230 I might know a thing or two about that building. High end job for sure, can attest that your work is still standing. My shop is in Essex County, not far from Maplewood at all. I will try to reach out soon. Keep an eye on your email
Is putting plates in a common thing you would do as a mobile welder? I'm about to start school for welding and I'm just browsing youtube videos trying to figure out what types of stuff I would be doing as a mobile welder.
It depends on where you are, and who you work for. I rarely turn work away, I take whatever work comes in the door. I see a lot of "plating" type work with construction and garbage/recycling companies. Construction companies with dump trucks look for holes in the dump body to be patched. Garbage/recycling companies typically need the bottoms of the dumpsters rebuilt, less plating and more of building a superstructure on the lower portion of the dumpster, but similar to plating .
If you are starting welding school plan to learn as much as you can. Versatility is an important basis to gain from school. A pipe certification superceeds a plate certification, so if the program offers an accredited pipe certification, in would suggest you consider pursuing it. With a pipe certification you can do plate welds as well.
Best of luck in school, keep your eyes open, there is so much to learn.
You got a late start because of filming .
No. I was waiting on the customer. Does this look like a multiple take production? I appreciate your concern though
@@WeldingInformation one take is more than enough
#6010 #6011
Your glasses are to small
Some would as argue my head is too big.
N
Enough with the slow motion.
I was actually looking for the time lapse setting instead of the slow motion. That didn't work out so well...