“These are the times that try men's souls.” | Well yes you can make a living welding for farmers but you need some training first like GDAD said you need to learn layout, and complicated repair, impossible type of repair in some of the worst places. That is when a farmer is going to call you to fix something or a construction firm is going to call you to torch bolts out of a cast piece of iron equipment. To learn that type of repair methods I'm really thinking you need to work for someone close to ten years to learn that type of repair levels to be confident to handle a bad repair so when you get it repaired with customer satisfaction, the customer will call you hands down FIRST next time they have a break down!
I have a good friend that I use when I have those kinds of impossible stuff to fix, I even call him to weld my aluminum trailers as well. I have a nice shop with welders to do the job, but I concede some of those jobs to him because of his skill level is far superior to mine when it come to some of that stuff because he lives it everyday. That cutting torch is an extension of his hands, and a welding machine makes him a master at what he does. He worked for a repair shop that did 70% or more for farmers & ranchers, from stretching truck frames, mounting truck beds, hitches, etc. you name it he did it. There is a skill in learning to straighten truck frames, loader frames, you only learn that from working in a true blacksmithing shop like that. You will get the calls to straighten augers in grain platforms, you name it the list goes on.
He works for construction firms, farmers, ranchers, and some of his bigger money is in building pipe fences for well to do property owners like doctors, lawyers, etc. They buy getaway farms, then they want pipe and cable fences, working corrals, range fences w/barb wire. It has morphed into dozer work pushing fence lines, skid steer work, snow removal in winter. He get called for those distasteful jobs, that most guys working in a professional job don't know how to do like fence building. He makes good money at fencing. My friend charges me by the hour straight time, driving or repair work. I really don't know what he charges others.
So with that being said the problem with doing some of this type of work, like mounting flatbeds on trucks you have to compete with the dealers that are selling the truck beds and charge a set fee to mount a bed. Very hard to beat their price, but that's the problem, I've never had a bed mounted at a dealer that I was satisfied with, that's why he and I mount them in my shop or his to our level of satisfaction. Most shops do a poor job in wiring electrical for beds, trailers, etc. If your guy becomes top notch in doing that type of wiring he will be sought after to mount stuff. I put a car lift in my shop to help mounting of beds, etc. It makes it quite enjoyable to switch beds, mount bale beds, etc.
Also I can never harp enough on the business side of being self employed, YOU NEED TO LEARN HOW TO RUN A BUSINESS! You need to be able to run the books, collect bills, control costs. First and foremost get a good CPA to help in setting things up, and help in review of books for taxes, and helping taking an outside look at the day to day workings to see if you are slacking in any of these areas. When he pulls onto a job for a first time customer he needs to have paper work ready for a tax exempt form ready when figuring billing out so he doesn't have to go back a year later and get that information, that cost his business money and valuable time in tying up the loose ends. Need to keep a log of each job during the day so at days end he can do billing at night so it is fresh on his mind. That is a habit he needs to get into otherwise things can get out of hand, and he won't get paid in a timely fashion. Also needs to be thinking of having insurance medical, workman's comp, loss of wages, etc. this is a profession where a person can and well get hurt over time, you need to be covered because when you're down, no paycheck is coming in.
With all this being said my buddy doesn't regret going out on his own, in fact it has allowed more family time as even his kids have helped in his business, even his daughters help him as welder's helpers. They are great help to him, they even help him build fences. |
Good idea or not?
