Not planning on becoming one, but was just curious, what kind of work do travelling welders do? Pipe welders in the natural gas industry travel around to various locations to do work. What other industries use mobile welders?
Not planning on becoming one, but was just curious, what kind of work do travelling welders do? Pipe welders in the natural gas industry travel around to various locations to do work. What other industries use mobile welders?
From the The Traveling Welder's Handbook:
He rides a road, that don't have no end
An open highway, without any bends
Tramp and his stallion, alone in a dream
Proud in his colors, as the chromium gleams
On iron horse he flies
On iron horse he gladly dies
Iron horse his wife
Iron horse his life
He lives his life, he's living it fast
Don't try to hide, when the dice have been cast
He rides a whirlwind, that cuts to the bone
Loaded forever, and ferociously stoned
On iron horse he flies
On iron horse he gladly dies
Iron horse his wife
Iron horse his life
Yeah, slide it to me (sad little riff)
One day one day, they'll go for the sun
Together they'll slide, on the eternal run
Wasted forever, on speed bikes and booze
Yeah tramp and the brothers, all born to lose
On iron horse he flies
On iron horse he gladly dies
Iron horse his wife
Iron horse his life
Iron horse his life
Iron horse his wife
Iron horse his wife
Iron horse his life
There are a lot of industries that use traveling welders. Most of the industries I have worked in.
Construction, farming, chemical plant, millwright, trucking, ship building ...
Basically, any industry that has 2 pieces of metal to join that is a mobile industry, or a fixed industry with occasional specialty welding needs.
The pharmaceutical industry, from basic construction such as building steel and large water piping to specialized process piping involving stainless steel and double-wall pipe. Refineries and other chemical plants are similar.
I'm guessing they spend most of their time riding in trucks or flying, and occasionally do some welding on something that has to be welded where it is as it sits instead of being moved to somewhere else.
Friend of mine in college decided he didn't want to be a shop teacher. So he bought a truck and set it up with all types of welding equipment. He made a very comfortable living running around SW PA welding whatever people wanted welded.
We have a guy her in Frederick, MD where I live now who provides the same service, but he does have a shop where you can take stuff also.
There are a lot of them in farm country - they go around fixing tractors or machinery out in the field when they break down.
Don't forget the nuclear carnies that travel from one plant to another during refueling outages. Most of them take at least one of the 4 seasons off because they don't need to work.
I was on a plane not too long ago with a couple of underwater welders. They were flying in to do something that I didn't ask for details.
Back when I worked in the power plant we brought in specialist welders during the boiler outages to replace boiler pipes, and other critical high pressure piping.
It was seriously dirty work, but I'm pretty sure they were paid quite well. They also spent months at a time away from home- no thank you.
When I managed an asphalt plant we brought in pipe welders from out of state for big projects. They spent a lot of time at crap hotels, driving long distances, eating bad food, and working long hours in any weather. The guys working for us were older and the job had taken a real physical toll over the years, but they did well financially. They also worked about 3/4 of the year as far as I could tell.
They were good, fun guys and I always enjoyed having them around. We used to all go to lunch together and they'd hit on any waitress we ran into, particularly the ones that were one step above being a lot lizard. Even with spouses at home, it seemed like a lonely life.
Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: From the The Traveling Welder's Handbook: He rides a road, that don't have no end An open highway, without any bends Tramp and his stallion, alone in a dream Proud in his colors, as the chromium gleams On iron horse he flies On iron horse he gladly dies Iron horse his wife Iron horse his life He lives his life, he's living it fast Don't try to hide, when the dice have been cast He rides a whirlwind, that cuts to the bone Loaded forever, and ferociously stoned On iron horse he flies On iron horse he gladly dies Iron horse his wife Iron horse his life Yeah, slide it to me (sad little riff) One day one day, they'll go for the sun Together they'll slide, on the eternal run Wasted forever, on speed bikes and booze Yeah tramp and the brothers, all born to lose On iron horse he flies On iron horse he gladly dies Iron horse his wife Iron horse his life Iron horse his life Iron horse his wife Iron horse his wife Iron horse his life
The graphic artist handbook has nothing nearly this badass in it. It's mostly just maps to Starbucks and Trader Joe's coupons.
Back when I was sailing, I heard a (sea) story: The ship was on a grain run (where you clean out a oil tanker and fill it with grain) to Russia, probably late 70's. They needed some welding done. Most ships don't have welders on them. There might be one guy that can kinda make something stick, but no real welders. I suppose, just as sailors aren't painters, sailors aren't welders either. Anyway, they told the agent they needed a welder (in Russia.) Three guys show up. Two of them are holding the third up, because he is too drunk to stand on his own. That was the welder. They put him in the chair in the Captain's office and poured him a tall water glass full of vodka, which he downs in one long drink. Then they carried him out to the deck where they hung him upside down off the cat walk by grabbing his legs. He held up a piece of smoked glass as a shield and welded the pipe.
In reply to Dr. Hess:
Was it a good weld?
I have a friend that works in the Aker shipyard in Philly. He said there is a welder there that looks like he's been working there since WWII, he is so shaky that he can barely sign his name, but his weld beads have the best weave ever. 
Yeah, they said he did a great job.
Our production welder used to work on a ship cutting fish as they caught the fish. He was in the lower end cutting fish for 12 hours and off 12 hours. He would be gone for a few weeks.
Now he works in our hose shop and keeps normal hours welding ss hoses. Less money but he has a family and a life.
Yeah, that whole "family and a life" thing is why I quit sailing.
JG Pasterjak wrote: The graphic artist handbook has nothing nearly this badass in it. It's mostly just maps to Starbucks and Trader Joe's coupons.
Are you looking at the Traveling Graphic Artist Handbook? That will be significantly more badass. It will have directions to snobby jazz coffee shops and a whole section full of clever one-liners you can use to make self-loathing chicks swoon.
You'll need to log in to post.
