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Up Topic Welding Industry / General Welding Discussion / to pipeline or not to pipeline
- - By jimmyd Date 08-11-2007 17:03
can someone tell me how smart it would be to persue a pipeline job considering that I am a 34 yearold family man. However I am not afraid of hard work or starting at the bottom and learning the job by helping people who have been doing it for years. I understand I would be away from the family alot but also I would be doig it for them. SO with that in mind what do you think?
Parent - By hogan (****) Date 08-11-2007 17:25
what is your previous experience with welding
Parent - - By dbigkahunna (****) Date 08-11-2007 21:38
Come to grip's with the being away from the family. This will be for weeks even months at a time. You are sacrificing "time" for "money". If your kids are in grade school to middle school are you willing to miss all the plays, activities, ball games, life for "money"? Does your wife understand and support what you will be doing?Are you two going to be able to live apart, then live back together? I have been lucky. I have a great wife, and for a redhead, a great sense of humor. But I know all I missed while the kids were growing up. Was it a good trade? Looking back 20 years I can honestly say I dont know. We had a great time, the wife loves to travel, but I am not close to my kids. Yea, I did it for them. They are great kids. She is a great wife. I have no regrets, but looking back, I believe I would have taken a lot more time home than chasing a buck. "Money" can buy you almost anything, except "time". Thats what I think.
BABRT's 
Parent - By CWI555 (*****) Date 08-11-2007 22:34
wise words
Parent - - By Sourdough (****) Date 08-13-2007 17:32
Kahunna, when I took my 30" test the procedure called for hippy on the root. How often have you done this?........

We all got together and got the okay to run 5p+.

I just thought it was wierd........
Parent - - By dbigkahunna (****) Date 08-13-2007 23:20
HYP???  One of the issues with hyp on the bead on X60 and higher is the undercut. With 70+ you can run it straight and get a nice bead but with hyp all you get is undercut faster. Set a procedure using 5P+ bead and hyp out on X65. Worked well but that was in the late 80's before 70+ came out.  If you have X42, hyp is ok, with minimal UC, but I just never liked the way it ran. With HYP you have to keep the heat down. or from 2-5 it is hard not to UC. HYP was developed for X52 and if you find X52, you cannot find a better rod than HYP on it. But time has moved on and it has been yeas since I saw X52.
I hope it was not a multiple. Did some test using 36 inch with a brother-in-law on the butt and branch. By the time it was over, everybody was ready to fight.
Did you pass?
Parent - - By Sourdough (****) Date 08-14-2007 21:45 Edited 08-15-2007 16:28
Kahunna - NO i did not pass visual because of a single arc strike where I slipped, about a 1/4 inch out of the weld on a restart. They went ahead and exrayed it and it passed, and now they want me to come out and do a 12" branch???

I'm lost. Maybe I pissed the right person off, I don't know.............
Parent - By dbigkahunna (****) Date 08-14-2007 23:04
If they let you run 5P+ on the bead it should be no problem. If you have to run HYP on the bead, take plenty of gap and keep you heat low. On a SA 200 - 190 and 60for a 5/32 When it comes to fill and cap, the hotter the better 240 and 60 for the hp and hf with 5/32 and 240 and 45 with 3/16 on the fillers and cap. 0.375 12 inch three fills with a 3 and it should be ready to cap. IF the inspector lets you run the cap with a 5/32 just backstep, don't weave. HYP seems to leave more bugholes when you weave. Just a steady back and forth with a little pause on the back to let the metal stack. I cut my teeth on 85 and 85P. You could be laying the prettyest cap you ever done, brush it and there would be a bughole sitting off to the side. I learned if the bughole was in the dead center, it was between the shoulder and the holder. Off to the side, it was out of the welders hands. But you are not testing for me. Talk to the inspector, maybe you have one with two or three drops of the milk of human kindness in his heart and he will overlook the pinholes or let you touch them up with a 1/8. ( I have heard there are some inspectors with some of that so you may luck out) That is how I used to pick my repair hands. When testing the line I got one who could pick up a pinhole with a 1/8 and you had to look hard to see the start and stop, that guy got to test for repairs. Repair hands used to get 2 hours plus overtime as long as they did not have a cut-out. Repair was a good job.  
Parent - By vagabond (***) Date 08-14-2007 01:22
Man talk about outdated!!!  I mean they did build the Alaska pipeline with this crap rod but who cares. . . . .we had to use the stuff of the Anchorage International Airport fuel facility (just for fill and cap) and never could stop the bug holes entirely on the cap.  There just was no solution!!!  The best result were obtained by keeping it dry and mildly warm.   I know it's not a LH rod but this seemed to help cut down on the bugholes but they never disappeared.  Kind of sucks when it's a 100% X-ray job!!!!
Parent - - By jimmyd Date 08-14-2007 00:59
my kids are 15 and 13,no time for dad anyway!I dont have any job exp. welding just farm and auto. just trying to think of a new career,something different and new also it wouldnt hurt to make more money as i avg. $25,000 a year now. i dont want to trade life for $ though. thanks for your response!!!
Parent - - By vagabond (***) Date 08-14-2007 01:57
Kahuna said it very well. . .I've been on the road quite a bit with 2 kids, my 17 yr old is probably going to become a welder/fitter.  And quited honestly that is the LAST thing I want for him.  I do the road life for the same reasons as a lot do.  But it boils down to the bucks. . . I saw a short poem years ago that sent chills down my spine.  I traded my health to find some wealth, I traded my wealth to find some health and only found the grave. . . .  It's a lonely existence, like the song says it ain't no good life but it's my life.  I love what I do, I am unemployed willingly for long periods of time and that's great.  But. . . . .I hate being away and am getting to a point where I intend to only work (away) 5-6 months a year and be self employed the rest so that will be a blessing.  Think long and hard about hitting the road cause eventually it gets in your blood and it's what you know best.  Ok I'll get off the box. . .
Parent - By jimmyd Date 08-27-2007 00:46
thanks for the input!i still dont know what i am gonna do but right now the family is supporting me going....heck i'm pretty sure i'll miss them more than they'd miss me...leaning towards hitting the road right now, we'll see!!! THANKS AGAIN
Parent - By JTMcC (***) Date 11-20-2007 00:35
I just came off a job that lasted (for me) 23 weeks. My Welders Helper made over $40,000 on the job. This is an entry level position but requires quite a bit of hard work in all weather conditions. Laborers make close to the same. Oilers (out of the Operating Engineers Union) made quite a bit more. All of these are entry level positions and require no welding experience.
The welders on the same job made between $88,000 and $120,000 (plus health insurance and pension) in those 23 weeks.
There is quite a bit of money to be made pipelining right now, but the work is hard, it may be below zero or over 100 degrees, Hours can be long, ect. And inspection can be harsh on mainline construction. But it suites some people just right.

JTMcC.
Parent - - By downhandonly (***) Date 08-11-2007 23:17
small lines (diameter and length) are okay cause the jobs only last a few weeks then you're home a bit but then you're calling around looking for work stressed about where you're gonna work next. They are probably the outfits that will give you your first chance and you will meet people to learn from.Big inch jobs are good to dig into for a few months but you need lots of experience and connections (see small lines.) If it's busy where you are go for it,practice first cause it's a whole different ballgame than up hand beads and 7018 fills and caps. prepare to get sent home on your first job test if you've never done it before and you will most likely be the first one laid off if you do make it.
Parent - - By Tommyjoking (****) Date 08-14-2007 09:40
jimmyd

What is the one comodity that is worth more than anything else but the richest man cannot by more or than he has.....
Time
all solid words said here by my rekoning...yep there is more $$$ but in the end the most vauable comodity is time.  I gave up what may have been a promising carreer in music (or at least it would have been a lot of fun), I have certainly turned down some road jobs that could have changed my life financially....I made those chocies for my kids.  Some guys can make it work very well and thier kids, thier marriage etc. all works out...the majority I would say cannot.  What I can tell you for sure is that to really make a go of it you have to be willing to sacrifice things you cannot replace with money....now provided you and your family have a good understanding of all this and plan to to do your best to work around it....it may be a great thing for you and your family.  Me.... heck man...I am contemplating leaving my job over working second shift ...I cant coach my kids in baseball and I cant sit down to dinner with them every night....just that bugs the crap out of me.   It all boils down to your relationship with your family and what all of you really need to get thru everyday life.  IF you are really tempted to do this at the least you can try it and see how it works out for you and all involved.  If you have what it takes to work a pipeline job then you certainly have what it takes to get another local job if it does not work out as you wish.

just my $.02 and certainly not the perspective of somone who has lived on the road for the bulk of thier carreer.
Tommy
Parent - - By chris2698 (****) Date 08-14-2007 23:54
good thread I haven't read everyones post but I'm kinda in a situation of should i hit the road and travel or stay in a shop. I've been tig welding in a shop going on 3 month and am wondering is this place for me or would I rather travel? I'm leaning towards wanting to travel. I'm single have no kids so it would be perfect for me now if I had kids I don't think I could do it that just isn't right for your kids and your wife. My brother in law his father was a welder in Alaska and boy the stories he has told me I have really been thinking this maybe for me.

Chris
Parent - - By vagabond (***) Date 08-15-2007 00:35
Giterdone!!!!  Everyone should see Alaska!!!!  One of these days we'll cut it in 1/2 and make Texas the 3rd largest state.  I'm Alaska born and raised and I highly recommend it to anyone.  You'll love it or hate it, there's no in between.  Most outdoors types love it. 
Parent - - By Fredspoppy (**) Date 08-15-2007 10:52
Or just melt it down and supply water to the world.  What's left would make it just larger than Rhode Island.  Greetings from Texas!
Parent - - By Joseph P. Kane (****) Date 08-15-2007 12:15
Well, SORTA!  I know you Texans don't like those "Let's divide Alaska and teach those Texans a lesson" quips!  As for the melt down theory...  You can say it, you can wish it, you can laugh at it, but don't believe it!!!  Approximately 1/3 of Texas will be submerged when the melt down happens.  Even though a lot of the North Slope will be subtracted, when it is also submerged, the southern 2/3rds of Alaska will only loose some coastline.  I'll bet it would still be large enough to divide and both halves would still be bigger than Texas.   Besides, Denali (Mt. McKinley) alone has a bigger footprint than Rhode Island!  Another thing...  The State Bird of Alaska, the giant mosquito, would probably come down to the lower 48!  Trust me, you don't want to see that!
Parent - By Sourdough (****) Date 08-15-2007 16:38
You don't have to worry about the Last Frontier melting. It's doing that at an alarming rate as it is.

When I was a kid I could walk right up to Portage Glacier, (45 miles from where I was born and raised), and scoop up small chunks of glacier calf. Now you have to take a charter boat two miles in to actually see the glacier. It has receded 2 miles in 20 years. Think about that.....................

- Alaskan Assassin, (aka Sourdough).
Parent - By CWI555 (*****) Date 11-20-2007 00:26
Be nice to find some work up that way. However; My experience with Alaska is it's a bit on the nepotistic side when it comes to work.
Parent - By ZCat (***) Date 11-21-2007 23:15
I spent 10 years in Alaska and 5 of it was spent scraping ice off the windshield every morning and shovelling snow. Sure is nice in the summer, it just don't last very long.
Parent - - By jonesy70 (*) Date 08-19-2007 16:54
it takes a special kind of person to travel the roads living from motel to motel, strip joint to strip joint...calling momma every couple of days, listening to her aasking when you will be home...think long and hard about leaving the kids for long periods of time...the money, if you don't blow it, is great...try it for a few months...you can always come home....but the longer that you are gone...the farther home becomes
Parent - - By JTMcC (***) Date 11-20-2007 00:27
Motel to motel? Strip joint to strip joint???
That speaks more to your personal preferences or character than it does to a particular trade.

I have a (to me) very nice Hitchiker II 5yh wheel with 3 slides and my kids love it. So no motels.
You can work 5 minutes from home and frequent strip joints, your choice of what to spend your time/money on. I choose quite a different path.

How many years have you spent in main line pipeline construction?

JTMcC.
Parent - By CWI555 (*****) Date 11-20-2007 03:13
JTMcC,
Have to agree, I've seen a lot of what could have been good men ruined by excesses on the road.
Parent - By CWI555 (*****) Date 11-20-2007 03:09
Whatever your trade, Traveling presents some problems and some benifits, if you make it past your first year of it, you'll likely make it to five years. Make it past that without melting down, it will be in your blood. I've done nothing but for 22 years, multiple countries and all the states, gotta think about the cost vs benifit before you go. On the upside, I've recieved experience and knowledge very few have, on the down side, I don't even know what to call home town/state anymore, along with an x wife. Wife 2.0 handles it much better, but even then its tough at times.
For me it began with a terminal case of curiousity, now I just don't know any other way.

Something to consider,
Gerald
Parent - - By 52lincoln (***) Date 11-19-2007 23:47
Whats up,i am new to this sight and was wondering how it turned out 4 u.i am a part time welder trying to get a lil exp under my belt.Not trying to pry but often have the same thoughts.their is a gas boom in d/fw. Rig trucks everywhere.
Parent - By JTMcC (***) Date 11-20-2007 00:17
I've run well over a thousand beads (as well as quite a few hot passes, fillers and caps) with hippy over the last year or so. The new hippy (which has been out for years now) is a large improvement over the old hippy and is a pretty user friendly rod, the first time I ran the new hippy was when I tested (a branch, a butt on a 45 and a sleeve). A little bit less so than the standard 5P+/70+ combination, but still pretty good to run. I ran the old hippy for several years and really have nothing good to say about that cutting edge 1960's technology : ).

I know many, many pipeliners who maintain strong families. It can be done, and is done every day. It differs from the 9 to 5 grind, but so do many other fields of endeavor including the Military. Strong marraiges, families and father/child relationships exist in those "non 9-5 fields"
Parent - - By mody454 (**) Date 11-20-2007 00:26
52 lincoln you from dfw area your right sence they hit that shell over in fort worth they are running in every direction  last few months they have been paying 100 an hour here in bonham  they just finished a couple of weeks ago
Parent - - By 52lincoln (***) Date 11-20-2007 02:37
yea they must be putting on alot of peaple.i sold a rig truck i built,and a welder,every call i got was from someone going or already working over their.it sure helped everybody them old welders worth alot more now.my brother works for atmos energy (lone star gas) and alot of their peaple are going to the shale.pays better.i sold a welder to a guy in bonham just breaking out,named brent.
Parent - - By mody454 (**) Date 11-20-2007 02:54
i guess these boys better get in there and make it while its around
Parent - By 52lincoln (***) Date 11-20-2007 03:25
here today,gone tommorrow
Parent - - By raftergwelding (*****) Date 11-20-2007 05:12
is it still hot  work wise up there i'm getting tired of this feed lot and my helper laying out on me dfw is only 5 hrs from home i could be back shortly if things go bad with my son
Parent - - By Cole Welding (**) Date 11-23-2007 03:53
if i could figue out how to pipeline i would be doing it now
Parent - - By dbigkahunna (****) Date 11-23-2007 17:25
Cole,
If you see a pipeline, stop and ask who is the welding boss. If you see a businness that has pipeline in it, stop and ask who is the wedling boss. Do a google on pipelin companies where you live. Right now north texas is booming. The Woodford Shale between Ardmore and McCalleser is going to be the new Barnett Shale play. You are going to need to meet guys who do what you want to do. But seeing where you live, you can make a durn good living right where you already are. If you are rigged up with a gas/diesel drivven welder, and not one of the 20HP air cooled jobs, somebody will put you to work. Pipelining is almost a club. Years back if you were not in the Masons, the odds on getting a job were low. It still helps. Scout out the wine shack and beer joints where you see 3 or 4 welding trucks. Stop and talk to them. Find out who the welding boss is and if they could turn you on to some work. I still talk to guys I have not seen in years who go through their call book and once or twice a year they call to see if I know about any work. Most of the welding bosses I know have retired or moved on as I am in a different aspect of the industry. But I still hear about jobs. 
Parent - By shorthood2006 (****) Date 11-24-2007 01:06
i agree. you have to be a welder and a salesman at the same time. i see a welding truck in okc at the filling station, i turn around and go back to find out where he working...even if i have a welding job....your best friend may not...and be able to find him one.
Parent - - By shorthood2006 (****) Date 11-23-2007 04:03
which feedlot are you in right now..
Parent - - By raftergwelding (*****) Date 11-23-2007 06:27
PERRY FEEDERS INC. in pleasanton it's about 15 mins from the house
Parent - - By shorthood2006 (****) Date 11-23-2007 14:02
im  on a 10,000 head addition right now. 25000 ft of fence.
Parent - - By raftergwelding (*****) Date 11-23-2007 22:04
none of my bussines but just out of curiosity are you charging by the hour or the foot i do pipe fence by the linear foot just depends on the height and amout of rod they want run sure wish i could get something like that all i'm doing is replacing perlin in shades boring as hell but it pays mopney
Parent - - By shorthood2006 (****) Date 11-24-2007 01:03
i would go broke by the hour...definitely by the foot...makes what the rig yards are payin look like peanuts.
Parent - By 52lincoln (***) Date 11-24-2007 01:25
maybe none of my bus. but how much do u charge by the foot.havent done bid work n a while.
Up Topic Welding Industry / General Welding Discussion / to pipeline or not to pipeline

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