Starter Mobile Rig

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Upon acquiring/building my generator welder I've decided to start piecing together some sort of mobile rig. I am a high school student taking classes at my local vocational school and have a pretty tight buget. I don't have the money to buy a real rig worthy truck but want to be able to do some basic portable work. I am thinking a trailer is the best option as I am driving an 89 F150 long bed 5.0 but I could also build a small skid for the truck bed as well. Would likely be my only my small welder oxy propane setup and tool boxes. Opinions??
Reply:Hello and welcome.Not to offend you, but showing up to do work with some cobbled together Sanford and Son rig isn't going to inspire confidence in your work. If you are too "cheap" to own a real machine, where are you going to cut corners on their job?Small older generator welders sell cheap on CL fairly regularly. Most have an engine issue that needs to be addressed or needs the field flashed. A bit of investment in that vs a built up alternator rig will go a lot farther. Today it's not all that hard to find inexpensive small inverter stick machines either that can probably do a better job. A small TA 95s will do 3/32" rods no problem off 110v power and the newer Esab 161LTS will run 3/32" rods on 110v or 1/8" off 220v powered off a small genset.Many times in business, image is very important. The guy who shows up with beat up equipment and crap all over the place gives the impression he's not a stickler for details and sloppy or a hack. The guy who shows up with a neat clean well painted rig, even if it's older, shows he cares for his equipment and takes care of details.One more thing. I see a lot of guys businesses fail, not because they can't do the work, but because they can't manage a business. Most guys who do side work LOOSE money. All they see is money coming in. They almost never have any idea how much it cost in money going out. Example you do a side job for $100 and $50 of that is steel. You made $50 right and you are happy. Wrong. Did you figure in the cost of that 3 pounds of rod you had on hand from another job? deduct $10 from your profit. How about grinding disks and sanding pads or prep? Deduct another $10. Did you figure out how much gas cost you for your machine to run and fuel for your trip to pick up the steel? Deduct $15 in fuel if not more. Then there's things like phone, business cards to advertize, insurance ( you do have insurance right?) and so on. Out of your $50 we have already whittled it down to $15 left before we even get to these, so chances are for all your time and effort, you broke even at best, or worst lost money.On insurance. A lot of guys take a gamble on this and it's a bad idea. Fire is a very probable thing with doing work like this. Set fire to something and you will be in big trouble without insurance to cover you. Then there's liability with many things we do and the fact today everyone wants to sue at the drop of a hat. Do a railing and someone slips and falls, and you can bet their lawyer will be after you, whether it's your fault or not, especially if they can find the least fault with your work.In many cases it costs as much to run legit on the side as it does to run full time..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:Thanks for the reply. I will take all of you advice into consideration. I should have mentioned though that I am running a dual voltage tig/stick machine on a large generator that I put into a custom frame to accommodate both, and a Ranger 8 is on the way. Also 90% of my work is around the farm and neighbors farms fixing fence and such. My second reason for this project is to have equipment and an area to learn on as I do not have access to a shop outside of school. I guess I should have made it clear that this is by no means a full time buisiness or a sole source of income and I am only 16 years old.
Reply:Welcome to the forum. It's nice to see a young man doing making an investment in himself at an early age. Nothing wrong with the trailer idea especially since you don't need the welder every day. While it's not a full time business or sole source of income you need to learn to think like a business person or you will end up loosing money, Also remember that as soon as you charge for your services you are representing your self as a professional and as such you are liable for your actions. That means you need insurance and insurance is the same price whether you are full or part time. God luck with your project.
Reply:I congratulate you on 2 things. #1 not getting offended and all huffy about what I said and taking it in the spirit it was intended. Not many people today can do that. #2 for having the drive and work ethic at your age. To many kids want to sit in front of the TV or computer, or have become brain washed that college is the only solution and that anyone who wants to work with their hands a a looser. Most all expect to graduate and be handed top paying jobs with little or no effort, just because they feel entitled to it.Take as many business classes as you possibly can if you are serious about this. I know quite a few people who have successful businesses even though at best they are mediocre in the field they do. The fact they are savvy business people who know when to hire others to do work they can't do, and are good at organization and tracking expenses allow them to succeed where others with more skills in the trade may fail.Not every job is worth taking no matter what you might make on it. Learning when to walk away from a job can be just as important as learning how to do the work.Also remember guys may want a cheap price and tell you to cut corners. However it;'s your reputation. When things break because you cut corners, they won't remember you wanted to do it differently, or they told you to do it that way. All they'll remember and tell people is your work failed. Get a reputation for having stuff break after you do the work, or a reputation for being cheap, and you'll find it almost impossible to get away from that rep unless you move far away and start over. Your reputation will often sell more work than anything else, and it's very important. Don't wreck it when starting out. I don't work cheap and I don't cut corners. I have a reputation for doing top quality work, and that's why my customers keep coming back to me or recommend me to their friends and others. I get a fair amount of work fixing other guys screw ups when some one went cheap and got hosed. I may not get every job because of this, but I've learned the hard way to listen to that little voice in my head telling me to walk away. Every time I have ignored it, I've lost out in the long run..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:My telephone number is an old land line number so I get a lot of calls from the internet.  Most of them are solicitors, I wish them a special kind of afterlife.  But some of them are nice people with a simple project that can't afford my services.  So I have a couple of phone numbers that I share on such occasions.  Young guys on a tight budget like this young man aren't competition for me and they deserve opportunities to get their feet wet.  And sometimes someone has a project that doesn't require the skills and equipment of a professional.I'm on the edge of city/country and get a lot of calls for work that I am not interested in doing because there are a ton of guys out there with a pickup and Bobcat willing to work for wages and believe they are businessmen.  They all got their start like this young man.My advice to him is to jump in and hope you don't make too many mistakes and none of the classic ones.  For instance you get a chance to fix that piece of iron furniture and don't protect the Corvette or huge glass window from the sparks from your grinder.  Or you have a spark do something really stupid like set the house or pasture on fire.  Hopefully your mistakes will be the embarrassing kind like being distracted by the local scenery by the pool and end up welding up that latch where the gate won't open.I had to laugh about the insurance statement.  I carry a million million policy just because even though I've never had a claim.  But in the last couple of years I've discovered I'm in a small minority of welders that have liability insurance.  This is Texas where it is the wild west when it comes to the trades contracting and since there are no requirements for insurance most don't have it, in any of the trades.A good source for work for a young man like this is the local businesses like feed and hardware stores who have people asking for small time welder to do small jobs.  Another source is the high school instructors who get calls for projects that fit best into a one time small job for a young man like this.Last edited by wroughtn_harv; 11-20-2014 at 07:18 AM.life is good