Starting a moblie welding business

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Buddy and me have talked for awhile now starting our own business as a mobile welding repair company etc. what would be a all around good machine to run??? A Miller Trailblazer ? or a Lincoln SAE 200 and would a 1/2 ton truck support all of this weight from tools and a machine. we wont build a custom bed unless we need one. and does anyone have any advice to give us on this? Thank you.Lincoln 140 Pak MIG Everlast powerarc 140 STLincoln Tombstone
Reply:you should get a good contract between you and your friend on the finer points of who is responsible for what and how $$ gets split and spent..it will solve alot of problems down the line...the equipment is secondary to that...nothing makes enemies out of friends faster than $$$..good luck on your ventureOf all the things I lost I miss my mind the most...I know just enough about everything to be dangerous......You cant cure stupid..only kill it...
Reply:That is quite a difference in possible machines. I think if you asking what machines to buy or if a half ton truck is up to it you got other stuff to worry about first. I hope it works out for you.I don't think you need a sae nor would I want one. I don't think those things offer a great deal of generator power which would probably come in handier.
Reply:Insurance is your number one problem. Solve it now it will only get worse. I can not stress this hard enough get liability insurance before you strike one arc.  Machines are easy. Make connections in your industry and do the work that is there even if it is not what you like to do.  Mobile welding is very hard to get insurance in because there are no constants. Are you finically set enough to not have to take any money out of the business for two years. If not do not quite your day job.
Reply:I would go with a 1-ton dually, flatbed, with tool / gang boxes.I wouldn’t go with anything less than a 400-amp diesel drive welder, with an LN-25. This way you have lots of power for wire feed work, and carbon arcing. Last edited by CEP; 11-01-2015 at 05:31 PM.Don’t pay any attention to meI’m just a hobbyist!CarlDynasty 300V350-Pro w/pulseSG Spool gun1937 IdealArc-300PowerArc 200ST3 SA-200sVantage 400
Reply:You are in Arkansas, so I'm guessing you want to do farm repair type stuff?  General fabrication? Or something more specific?  Do you already have a potential customer base?Tiger Sales:  AHP Distributor    www.tigersalesco.comAHP200x; AHP 160ST; MM350P,  Spoolmatic 30A; Everlast PowerTig 185; Thermal Dynamics 60i plasma.  For Sale:  Cobra Mig 250 w/ Push-pull gun.  Lincoln Wirematic 250
Reply:Originally Posted by thegaryInsurance is your number one problem. Solve it now it will only get worse. I can not stress this hard enough get liability insurance before you strike one arc.  Machines are easy. Make connections in your industry and do the work that is there even if it is not what you like to do.  Mobile welding is very hard to get insurance in because there are no constants. Are you finically set enough to not have to take any money out of the business for two years. If not do not quite your day job.
Reply:I guess the answers to these questions depend on you.  What does a "mobile welding repair company" do, in your mind?  Who are your customers?  What does the "repair" mean in your description?  Are you doing mechanical repairs?  Or just repairing cracked and broken welds?I will tell you this much.  1) I would not go into a partnership, period.  If I couldn't hack it on my own and employ my friend, I'd let my friend own the business and I'd be the employee.  There are enough blurred lines and question marks when starting a business without ownership and decision-making rights being involved.2) I have owned SA-200's.  They are fine for specialized work that involves just welding.  They fall down when you need very much generating capacity, or when you start adding up the fuel bill, or when you start adding up the unnecessary weight for the functionality involved.  I have not owned any SA-200's for several years now.  I have not missed them.3) I have owned several Trailblazers, with two of them on my trucks presently.  The spectrum of work I do involves onsite ag repair, new equipment assembly, construction equipment repair, one-off equipment modifications and fabrication, and general commercial and industrial equipment fabrication and repair.  I have not wished for anything more than the Trailblazers have provided.  The TB325 EFI with Excel power that I own is by far my favorite welder.  I only keep the older 302 out of stubbornness.  Not that it does anything wrong, but I hate to hear that engine screaming just to power a 4.5" grinder or a halogen worklight set.  The 325 does all of this at idle, not to mention welds at low RPM's also.4) As far as truck sizes go...there are days that I get by OK with the F350 with 8' utility bed on it, and there are days that the International doesn't have enough deck space and tool storage area for what I need to carry.  I would not consider a 1/2 ton pickup for this job.  If that was all I had, I'd sell it and buy an old 1-ton dually to get started with.  2WD or 4WD wouldn't matter near as much as having the weight carrying capacity.  Most places that are worth going to, will have the equipment to pull you out (or in) if you get stuck on their property or jobsite.  Gas or diesel engine....I went with a gas engine for the F350 and haven't regretted it a bit.  Diesels are a status symbol for 95 percent of the people who own them, and status symbols are always more expensive than necessary.  It's gotten to the point that when I see somebody driving around in a diesel pickup, I automatically assume they have more money (or debt) than sense, until and unless they prove otherwise.5) As far as building a custom bed goes, that's up to you.  I have modified factory beds to do what I want.  I would certainly not go and build something I could just as easily buy.  Once you hang your shingle out there, you need to be ready to go to work, not putzing around reinventing the wheel.  If you have so little work that you have time to build your bed in daylight hours, you would be better served by using that time to knock on doors in my opinion.6) Lastly, I feel like what I'm about to say gets beat to death on every thread like this, but it just has to be said.  Knowing how to weld or repair equipment is by far the easiest part of owning your own business.  Any mechanic or welder can do that, and there are tens if not hundreds of thousands out there doing it every day.  Managing your finances, meeting and keeping customers over the long run, learning how to properly estimate a job, learning how to sell your strengths and mitigate your weaknesses (everybody has some of each), getting all the paperwork right including taxes and insurances, etc....those are the hard parts.  It can be done, but it is a long row to hoe as they say.  I will have been in business for myself 10 years as of next April, and it has been a wild ride.  Only the last two years have seen me noticeably making more right decisions than wrong and beginning to reap some benefits from all of that labor.  I guess you could say that I've devoted the best years of my life to the business, and it has come first over almost everything except for my marriage.  I haven't worked a standard 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. workday since I can remember.  Most weekends are spent on equipment maintenance and paperwork.  I don't mean for it to sound all bad, but I do want you to understand that if you own your own business you are always working.  Even if you're on vacation with your family, your mind is back home on what has to be done to keep that business afloat and moving ahead.  It's difficult if not impossible for me to disconnect from my business, as I expect it is for any business person who really wants to succeed.
Reply:Well i was trying to figure out how to express my thoughts on this, then i read Tbones post. I think that post should be made into a sticky for all the threads like this that come along. Well said Tbone.Mike
Reply:I agree 100% with tbone. I was 100% self employed for 22 years, and have experienced everything that he said, including the partnership thing.I always had 1-ton flatbed trucks, too.Very good, thorough synopsis, tbone.Rich
Reply:Originally Posted by leightrepairsWell i was trying to figure out how to express my thoughts on this, then i read Tbones post. I think that post should be made into a sticky for all the threads like this that come along. Well said Tbone.Mike
Reply:you dont need a buddy to do this. if he has the truck and you have the welder ... that is no reason to partner up. sounds like you two broke dudes. you dont want to run a 1500 truck either, that might as well be a van or tahoe. hell, atleast you can lock a van. id pass on this venture on all accounts.
Reply:you ought to be able to take the rear shocks off, and stick air ones on there for cheap, that'll help out w/ your load noticably
Reply:Can either of you weld with excellent results each and every time on any thing you come across in any position? If you can't, you won't last long. Your half ton won't support any welding machine when you add in a set of torches and a tool box and forget about an air compressor.JasonLincoln Idealarc 250 stick/tigThermal Dynamics Cutmaster 52Miller Bobcat 250Torchmate CNC tableThermal Arc Hefty 2Ironworkers Local 720
Reply:Another +1 for TBone's post.A guy I knew was a sole proprietor of his business. He spent as much time drumming up new business as he did taking care of customers directly. The business aspect is critical: the best welder on the planet will failif he can't produce a meaningful invoice and get paid. A number of posts here on WW also talk about having a good accountant, too.
Reply:in our type of business it takes one person full time to find the work to keep one person busy welding.  Mr Tbone hit it on the head please pay attention.  insurance is very expensive but very necessary, a good lawyer and tax man are more important than a truck I have seen guys work out of a 10 year old ford ranger and then I have seen guys have full dressers that cost more per month than you make.  have been self employed a long time and if not for blind luck would not have made a penny profit. just as an example some ranchette owner wants a gate or some fence simple until the grass fire burns up his house this applies to welding his equipment.....wish all the luck  clifton
Reply:Originally Posted by 123weldyou ought to be able to take the rear shocks off, and stick air ones on there for cheap, that'll help out w/ your load noticably
Reply:When I first started ,30 some years ago, A friend ,at the time sat at my kitchen table and told me "look after the pennies and the dollars will look after themselves".........he was the first guy to stiff me also. A lot of headaches at first, but well worth it, best of luck!!
Reply:Tbone said it very well. I'm in a similar situation, as what he described, and I can tell you this: being able to just walk out the door at 5 it really, really valuable. If you run your own business, you never can just up and leave, it follows you. If you really want to self employed, make sure that you have enough business to make a living before you quit your day job. As far as trucks go, I absolutely love my little 2wd tacoma, and would never sell it. I also have a tundra, for moving bigger stuff and pulling the trailer. But I work out of a shop, doing most ornamental stuff. If I was going for a mobile business, I'd get something big enough to BE the shop, probably start with a 1 or 1.5 ton contractor bed, and find a nice place to park it, indoors.Ian TannerKawasaki KX450 and many other fine tools
Reply:i suppose anything can be dangerous or happen.    if all we did was abide by every law, and took no chances, and bought all the approved proper things for every new venture we tried, i wouldn't have ever got very far.    I see nothing wrong w/ making some adjustments, while using some common sense.    They sell air shocks for a purpose and reason.   when i was young, we were into cadillacs.    i had a 67 cadillac hearse ( only year cad used a 429), the coachworks had put leaf springs on orig axle to haul the weight, which i then added a trailer hitch onto to tow tractors, and had a big tool box mounted on the casket board that slid and canted out the rear side suicide doors.   all this crap was slapped onto a sedan deville.    never a problem.     after the custom windshiled got broken, i switched over to  my 68 coupdeville (472 w/ t - hydromatic 400 trans.) , i put a trailer hitch on that, w/ air shocks, and continued towing trenchers around the counrtyside on a single axle farm trailer.    i had tools in the trunk, shovels and high lift jacks on the backseat.    when summer rolled around, i cut the roof off and made it into a convertible.     never a problem w/ axles breaking.