which mig?

   / which mig? #31  
5030 said:
Went to Fords and GM as well and the one thing that always was the same was the poor attitude of the union employees. Maybe that has changed to day, but back then, they acted like you owed them plus they were lazy.
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20 years ago, I was a UAW Ford worker, and it was definitely true with the people I worked with then. I still say leaving that job was the best career and life choice I ever made.

Today, I work around many IBEW and Teamsters guys. Most of the IBEW guys are pretty good, though its still a pain in my backside dealing with navigating what I can and can't do on a job site because it might be a union job. Like finding a faulty electrical outlet in my equipment enclosure. Would take me 5 minutes to replace it, but I can't touch it because I'm not an electrician..

The teamsters are mostly mechanics, and I just try to avoid dealing with them as much as I possibly can because it seems like those guys go out of thier way to find reasons to file grievances 🙄
 
   / which mig? #32  
5030 said:
I see you are in Michigan like I am and Lincoln Electric in Euclid, Ohio also does plant tours and that facility is absolutely huge.

I had as nice advantage years ago as the company I worked for was contracted to Lincoln for strip steel and I used to go there at least a couple times a month and their steel storage facility was also where they first article tested engine drives so I got to see them running them at maximum output day in and day out until they puked and then they took them apart to see what failed and what needed to be improved.

Was always warm in there as the resistor banks that were eating up the amperage were also giving off heat and the big banks were outside and water cooled.

I also got to wander around the plant with no guides (so long as I was wearing PPE) so I got to not only mingle with the employees but got to watch the manufacturing processes too.

I believe they do plant tours 2 times a week. The Lincoln facility in Euclid, Ohio is bigger than the Miller facility in Appelton if I'm not mistaken. Even if I am, it's quite an educational tour and if you want a Lincoln machine, you can buy it there too, which is how I bought my TIG machine. Right from the factory.

I got to deliver to a lot of interesting places in my employment, even the oil filter factory in Cleveland, Ohio where the only thing that changed on the filters was the color of the can....

Delivered to a lot of automotive plants and second tier automotive suppliers as well. The outfit I worked for was the preferred supplier for Fiat Chrysler so I did a ton of their plants too. Went to Fords and GM as well and the one thing that always was the same was the poor attitude of the union employees. Maybe that has changed to day, but back then, they acted like you owed them plus they were lazy.

Back then Lincoln was not union. Not sure about today. I know back then, Lincoln treated their employees like gold.
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I did my apprenticeship at a GM plant in Grand Rapids, of course I had to be a member of the union to work there. What I found was that 90% of the people working there were hard-working and conscientious. However about 10% were just along for the ride. When one of those idiots would screw up the union leaders would spend all their time trying to protect them from getting fired. I thought the best system would’ve been to put it up to a vote of the members themselves , all the eight – holes would have been fired for sure.
 
   / which mig? #33  
We were non union and that at times was an issue but the company worked around that, how I don't know. Sometimes they would make me wait to get offloaded, What they didn't know was I was getting paid well for their attitude. Remember one time I picked up a couple of steel coils in a union shop and the loader insisted I load them 'his' way, not my way. Got the plant manger who informed him he would load them my way or he would be going home. What the idiot didn't know was the company I drove for had pre bought the coils so they were our property, not his. Second tier suppliers were always great to deal with. Not so much with the auto plants themselves.
 
   / which mig? #34  
turbo36 said:
I did my apprenticeship at a GM plant in Grand Rapids, of course I had to be a member of the union to work there. What I found was that 90% of the people working there were hard-working and conscientious. However about 10% were just along for the ride. When one of those idiots would screw up the union leaders would spend all their time trying to protect them from getting fired. I thought the best system would’ve been to put it up to a vote of the members themselves , all the eight – holes would have been fired for sure.
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Not trying to be political but you realize our governor just overturned the RTW law that was in place. Now you have to be a union member to work in a union plant, no exceptions. Bad move on her part and will just hasten the exodus of automakers to states where RTW is the law. All I have to say on that subject as it's 'verboten' on this website.
 
   / which mig? #35  
5030 said:
Now you have to be a union member to work in a union plant, no exceptions. Bad move on her part and will just hasten the exodus of automakers to states where RTW is the law.
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Automakers, along with plenty of other businesses were leaving long before the RTW laws took effect 10 years ago, for many reasons outside of this anyways. The union plant I worked at closed down shortly after I left...
 
   / which mig? #36  
5030 said:
We were non union and that at times was an issue but the company worked around that, how I don't know. Sometimes they would make me wait to get offloaded, What they didn't know was I was getting paid well for their attitude. Remember one time I picked up a couple of steel coils in a union shop and the loader insisted I load them 'his' way, not my way. Got the plant manger who informed him he would load them my way or he would be going home. What the idiot didn't know was the company I drove for had pre bought the coils so they were our property, not his. Second tier suppliers were always great to deal with. Not so much with the auto plants themselves.
Click to expand...
My dad was an independent steel hauler for a number of years, I went with him for a few runs, and got into some of the largest steel mills by hiding in the sleeper until we got past the guard shack. I have to admit that those steel haulers were some of the toughest SOBs out there. also, maybe the craziest and the biggest loners! Ha, Ha!
 
   / which mig? #37  
I was a company driver and hourly though I did get extra compensation for hauling over gross, which I did regularly, plus we got a meal allowance and if we got stuck somewhere and ran over hours, the company paid for a motel and dinner. Still know how to get around every weigh station in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana.

Was a great job and I have a heck of a retirement too. Never a year under 75 grand and that was over 12 years ago (when I retired). Drove only late model Western Stars with big motors and double bunks but we never slept in them. Bought them that way so when they got 2 years on them, they could sell them easily. New tractor and trailer every 2 years. You get spoiled fast working for an outfit like that. All I ever did was the PTI and check the fluid levels and bump the tires. If I had any issue, it was addressed right away. Never even washed them. Had a crew come in and wash them 2 times a week.

I retired when they sold the trucking division off to an independent company. So did the GM at the same time. We both saw it was all downhill so we got out along with about half the other drivers who could leave. To this day, the GM and I are good friends and sitting around talking about old times is always good.

Do I miss it? Sometimes yes. I just happen to own a International Eagle double bunk conventional with a 42 foot Timpte hopper trailer I use to haul grain to the coop with for myself and other farmers around here so I still get to truck, just not that far

Jobs like I had don't exist in the trucking industry today. Everything is per mile and drivers today don't even know how to shift a 13 double over or back up for that matter. I read that today you have to get a special endorsement on your CDL to drive a standard box. Crazy stuff.

Rarely went to truckstops either. We fueled at the yard and if we did run low, then we did (truckstop) but only for diesel. Many times, I'd drop the trailer at a customers and bobtail to the motel. I used to load at LTV in Cleveland and Wierton Steel as well as US Steel in Gary but it was all permit loads (overweight permits). I hated the mills. Steelworkers had that same attitude that UAW workers had. Maybe that is why they went out of business or were taken over by foreign investors. LTV is now Mittal and Mittal is Indian owned, Weirton declared bankruptcy and closed. Not sure about US in Gary. Think they got bought out as well. Rouge Steel in Dearborn was also sold off.

The outfit I worked for had a majority stake in Steel Dynamics in Butler, Indiana as well as a minority stake in Omnisource. Whether that is true today, I have no idea as I don't follow the industry except to say one of my good friends is the plant manager in Butler but we don't discuss company business.

I just collect my pension now and farm and play truck driver in the fall. I'm good with that.
 
   / which mig? #38  
5030 said:
I was a company driver and hourly though I did get extra compensation for hauling over gross, which I did regularly, plus we got a meal allowance and if we got stuck somewhere and ran over hours, the company paid for a motel and dinner. Still know how to get around every weigh station in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana.

Was a great job and I have a heck of a retirement too. Never a year under 75 grand and that was over 12 years ago (when I retired). Drove only late model Western Stars with big motors and double bunks but we never slept in them. Bought them that way so when they got 2 years on them, they could sell them easily. New tractor and trailer every 2 years. You get spoiled fast working for an outfit like that. All I ever did was the PTI and check the fluid levels and bump the tires. If I had any issue, it was addressed right away. Never even washed them. Had a crew come in and wash them 2 times a week.

I retired when they sold the trucking division off to an independent company. So did the GM at the same time. We both saw it was all downhill so we got out along with about half the other drivers who could leave. To this day, the GM and I are good friends and sitting around talking about old times is always good.

Do I miss it? Sometimes yes. I just happen to own a International Eagle double bunk conventional with a 42 foot Timpte hopper trailer I use to haul grain to the coop with for myself and other farmers around here so I still get to truck, just not that far

Jobs like I had don't exist in the trucking industry today. Everything is per mile and drivers today don't even know how to shift a 13 double over or back up for that matter. I read that today you have to get a special endorsement on your CDL to drive a standard box. Crazy stuff.

Rarely went to truckstops either. We fueled at the yard and if we did run low, then we did (truckstop) but only for diesel. Many times, I'd drop the trailer at a customers and bobtail to the motel. I used to load at LTV in Cleveland and Wierton Steel as well as US Steel in Gary but it was all permit loads (overweight permits). I hated the mills. Steelworkers had that same attitude that UAW workers had. Maybe that is why they went out of business or were taken over by foreign investors. LTV is now Mittal and Mittal is Indian owned, Weirton declared bankruptcy and closed. Not sure about US in Gary. Think they got bought out as well. Rouge Steel in Dearborn was also sold off.

The outfit I worked for had a majority stake in Steel Dynamics in Butler, Indiana as well as a minority stake in Omnisource. Whether that is true today, I have no idea as I don't follow the industry except to say one of my good friends is the plant manager in Butler but we don't discuss company business.

I just collect my pension now and farm and play truck driver in the fall. I'm good with that.
Click to expand...
I was in the Gary Mill. That’s where I saw a sign on one of those bathrooms they had in the middle of the plant that said “any stupid SOB can write on the walls, try writing on the ceiling “. Of course, the ceiling was 60 or 80 feet above us! The surprising thing was, there wasn’t any writing on the walls other than that spray-painted sign.
 
   / which mig? #39  
Need advise on welder selection.
At present.
I have an older Lincoln 160 Mig used with shielding gas. It is not spool gun compatible for aluminum welding. It has 5 voltage settings and infinite wire feed adjustments. It's been a good machine for repair and project welding for the past 15 yrs. I'm far from a pro but I enjoy modifying and making stuff. I also have a smaller flux core 110v machine for field repairs using a generator for gate repairs etc.
It is time to upgrade.
Things I see I might want like infinite voltage adjustment vs the current ABCDE settings and aluminum welding.
I would comfortably spend $1000-1500 on the right machine. After reading this thread I am looking at something like ESAB EMP210 Multi-Process Welder. Am I on the right track?
Thanks in advance.
 
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