What is your trade

hrpearce · #1 22-04-13, 03:00

At your sugestion Colin I'll start the thread. We'll see how many are brave enough to reply.
At the end of my formil education I graduated with an Associate Deploma in Farm Management. I specilised in sheep and wool production as well as irrigation and surveying. I then did two years of a four year course as a green keeper and a two year night teck course in oxy welding.
I ended up being a beef producer and a bush mechanic. I have been playing with spanners since four when I started handing them to my farther while he was under the bonit working on engines. My main passion is electrical wiring but I have enjoyed all the work I have done so far on my blitz.

maple_leaf_eh · #2 22-04-13, 04:07

Good way of introducing ourselves to familiar names.

I live and work in a big city. The only land I own is too small for my undisciplined collecting habits. My father barely taught me about mechanics, and everything I've learned has been by trial and error. However, I know a thing or two about target shooting, firearms, maps and terrain analysis. Most of my adult life I have served in uniform, and have been fortunate enough to go to interesting places.

Bob McNeill · #3 22-04-13, 04:43

Robert, like you I,ve spent my time in the Ag industry, mainly serviceing headers [ combines ] then into a workshop that builds orchard sprays.The result of constantly being in contact with chemicals used in both areas has led to adverse reactions [ headaches, rashes, ] Foxtonin [ used to keep vermin out of headers ] really knocks me around. Every spray cart is now Steam cleaned before we touch them, but the powdered residue of 20 years, right back to the days of dieldren all mixed together reacting with one another get onto your skin the moment we remove bits. Interesting observation is that all the workers over 50 have Diabetes. workshop practices have changed since 1965 when I started, we don,t blow out brakes with the air hose, lift g/boxes on a rope, remove water filled tyres manually don,t even trust my work mates, always check for myself that it,s chocked, locked or disconnected. rant over.

cletrac (RIP) · #4 22-04-13, 04:57

I've been a grain farmer since my dad died in 1970 and my brothers and I took over the farm. I did my own spraying for a number of years but then gave my head a shake and got it custom done. Let the other guy deal with the chemicals!
I took machining and welding in school and have always liked mechanics. Most of my life I drove high horsepower vehicles that I'd souped up a bit. Right now I have a 1949 Mercury coupe in my garage that's getting a 550 hp 460 put in it.
My army trucks don't measure up hp wise but they're unique.
After high school my education came from the school of hard knocks! What you learn that way gets seated deeper anyway!

Keith Webb · #5 22-04-13, 10:01

For the past 35 years I have been a film maker doing a mix of corporate videos, TV and radio commercials, documentaries and websites.

My early training was as a still photographer which I still enjoy, in fact I had to do a studio shoot today...

Between the time of leaving school and the film making I travelled, worked for a time as a fake furrier (we sold the imitation furs), worked in a shoe warehouse, as a labourer and did a stint during the mid 1970s working for Hughes Auto Spares, doing warehouse work among thousands of CMP parts, also deliveries and stripping of flathead V8 engines for reconditioning. I took my camera almost wherever I went and still do.

Here's the website (which is being revamped now) http://www.imagecontrol.com.au

Little Jo · #6 22-04-13, 10:47

Hi Guys

In my early years after leaving school I worked for a crash repair shop, that is where I got my hands on tools and what to do with them. I was a Nashoin the 60's and loved army life. My army trade was a Military Policeman, after 6 years I was seconded as a platoon Sgt. Recruit Training, then after 3 years back to my old MP unit.

After the army I started work as a fraud investigator for the banks. I was later promoted to security manager in charge of investigations SA and NT. My wife and I lived on a hobby farm in the hills, where I ran horses and rode regularly. Working on the farm as a hobby on the weekends I had to do most things myself working on the tractor and equipment . I loved working with my hands.

After 30 years in fraud investigation with the same company I was head hunted by the Bank of South Australia as their state Security Manager where I stayed until I retired at 66 years of age. I found that had to do something in retirement to keep me occupied, so I did something I alsways wanted to do and that was to restore my 1942 MB Willys Jeep from the ground up.

Thanks to a lot of assistance from MLU members my Jeep was fully restored and is now a regular at club events, which most of you would have followed on this forum. I am also the Editor and produce the National Servicemens Association of South Australia Magazine "Nasho News" and also of the Wartime Vehicles Conservation Group ( WVCG ) magazine " Bartread."

There is life after retirement.

Cheers

Tony

colin jones · #7 22-04-13, 11:56

Good onya Robert, I'm already surprised. As I said before started as a Butcher in all areas, had our own shop. Worked on a farm for a few years. Worked pumping petrol for a couple of years. Erected domestic sheds for a couple of years then went on to industrial buildings a few years. Started my own Steel Fabrication company for a number of years. Had a Hotel for a couple of years. 3 successful marriages

sold the business to stay at home to look after my kids and work in my wonderful workshop while my wife fixes F18 Hornets.
"Where has all the time gone"

This could be a very interesting thread.
Colin.

aj.lec · #8 22-04-13, 12:48

I lived and worked on a farm till I got apprenticeship as an Electrician.
Started by building industrial switchboards. Worked 3 different companies for 7.5 years including a move to Brisbane for 3.5 years
Then overseas for 6 months as a break
Then back to Dubbo where I worked for a company who specialised in Industrial automation for mills, bakeries and process works , also commercial and a little domestic for the owners of the plants. That lasted 13 years
For the past 4 years work for Essential energy .First 1.5 years as general Electrical Technician
I now deal with power quality which is basically dealing with customer complaints or issues everyone else has given up on, investigating and recording problems, Repairing or designing fixes for issues and reporting to the electrical ombudsman and internal entities

Best thing about this is my area covers almost 1/7 th on NSW landmass so get to see alot of rural areas with the occasional blitz and interesting "thing" sighting thrown in

Mike Cecil · #9 22-04-13, 18:51

Worked in the family sheet metal/tinsmith shop (Cecil & Co) while an undergrad at university, then stayed at university on lecturing, etc after earning a B.Sc (Honours) and a B.A. Worked as a geologist in the State Geological Survey, then went into private practice for several years on my own and later with Geo-Eng Australia. Spent another couple of years with a government department before taking up an offer from the AWM on a short term contract as an assistant curator. Within 6 months I was on staff, and within 4 years was Head of Military Heraldry and Technology. Retired in 2010 and moved to the USA with my wife, artist Krystii Melaine.

Been researching since I was a teenager, and got serious about writing in the 1980s. First book in the early 1990s, and the rest is history, so to speak. No longer have any 'one to one' scale examples in the shed, just sticking with an ever-growing collection of paper and digital images! I enjoy the research and writing and don't know how I ever had the time for a formal job.

Mike C

Marc van Aalderen · #10 22-04-13, 22:40

Well, I grew up in a Garage. Running around in overalls at the age of 4. After high school I studied Mechanical Engineering. My father then went in the transmission business, repairing and rebuilding automatic and manual transmissions. I joined the company after graduating as a mechanical engineer. Took over the company when my dad retired and after 15 years sold it to a competitor as I'd had enough from our government, my 8 employees and lots of stress. Took a job with the buyer of my company. Started a new company for them in rebuilding valve bodies for automatics. Still enjoying my job a lot.
Been collecting fire arms and military stuff since my teens. Started with vehicles some 15 years ago. Collection keeps growing, latest vehicle purchased is a Daimler Armoured Car for restoration.
Married to a lovely wife and we have two beautiful daughters, aged 19 and 14. Life is good

Richard Farrant · #11 22-04-13, 23:50

Started off as an apprentice Agricultural Machinery engineer with a Massey Ferguson main dealer, mainly on tractors and combine harvesters and a bit of plant. After 7 years the company closed the depot so I changed jobs and went to work at a large army workshops (REME) just down the road. I had initially applied for an apprenticeship there. Worked on heavy plant, cranes, trucks, armour, rebuilding engines, you name it we did it. I worked there for 22 years, last 6 years as chargehand of my vehicle section. The workshop closed as it was in the path of a new railway so I decide to go it alone and start my own business, FV Restorations & Repairs, doing repair work on collectors military vehicles, starting off mobile and going out doing repairs. My goal was to do restoration work which I was able to start after a year or so. Have been doing this since 1996 now and it is very satisfying and you make contact with some very interesting people.
This year is now my 39th year of full time working on military vehicles.

regards, Richard

Ryan · #12 23-04-13, 11:50

After finishing high school I started working for Ford Mo Co as an engine assembler on the I6 line. During my time there I did two long stints as a Group leader in two sections of the line and as a repair operator of short blocks. Spent 17 years building I6 engines, from the EF/XG Falcons to the FG. In Ford speak thats EA77/EB2 engines to Orion.
Nowadays I'm Team leader of the FPV V8 assembly line.
Technically my trade is a vehicle builder, but engine plant is my home. 18 years and counting.

sapper740 · #13 25-04-13, 06:50

Vocations roughly in chronological order with some overlap: Volunteer firefighter, Electrician, Business owner, Electrical instructor, Firearms Safety Instructor, Hunter Safety instructor, Canadian Military Engineer, Electrical Superintendent, Staff Sergeant Texas State Guard, Data Centre Operator.

Avocations roughly in chronological order with LOTS of overlap: Downhill skiing, Hunting, Fishing, Sky-diving, SCUBA diving, Off-Roading, Travelling, Mountain Biking, Target shooting, Gun collecting, Military vehicle restoration, Militaria collector, gun collector, Civil War, WWII, and Vietnam War reenacting.

Bob Carriere · #14 26-04-13, 03:22

Born in 1943, I grew up in the shadow of the Peace Tower on the Quebec poor side of the Ottawa river.

Dad was a stationary engineer for the pulp and paper plant. Rebuilding old cars was an economic reality and I was given car parts to wash when I was old enough not to fall in the tub..... we degreased with Naphta and carbon tetrachloride and loved the smell. Dad was a heavy smoker why we never exploded or developed a 3 leg from carbon tet is beyond me....

I learned from my Dad and practiced on my friends cars ... I fixed things and got free rides..... when money was tight I was popular.

Graduated to VW dune buggies, dirt bikes and Dodge M37 and eventually saw the light and went for CMPs.

Earned a good living as a Human Resources specialist pushing papers for the Federal Pubic ( not a typo) Service for 52 and half years retiring end of March 2013.

I learned by watching others, reading books and being to dumb to realize I could not do it ..... I tried until I got it right.

Life has been good to me ....I have outlived the last two previous generations of Carrieres by almost 20 years....thanks to modern medicine.... I drank from garden hoses ...... kept spare 22. cal. lead bullets in my mouth when shooting and played with mercury such a cool stuff...... imagine how healthy I could be if I had been careful .......

Bob C.

Max Hedges · #15 27-04-13, 01:04

Well I stated of as a loveable child, I reckon anyway, coped an odd floggin when I had a bad day though
When I left school at last, I worked around the Yass area on propertys, fencing, sheep work, carting hay etc and at the age of 19 with the help of my parents bought my first farm and started running sheep. To help the income I also learnt to shear, married Kathy sent her out to work until our first child came along at a good weight of 10lb 13oz. In 1980 dad and mum retired and we took over their farm, as the years went on we added more land to both farms until now as we are in the prosess of handing some of the land to the next generation.
In my late 20s I became captain of the local bush fire brigade for 10 years and then became group captain for 10 years and then had 3 years as dept captain and then back to group capt which I still hold. I have been to a number of large fires around NSW with task forces over the years.In my younger years we bought a f15a and set it up as a fire truck and so began the love of old blitzs and the challenge of chasing bush fires, ah the stories that old girl could tell
by the way Kathy is back at work to help me live the life of playing with old stuff

Max

chris vickery · #16 27-04-13, 01:40

Well, at the tender age of 42 how do I relate my experiences? Firstly, I must say that I have never been fired from a job, the uncertainties of todays world and youth employment dealt me a diverse range of oppprtunities.
In a nutshell, according to the government, I am qualified at nothing as I do not hold a recognized trade license. Realistically, I suppose I could call myself a millwright. I currently work for one of the largest electrical manufacturing and service industries in the world, ABB. I travel extensively servicing large power electrical transformers for power generation, utilities, mills, mines etc. I am not an electrician as many assume, but our work includes a lot of mechanical stuff.
I studied industrial arts in high school (skool??/) specializing in metal machining, fabrication, welding and mechanics. After high school I have attended continuing ed programs of industrial nature on my own as well as employer sponsored.
I began working in industrial and commercial sheet metal work, worked in home construction, plant maintenance, machine shop, industrial supply sales, truck driving, public works, factory assembly line work, lumber yard and transformer building, contruction and maintenance work. Phew.
I have been accused of being a "Jack of All Trades" which is somewhat fitting. I am proud to say I am a survivor, I never go hungry, I always pay my bills and I ask no one for handouts. I always find a job and have done plenty of s**tty ones to make ends meet.

RHClarke · #17 27-04-13, 05:02

My first paying gig was as a general labourer with the town of Sioux Lookout in Northern Ontario as a teen. It was there that I learned what hard work really was and determined that I would avoid it at all costs in the future. After university I worked as a bill collector in the wilds of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, where I got my combat experience. Eventually, I joined the Canadian Army and after a lengthy career of pissing off colonels, wifey number two and I retired in Ottawa, Ontario, where I became a project management (PM) consultant. After an initial contract in Montreal, Quebec, I worked with the army at national defence HQ to obtain modern equipment and clothing right up to the end of the Afghan war. While on "leave" or whenever "on the beach" (between contracts), I had the pleasure of touring China preaching the western version of PM. I also got a short visit to both Thailand and Tanzania to give some leadership and management training. My last contracts were with the military doing some not so exciting but very interesting policy work. While all of that was going on, I ran my consulting small business and will be opening another small business involving our hobby - once my lawyer sorts out some issues for me.

You would never peg me for a PM "expert" if you follow the Hammond Barn thread. I play with CMPs for the fun of it and am in no hurry to see the end of the neverending, continuously ongoing HUP project.

hrpearce · #18 27-04-13, 08:45

It is interesting to read all the little things that have been done to keep an income coming in. In my first post I stuck to what I have had training in. Other small jobs that I have had to get through hard times have been. Leaf cutter selling stringhy bark leaf to chemical companies so they could extract blood cloting medicine from them, Eucolyptus distiller, shed hand, shearer, wool pressor, log feller and hauler, contract hay and silage bailer, contract weed sprayer, wood cutter, livestock carrier, short hall semi driver and contract station hand. I have only applied and interviewed for one job all the rest have been offered to me in times of need, I have been verry lucky that way.

gordon · #19 27-04-13, 11:22

I started off in the engineering iron industry in central Scotland, but I found out about 30 years back that all the money was in oil, so got an additional house here in Aberdeen.

Never really learned anything, loads of trial and error. don't really have the time or facilities to do as much restoration as I'd like ( ask my trucks ... )

I've always been fascinated by vehicles that do tricks - drive and float, drive and crawl, crawl and float, run on rails and road, road and snow, etc.

Used to have a pile of amphibians but didn't use them, not got a bunch of snow and rail stuff and don't use that instead.

Gordon's LinkedIn Profile

Gordon's Vehicle Page

Philip Moseley · #20 08-06-13, 05:34

Well My Trade
I am an ex Sergeant British Military soldier living in Canada, Kenora Ontario and I have a wealth of experience regarding Post War Military Vehicles as I was in the R.E.M.E. for 22 years employed as a vehicle mechanic from 1975-1995
Vehicles that I worked on as follows
Landrover
Canam Motor Cycles
Armstrong Motor Cycles
Saracen Armd Vehs
Humber Pigs
HMLC Stalwart
Ferret Armd Veh
FV432 to FV438 series vehicles
CVRT Armd Vehicles
Chieftain
Centurion
AVLB Bridgelayers
Warrior
Challenger
Bedford RL
Bedford MK
Powerpacks 11A 13A
K60 430 series
and many more equipments

I have recently joined the forum so hello all and pleased to meet all the veterans of the forums and newbies alike
Regards Phil

Luke R · #21 08-06-13, 12:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by Philip Moseley

Well My Trade
I am an ex Sergeant British Military soldier living in Canada, Kenora Ontario and I have a wealth of experience regarding Post War Military Vehicles as I was in the R.E.M.E. for 22 years employed as a vehicle mechanic from 1975-1995
Vehicles that I worked on as follows
Landrover
Canam Motor Cycles
Armstrong Motor Cycles
Saracen Armd Vehs
Humber Pigs
HMLC Stalwart
Ferret Armd Veh
FV432 to FV438 series vehicles
CVRT Armd Vehicles
Chieftain
Centurion
AVLB Bridgelayers
Warrior
Challenger
Bedford RL
Bedford MK
Powerpacks 11A 13A
K60 430 series
and many more equipments

I have recently joined the forum so hello all and pleased to meet all the veterans of the forums and newbies alike
Regards Phil

Welcome to the forum Phil.

Philip Moseley · #22 09-06-13, 04:28

Pleasure to be here

Ian Pullen · #23 12-06-13, 10:23

Joined the Australian Army at 15 as an Army Apprentice Fitter.
Whilst in the ARA worked mostly with Artillery & weapons, fabrication & anything else I was told to work on.
Did time as recruit instructing & an interlude in the Regimental stream as CSM & DSM.
After 23 years transferred to the reserves where I am still at the Museum & work full time for a company who train the Army Technical Trades.
I teach small arms & machine shop.