Is welding a useful skill in line work?

[deer]

How often do linemen weld?

[rob8210]

Never- intentionally!

[Lineman North Florida]

Never- intentionally!

You nailed it, intentionally is the key word.:D

[thrasher]

Distribution Lineman don't do welding (except when it all goes wrong). At some companies the Apparatus Linemen/Technicians may do some welding but that is an infrequent job even for them. In fact most companies do not have it in their requirements.

[reppy007]

How often do linemen weld?

What if I asked how often a welder does linework....not much huh? at least not intentionally.:D

[bren guzzi]

When I was in New Zealand .. I was contracting down on the South Island ... We ran out of poles and it would have been a three week wait for them.

BUT... THERE WAS AN ABANDONED RAILWAY LINE.near wear we we're building the line. SO !!!!!!! We " borrowed " the railway tracks..welded two together back to back... And welded brackets to take three insulators. And concreted them in place. We used a little helicopter to put them up..and used ladders to work on them.

PROPER CONTRACTING BACK IN THE DAY. :D

But ain't needed a welder before or since. :eek:

[reppy007]

When I was in New Zealand .. I was contracting down on the South Island ... We ran out of poles and it would have been a three week wait for them.

BUT... THERE WAS AN ABANDONED RAILWAY LINE.near wear we we're building the line. SO !!!!!!! We " borrowed " the railway tracks..welded two together back to back... And welded brackets to take three insulators. And concreted them in place. We used a little helicopter to put them up..and used ladders to work on them.

PROPER CONTRACTING BACK IN THE DAY. :D

But ain't needed a welder before or since. :eek:

You barrowed,is that like someone barrowing a cigerette,and never returns it? Never mind,Im sure you gave tracks back.

[bren guzzi]

You barrowed,is that like someone barrowing a cigerette,and never returns it? Never mind,Im sure you gave tracks back.

Ok we recycled some tracks... Adapt an survive. :)

[reppy007]

Ive welded a few times...without a torch....had to throw a few screwdrivers/ect away:mad:

[deer]

Thanks y'all

[BigClive]

Can I just add that while welding is a bit specialised for linework, it's still a useful skill to have anyway. Even for personal projects.

[wudwlkr]

As a general rule, no, linemen do not need to weld. However, it depends on what you want to do with your career. If all you want to do is poles and wires then forget about it. But if you want to get into other areas such as substation construction then it is a very useful skill. Company I used to work for decided to start building their substations in house. I volunteered and became certified in MIG and TIG for steel and aluminum and built up what seemed like miles of buswork. Was always challenging and interesting figuring out the angles and how to hold everything together while you welded it up. Not something I would have wanted to do every day for the rest of my working life but made a nice change of pace. And as Clive said, its a great skill to have for personal use.

[bobbo]

Aluminum welding we are in short supply in this industry. Buss work and silver tin jumper at substations. Plus when we mandate equipotential grounding all steel monopoles will have welded ground studs. High dollar projects will have a need for your skill. Cap plates for piling on transmission. Too many people here are utility distribution lineman. In the industry as a whole, you are essential and needed. In the sub I worked we had over 5000 silver tin jumpers maybe 10000 pieces of buss. In another job we piled about 700 pieces of 4 foot pipe and the the welders bolted bolt pattern on. It used in lieu of concrete foundation. Yeah your in need. The best advice I can give to you is get all your state certifications everywhere. And you will probably do a a lot of bus work. When these windmills and eventual windmill farms come on line, you will be very busy. Especially Texas, Californian, Alberta and near London Ontario. God bless!