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General Forestry => General Board => Topic started by: semologger on April 18, 2007, 08:38:01 PM

Title: pipe line work?
Post by: semologger on April 18, 2007, 08:38:01 PM
how hard is these jobs. well my wifes little brother is thinking of going to alaska to work on the pipe line. he needs a summer job he thinks he can make 39 dollars an hour. he is 20 years old his back ground work is gas station and a farm and home store. his mom is going crazy. has anybody ever worked this type of work.

trying to get all the info i can any help would be great.

thanks all mighty wise forum
Title: Re: pipe line work?
Post by: Furby on April 18, 2007, 08:45:36 PM
Can't speak on the work, but the pay reflects the living conditions and cost of living.
The pay may sound good, but it costs a LOT more to live up there due to the increased cost of shipping things in.
If room and board is included in the job and the pay is on top of that, it might not be so bad.
I've looked at a lot of jobs up there and would love to take one someday. :)
Title: Re: pipe line work?
Post by: Reddog on April 18, 2007, 08:48:08 PM
As in for Alyeska? Or working on the new line?
What position? Most are not real hard, lots of riding checking things.
Title: Re: pipe line work?
Post by: Norwiscutter on April 18, 2007, 08:50:16 PM
He won't make 39 an hour of the start and even after 5 years experience you won't touch that unless you are talking about overtime, which you do alot of. Starting off 20-22 is probably about right, and you got to know someone pretty well to get in the Union. Lots of people want those jobs, so he should not expect to get hired right away.  Plus, it will be a full time commitment, not a summer job. You earn that big money in January when it is 60 below on the thermometer and blowing 40 MPH. Easy money. ::)
Title: Re: pipe line work?
Post by: Sprucegum on April 19, 2007, 12:07:13 AM
Pipeline construction pays good - but you gotta like working 16 hours a day 7 days a week.
If it rains too much you don't work and don't get paid - but you still gotta eat and pay for the room. Thats when you get to sit around with the other guys, drink a little and gamble away your paycheck  :'(

He needs to find 1 or 2 buddies to travel and work with who have a bit more experience. Find a fortune or not the trip will be a lifetime memory.

His Mother should cry; she will never see that boy again.  :o He'll be a man when he comes home.  8)
Title: Re: pipe line work?
Post by: sawdust on April 19, 2007, 12:51:32 AM


I would really hesitate to send a 20 yr old into the patch, unless they have someone they trust to show them the ropes. There are some wonderful people in there and uneducated substance abusing yahoos are over represented. Drugs and alcohol are an incredible problem even in the dry camps.

sawdust
Title: Re: pipe line work?
Post by: scsmith42 on April 19, 2007, 01:48:07 AM
On the other hand, it could be the adventure of a lifetime!  If it were me, I'd go for it for no other reason than to have the chance to spend a summer in Alaska, before I got tied down with a family, a higher education to pay for, or a job that would not let me get away from the lower 48.
Title: Re: pipe line work?
Post by: Ron Wenrich on April 19, 2007, 05:51:33 AM
They had a show about the Alaska pipeline on PBS earlier this year.  I also talked to one of the guys that was a crew foreman on the original line.  Long hours and hard work.  They won't take any slacking off. 

When I was about that age, I took off to work for BLM in Oregon.  It gave me a chance to meet people that I would never have met, and see things I had never seen before.   It was a good experience, but I didn't have to work 24/7 like they do on the pipelines. 

And my mother didn't want me to go, either.  Of course, mothers don't really want their sons to do much of anything.  They'll cry if you get married, or if you go into the service, or you go away to college, or whatever.
Title: Re: pipe line work?
Post by: semologger on April 19, 2007, 08:19:34 AM
thanks for all you guys replies. i will be sending them along to him. he has never had to do any type of hard work and i dont think he can handle it. his mother is real protective. i gues a little over protective.
she asked my wife if i could go with him. i dont think so ill stay here logging in the heat.

thanks guys ill be letting yall know what he does.
Title: Re: pipe line work?
Post by: beenthere on April 19, 2007, 10:31:07 AM
semologger
From reading this, I'm thinking its time for his mother to get out of his life, and maybe the boy thinks so too and is trying to get far away.
Hopefully you will pass the advice on to the boy, and not the mother. Let the boy chew on the good information and experience presented here, so he feels he has made his own decision without his Mom making it for him. Just my impression of what sounds like is happening.
Title: Re: pipe line work?
Post by: pep on April 19, 2007, 10:21:25 PM
Semologger

I'd suggest your brother-in-law try to get signed up into the Operating Engineers in his state.  They have an apprentice program and they also have pipeline training.  It's pretty tough work if you don't know the work.  I pipelined in the late seventies and then from 91 till about 2 years ago.  It's not the type of career you want if you have a couple young kids(7 and 3 years).  :)  If he likes running equipment tell him to learn how to run an excavator, they can never have enough hoes on the line.  Myself, I run a sideboom, I learned on live draw works, but all the new booms are all hydraulic, so just about anyone can run them.  The only bad thing about the new ones is if your up on one track and you feel you're going over, you can't get rid of all the weight fast enough.
Also when the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline goes, whenever that may be, they'll be crying for operators.

That's my 2 cents.


Cheers  Pep

Check out the pics in my gallery

Title: Re: pipe line work?
Post by: fuzzybear on April 20, 2007, 09:36:23 PM
   Depends on the position, If he gets his class A CDL he will make about $3500 a week.  move_it  Welders are being paid $350 a day plus room and board. Room meaning living in a wall tent in the bush. Work schedual is 14 days on 5 off.  Slashers are being paid $275 a day, fuel and oil included. There is also remote pay on top of that depending on where you are cutting. I think it's up to $150 a day extra.
   If your are a cook and are willing to live in the bush you can make almost $12,000 a month plus room and board.
   Most all the jobs are 7 days a week for 2-4 weeks, then they fly you to town where in the spirit of the north... you party you @#$% off.    smiley_beertoast
   These are very good wages when you factor in the fact that you are away from home for your work so you can claim per diem on your taxes.
   Biggest problem is they are only hireing on the spot.
   My friend was driving truck there all winter he made over $72,000 in 4 months. But then again he didn't take any more time off than was required by law.  They have base camps set up along the "highway" where they could stop and sleep and eat some of the best food, all for free.
   Plus the biggest attraction is the fact the sun never sets ;D smiley_sun
Title: Re: pipe line work?
Post by: Furby on April 20, 2007, 10:36:35 PM
That's what I've been looking for!
Need a job for winter, so I can afford to have the summers free and not the other way around.
Although I've seen the shows with the truckers up there and I gotta say they have more guts then me!
Title: Re: pipe line work?
Post by: fuzzybear on April 21, 2007, 03:01:09 AM
It's nothin driving a truck 1000 miles on ice and snow and frozen lakes that can give out at any time.   Carrying 34000 liters of oil that can got BOOOM!!! :D :D
I had one break through on me about ten years ago. I got out in time but they had to use a crane to get the truck out.   It was the last time I drove a rig on ice.
I still drive my pickup on the river in the winter. But then it's frozen 4' thick.
Title: Re: pipe line work?
Post by: sawguy21 on April 21, 2007, 05:10:50 AM
The sun never sets in the summer, and neither do the black flies  :o, but the winter is short daylight and b-----n' cold in fuzzybear's world.  :D Like you say, pipelining pays very well, is a great experience for a young buck who is not afraid of hard work, but not everyone can cut it. The turnover is high.
Furby, with that chin insulation, you would fit right in with the locals. ;)
Title: Re: pipe line work?
Post by: semologger on April 21, 2007, 07:33:08 PM
i forgot about no sun set. that would be tough enough. he is talking to the guy who has the bid on the job.

thanks guys
Title: Re: pipe line work?
Post by: maple flats on April 21, 2007, 08:48:35 PM
That would really be a long time to work from sun rise to sunset like I often do now.
Title: Re: pipe line work?
Post by: fuzzybear on April 22, 2007, 03:24:54 AM
just  tell your wife you'll be home before dark and everything will be ok.   bat_smailey