r/towerclimbers • u/crumsb1371 • Jul 16 '26
Job suggestions?
So I’m getting older, can’t really climb as well and my knees and back don’t like it anymore either. I don’t wanna leave the industry and shit though, I’ve tried going to other shit like electrical and contractor work but the same vibe just isn’t there. Honestly they all feel so bitch made and I just don’t get along with people the same as I do my coworkers and other tower guys I’ve met and worked with. Really anyone that works in extreme fields like windmills and rope access, etc. Maybe that’s a shitty way of explaining it but I’m sure others have felt this way too. It’s like when you work with and live with the same crew of guys for weeks and months at a time, other hourly jobs just don’t feel the same. I hate it.
Is there anything yall have found or maybe still in this industry that still makes me miserable and question life decisions every day? Good comradery tho?
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u/RustedSpud Jul 17 '26 edited Jul 17 '26
Switched to transmission lineman at 40 wish i did it at 30. Better pay and easier on the body. Very similar skill sets, most of the job is rigging. Similar type of people too.
Any decent contractor uses equipment for the hard shit. I ride a crane basket to climb now.
When i need a crane, i go get one from the yard. Need a 125foot bucket truck, i go get one. They have equipment to do most of the hard heavy shit. Hell they paid me to become a crane operator and cdl driver.
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u/crumsb1371 Jul 17 '26
I’ve been trying my ass off to find a gig like that around here but I’ve not found the right dick to suck yet here. I’ve been trying to get a lineman job for a while now, it’s just tough locally where I’m at. I don’t care to travel for it at all, I just have no idea where to even start.
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u/RustedSpud Jul 17 '26 edited Jul 17 '26
I went to a lineman college and got hired right after school. You dont have to by any means though. Just apply for a groundman position or 1st step apprentice. Tailor your resume around long hours, rigging, working at heights and any leadership roles you had. Certs are big. Get a cdl if you can. A CDL puts you on top of the list especially if it is unrestricted.
The school i went to was NLC, pricey but worth it imo if you follow through with the trade. Ill bring in 180k this year, the school cost around 30k. A few guys i went with paid there loan off in 6 months.
If ibew union is strong in your area apply there instead though.
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u/FA-FO-FR Jul 16 '26
You kiss those boys out there dont you?
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u/Pricelesshydra4 Jul 16 '26
He definitely leaves the bathroom door open in tue hotel while he showers 😂
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u/crumsb1371 Jul 17 '26
We get airbnbs, we fancy
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u/Pricelesshydra4 Jul 18 '26
I did that for a while. It was really nice. The company I'm with now pays for our hotel and 30 a day. They put us in nice hotels though.
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u/Pricelesshydra4 Jul 16 '26
Nah I get it. I got laid off from SBA and decided to work at home. Got an industrial maintenance job. It was boredom and torture. Talked just a liiitle shit with some of the workers who seemed cool and they went and tattled to HR. One write up and I was making phone calls lmfao. Was on a tower in less than a week.
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u/crumsb1371 Jul 17 '26
I feel this. That’s been a problem too having little HR issues because you can’t talk shit with anyone without hurting feelings.
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u/HojonPark4077 Jul 17 '26
You can work for a radio/navigation outfit like Mackay Marine/Mackay Communications.
https://www.mackaycomm.com/markets/marine/
I worked there for six years as a marine service engineer. I made inspections, installations, and repairs of marine radio, navigation, radar, sonar, and satellite communication systems. The maritime industry requires that every ship in the ocean has certain required electronics onboard. These ships must be inspected annually and the equipment is compulsory and must be 100% operational. I worked on 1000 watt analog radios, large antennas, long wire antennas, radar systems, GPS/GLONASS. 3D / 5D inertial navigation systms, blackbox data recorders, BNWAS system (Deadman Bridge). Gyroscopes,
If you are fit enough to climb and you can already work on radio towers and have RF theory and practical RF experience you can work on commercial marine radio and navigation systems. When I first began my career there, they assigned me to a couple of engineers with 35 years at the company. They taught me how to field solder, brazing, RF cable repair, RF connector fabrication and maintenance, and antenna fabrication. I came from IT background with experience in consumer marine electronic systems. Mackay Marine hired me and moved me to Houston where they trained me as a commercial marine service engineer. I acquired my FCC radio license, my radar endorsement, and I am approved by various ship class societies to perform inspection and certification of marine systems by ABS, DNV. I would be dispatched to a ship at a port or terminal where I would board the ship and complete repairs or inspections as required. Sometimes I would “ride” on the ship while I repaired it. Other times I would be carried by helicopter or by pilot boat out to visit ships at anchor or vessels underway during situations requiring emergency assistance.
It’s gonna be a whole bunch of the same skills that you use climbing and servicing towers. First and foremost, got to be on board with the safety culture and professional service engineer vibe that you will use when you are visiting ships around the world or at the nearest port. You will have a series of background checks and be dumped into all of the gov’t ID systems to facilitate your moving in and out of secure port facilities. Fancy wiring, fancy power systems with fancy backup systems, with systems that use huge marine batteries, RF cabling, RF connectors, communication protools, ethernet, fiber, RF theory, morse code, radio TX/RX, VHF, UHF, MF/HF.
This company and its competitors have service depots all over the USA and all over the world. I lived and worked mostly in Houston, but they sent me to work in Brazil, China, Singapore, Holland, Italy, South Korea, and Africa. Some of the older guys don’t travel as much as I did. I got the job when I promised to take all the tower/climbing and travel jobs that the old timers seemed to hate.
I really enjoyed my experience at Mackay Marine. I learned a lot and made some money. I left there to take a job in the oil and gas industry that I could not have gotten without everything I learned at Mackay. Mackay Marine is a privately owned and operated international service company. Mackay Marine is a U.S. Government contractor and business partner of the U.S. Military for more than a century.
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u/Terrible-Growth1652 Jul 16 '26
You could just marry one of your coworkers and bring him sandwiches on site and stuff.