I grew up on a dairy farm but never liked milking cows twice a day every day. I worked at a welding shop building roll off containers after a failed attempt at college (one solid year of partying, not much class time). Got bored with that, went roofing for a bit. From there I worked in a factory making steel pipe fittings. Didnt last a year (very boring, 8 hours of standing in one spot pushing a button) moved on to a company that replaced road reflectors. Decided I needed to go back to school. Worked for my parents in their little grocery/sub shop til the Bill's started piling up. Went back to the welding shop part time. Graduated with a degree in athletic training. Was an athletic trainer for a year when dad was diagnosed with cancer. Back to the welding shop full time to be closer to home. Was offered a sales/applicator position at a local agronomy company. That was 3 years ago. Today was my last day there. I start Monday with a trucking job hauling liquid livestock feed.
Amen brother! BTDT! Congrats...and good luck, hope it works out well for you! Liquid livestock feed? I'm not familiar, Molassess?
Thank you! Yes I guess I should have been more specific cause it sounds like molasses is pretty much all I will be hauling.
You'll hafta tell us what the trick is to getting the tankers empty in a timely manner on cold winter's day!
Guess I better fire up the chainsaw! I asked the question about molasses in the winter when I met with the owners today. It sounds like they heat it to 94* before loading. The volume of it retains the heat in the trailer (24 ton capacity trailer). They said something about the formulation of it keeping the viscosity down as well.
Its definitely not a career you wanna go into unless you love cows. I have nothing but respect for those that do it. I just know it wasnt for me.
Congratulations on the career change. Hope you like it. I moved around on jobs a bit when I was younger also.
Graduated High School, Construction laborer, Coast Guard, College for Civil Engineering , Married, Went to work as a union Carpenter, Carpenter welder, Carpenter 4/man, Construction Superintendent/ Engineer, Const. Project Manager, Heart trouble, Retired! Hobby metal cutting and fabrication when I'm in the mood, Firewood cutting, Fish, Hunt, Boat, Irritate the Wife!
Thanks for the well wishes T.Jeff Veal and brenndatomu! Today went pretty well. I think I will like it once I get settled in. I definitely need to get used to making wide right turns with a long trailer. Its gonna take some practice for sure.
I install heating systems, wood, gas, pellet, along with servicing the above whether sweeping the venting system to full tear downs. Currently we are 7 weeks out and it's hardly even cold out yet!
Blessed to say I am the Sheriff of the County I grew up in. It took nearly thirty years to get there. We are term limited, so I am at the twilight of my career. Have a great pension waiting so there wont be any jumping on another carousel. When October comes round, i have three years to go. A lot of folks arent happy that they cant vote for me again. Twenty years as a detective, working child abuse mostly. Did that long enough that i was dealing with bad things to the children of people who had bad things happen to them when they were children. Also worked some bizarre homicides. Can a 6'7" man fit into a 55 gallon drum? Yes, but you will need to bring along a splitting maul! I am hoping to spend time pittering around the farm, with no obligations. I have learned how precious my free time is.
The really hard part is cooling it down when your cooking it and it’s 110* inside the plant! In college I cooked a molasses based protein lick tub (250 lbs) for cattle, once it got to be 90+ outside we had to switch to night shift until it cooled down. We added urea as well as other products, the elevated temp allowed product to stratify before cooling.