Welding Tips and Tricks

Has anyone worked for a Tank construction company, either in the field or shop?
What's the work/welding like? Do all those plates get full pen welds?
I always see Tanco Engineering hiring on Indeed for field and shop, and Ive been curious about the work.

Thanks guys

I would like to start off by saying hello and this is my first post here. To get to your question, I worked for an above ground tank storage construction company for about 7 years. As far as the work goes it is hard but rewarding. Yes All the tank shell plates are full pen welded. The process varies between companies, some tanks are welded completely by hand using 6010 or 7018, some use flux core and others use forms of automatic welding.
I’m am very thankful I had the opportunity to start off in the field because I gained a ton of experience and it opened many doors for me. Becoming a tank welder will teach you how to weld In the field. I thought I knew how to weld coming out of college, I knew how to pass a weld test, that was it! Chances are you won’t be just a welder on the job, you’ll be a rigger, laborer or whatever else it takes to build or repair a tank. Much of the work is in oil refineries so there’s many challenges in that setting.
It’s a great place to start for sure, it’s mostly a travel job so it’s fun while your young. The job can be union or nonunion. That’s about all I have for you right now. Good luck

W.C. did you happen to come by that name from spending many hours riding a bosun chair around the windy side of a tank?

Should a new guy be told how much fun dogs & wedges are? How about banana bars?

Franz© wrote:W.C. did you happen to come by that name from spending many hours riding a bosun chair around the windy side of a tank?

Should a new guy be told how much fun dogs & wedges are? How about banana bars?

Lol, what about shimmying across the roof rafters to unhook the rigging! Now that was fun. You get exposed that just about everything building tanks. The real skill is cutting out shell material for whatever reason, and putting an insert back in and keeping things nice and round. Sometimes I miss those days, except beating on bull pins, key plates, square nuts and wedges all day with a big beater. The way safety is these days I’m sure the bosun chairs have been retired...hopefully

Recently spent about 10 hrs in the swing chair.