For all those looking for ways to make money

[jeanmarie]

Get yourself trained and certified as an RV Tech. The guy a few sites down from us asks for $100 an hour, and gets it. He can do what he wants part of the year and comes into parks he likes where he has agreements with the owners to be able to work on RV's during busy seasons. He usually has all the work he wants. Yes, he is still tied to where his jobs are and no, he can't go anywhere he wants all the time. But he makes a really good living, works for himself, and is free to do as he pleases for around 4 to 6 months of the year.

 

[maki2]

That will take quite a few years of training on all the different systems and appliances too. You have to be very good with tools and thinking through issues and coming up with solutions for them. So many makes and models out there. You also need to be able to do extended bending, twisting, lifting, etc. Good money yes because it is skilled labor and it is not a quick and easy thing to learn how to do.

 

[MrNoodly]

That will take quite a few years of training on all the different systems and appliances too. ...

Yeah, just become a mechanic, electrician, plumber, carpenter...

 

[jeanmarie]

That will take quite a few years of training on all the different systems and appliances too. You have to be very good with tools and thinking through issues and coming up with solutions for them. So many makes and models out there. You also need to be able to do extended bending, twisting, lifting, etc.  Good money yes because it is skilled labor and it is not a quick and easy thing to learn how to do.

There are several schools of varying quality listed locally. The programs take from 10 weeks to several months. Local RV dealers and repair shops are hiring. According to Google, pay can run from about $12.00 an hour to $27.00 an hour. Your employer, of course, will charge much more for your labor. A couple year's experience should make one familiar with the systems, which aren't all that different. After that, you can charge bigger money for the very great benefit of your customers being able to sit where they are and not have to drag their units offsite to be fixed.You will probably not have a complete shop at hand and won't accept the kinds of jobs that require one. But you can do a lot of the work that others can't or do not want to do for themselves. If you want to, you might also find seasonal work with an employer.

OF COURSE, it takes time and effort to get these skills! OF COURSE, you have to be able to do the work! That's why the guy gets $100 an hour to troubleshoot some RV wiring or to figure out why a roof vent is leaking and seal it. You are not going to get any skills that people will pay you decently for without some time and effort and being able to physically do what they are paying you to do. So, some people physically can't do this. But how many healthy young guys show up here, eager to go on an adventure, but with no idea how to pay for it in a sustainable way?

 

[maki2]

The reality is that most of the young ones who show up here have no real skills with tools and no experience with any type of RV or van which is why they show up here.

 

[maki2]

You don't have to be young or a guy to gain the skills needed to work at repairing RVs
There are just as many older individuals who need to make money on the road as there are young ones.

 

[jeanmarie]

The reality is that most of the young ones who show up here have no real skills with tools and no experience with any type of RV or van which is why they show up here.

Yes, I know this. That is why I posted my original post. Without any skills, most will not even be able to afford and outfit a decent vehicle, much less make it on the road. If a miracle occurs and they do get a vehicle, they fail within months. They end up broken down and broke, ebegging for enough money to get themselves and their derelict vehicle back home. Why encourage someone to do something that he is probably going to fail at?  If they slow down long enough to get marketable skills, they can be on the road for years and even raise a nomadic family, like the guy down the road. A focus on sustaining the lifestyle is just as important as a focus on getting into the lifestyle.

 

[lenny flank]

The reality is that most of the young ones who show up here have no real skills with tools and no experience with any type of RV or van which is why they show up here.

Indeed. The harsh truth is that it is not easy to make livable money on the road. If it were, everyone and his brother would already be doing it.

I am extraordinarily lucky that I can make my living in such a way that I can go where I want, when I want, stay as long as I want, then go wherever else I want--and I only need to "work" a few nights a week.

I never forget for a second how fortunate that makes me.

 

[bullfrog]

Just out of high school in the 60's after taking auto mechanics at a vocational school during the day and working in a garage/gas/tow company during the 4 years of high school I had decided to buy a old truck to haul my tools and a bumper pull camper and travel throughout the continental United States staying 6 months at each place I got a job to find out where I would like to live. I figured out pretty quickly I didn't like the cold! I was healthy and young and could care less if I had health insurance / retirement. Then Uncle Sam interrupted my life for several years. It didn't take long till I was thinking about retirement and once I got a family, health insurance. It took several years before I found out I was good at teaching and all together many more years of struggle to make enough money to support my family while doing it. I finally had to go back to doing mechanics as with 3 kids it just wasn't possible for me to make enough money. I had to wait till everyone was grown and gone before I could get back on the road and after a couple years finally found what was the ideal job for me. Sort of funny I had to retire to get to work at something I really enjoyed! There are lots of jobs on coolworks.com that one can do but few have any health insurance or retirement benefits which should concern a young person as all us older folk know your body only lasts so long. Focus on what happens next or at least in the near future is important too!

 

[jeanmarie]

Just an update. The RV tech down the street just made $125 for about an hour's work because, for the second time in 6 years, our door latch mechanism jammed and broke. We were trapped inside and had to wait a couple hours because he was out on another call. If you have skills, you can make a decent living and have a good life on the road. If you don't have skills, slow down and get some.

 

[Day Dreamer]

I'm only semi handy and this was our first "nice" camper. We had a "fixer" in our campground where we seasoned come help us at our seasonal site. I told them what I thought was wrong (my wife wanted a "pro" to fix it). It was a problem with the water heater. I diagnosed it, told them it was the valve and to bring one. They confirmed when they arrived, said they had to "order the part and it would take a week". Then they charged me $50 for the visit. We had a "conversation" and I did not pay the fee to look at it (I was told it would be fixed on the spot). I then ordered the part for $15 from Amazon. It arrived in 2 days later and took me 15 minutes to install. I had never worked on an RV before.

I finally realized that most problems are either relativity easy to fix or unfix-able with things these days. Complex issues often aren't worth fixing, cheaper to buy a new one unless it's a major system.

For example our fridge died in our stick & brick. I got a quote to fix it, $400. I did some quick research and it sounded like the "motherboard" was bad (I didn't know fridges had those). I called GE and they said they have been having issues with those and they would send a new part for free. It arrived 2 days later. It took a 5 minute youtube video and 10 minutes to install. I have never worked on a fridge before.

Same with the heating element in our clothes dryer. That was a little more involved but I followed the steps on a youtube video and had the new one installed in 20 minutes.

Youtube is your friend!!

 

[B and C]

Youtube is your friend!!

Be careful with youtube.  I have seen so called self proclaimed experts giving bad advice.  Watch several different ones to weed out the chaff.

 

[highdesertranger]

ain't that he truth Brian. highdesertranger

 

[Day Dreamer]

Be careful with youtube.  I have seen so called self proclaimed experts giving bad advice.  Watch several different ones to weed out the chaff.

I read the comments as well to find the legit info. I use my common sense and problem solving skills as well. Everybody has the ability to solve problems. Some just don't seem to know how to tap into that part of their brain for some reason and they get paralyzed.

The dirty little secret is many things people call professionals for aren't that complex. The pros won't tell you that!!

I try to fix what I can and call in pros for things I can't and for major stuff like a new furnace in my S&B house or a new roof. I'm not a wrenching type I just read and think to work it out.

 

[B and C]

Just general info for whomever may be reading in the future. Not trying to direct the caution toward anyone in particular.

 

[Sunny1]

This is one of the most valuable threads I have ever read here.

After a local RV shop took several visits to totally destroy one if my previous trailers, I started watching YouTube and doing my own fixes. I even learned how to wire my van reading Bob Wells' articles because the YouTube videos were too hard for me to follow. I learned how to cut a hole in my roof and install a fan, install a water heater, find and fix plumbing leaks, and generally maintain the Casita.

I'm a 71 year old overweight female. The only things I pay to have done are the things I am physically incapable of doing.

I even learned how to repair my sewing machine on YouTube.

It just takes guts to take the plunge. If you mess up too badly, then you can pay someone to pick up the pieces.

p.s. This does not apply to working on engines. I don't have the guts to try that -- or the money to pay someone to fix the mess I'd probably make!

 

[geogentry]

I can completely relate to doing it yourself. 2 months ago I somehow managed to puncture my gas tank. Slow leak but still. I managed to get you a county controlled Campground before all my gas leaked out onto the ground. I talked with a local deputy sheriff and he told me I could stay there as long as I wanted. After calling around I found people wanted up to $1,400 to replace my gas tank. I ordered the tank online for $225 and with the help of the deputy sheriff, not all LEO are bad guys, the tank was replaced and I was on my way.

Sent from my SM-J727V using Tapatalk

 

[AnonymousDog]

It's amazing how far some common sense and a little research can get you. Good discussion.

 

[RoadStar66]

Get yourself trained and certified as an RV Tech. The guy a few sites down from us asks for $100 an hour, and gets it. He can do what he wants part of the year and comes into parks he likes where he has agreements with the owners to be able to work on RV's during busy seasons. He usually has all the work he wants. Yes, he is still tied to where his jobs are and no, he can't go anywhere he wants all the time. But he makes a really good living, works for himself, and is free to do as he pleases for around 4 to 6 months of the year.

There are two types of RV owners:

(A) Those who buy new and keep the RV for the duration of their extended warantee, during which time nothing major usually goes bad. Soon as indications of problems looming appear, they sell.

or 

(B) Those who buy used because they can't afford to buy new. Since they're low income, when something major goes wrong, they can't afford to pay $100/hour labor to fix it. They end up under a bridge in Seattle or LA in an RV that can't pass a smog test and only limps along at 30 MPH max.

That don't leave much work for the RV tech.

 

[B and C]

You are only pointing out the two extremes. The vast majority are somewhere in the middle.