# Lineman vs Electrician



## Matt7777 (Jan 6, 2009)

I am currently an apprentice electrician but I am thinking about going into the line worker trade. Just curious to see people opinions of high voltage lineman compared to electricians.


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## RePhase277 (Feb 5, 2008)

Matt7777 said:


> I am currently an apprentice electrician but I am thinking about going into the line worker trade. Just curious to see people opinions of high voltage lineman compared to electricians.


I have found that most linemen don't really know alot about electrical stuff in general. If you have a real interest in electrical equipment in a wide variety of applications, then electrician is the way to go. If you like voltages at 3 ft. arc levels, working on top of a 40 ft. pole in a lightning storm in the middle of the night, and replacing insulators, then line work is the way to go:thumbsup:


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## TheRick (Apr 13, 2008)

InPhase277 said:


> If you like voltages at 3 ft. arc levels, working on top of a 40 ft. pole in a lightning storm in the middle of the night, and replacing insulators, then line work is the way to go:thumbsup:


After watching a line crew working in an ice storm to restore power, I easily made my decision on which way I wanted to go! :whistling2:


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## BuzzKill (Oct 27, 2008)

yeah, all that and waiting your turn to get into the bucket and actually do some work, as opposed to waving the flag and standing by the truck for a few years.


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## Hidyusbeast (Dec 28, 2008)

You will have to be a groundsman for a while before they will even consider you for a linesman position. It is also potentially more dangerous imo to be a linesman. That doesn't come from experience as I only do standard residential/light commercial work though. Go in the direction that appeals to you more and you will probably be happier!


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## crazyboy (Nov 8, 2008)

Being a remote linesman that hangs from a helicopter looks fun, but other than that not for me, but no one can tell you what you're going to enjoy more, so you just have to keep trying stuff until you find something you enjoy enough to get up and do everyday.


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## brian john (Mar 11, 2007)

You can be in a trade that offers variety and in many cases indoor work , compared to a trade where you basically you are an assembler having to know little or nothing about electricity and either hot, cold or getting blown over.


HMMMMMMMMMMMM and there is a choice here?


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## spoon (Dec 9, 2008)

^^ All those points are valid. But you also may have the opportunity to travel. IBEW Local 47 (Diamond Bar) covers all of Southern Cali (SLO County south to Mexico border) and parts of Nevada. The pay for even a groundman starts at $26/hr! That's more than most Union Residential Journeymen. If you dig the outdoors, do it. Try to get onto one of those helicopter crews that get dropped out in the middle of nowhere to work on a line! The outside apprenticeship is located in Riverside.

http://www.calnevjatc.org/


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## micromind (Aug 11, 2007)

True enough, linemen work in some of the worst conditions imaginable, but they also get 'inclement weather' pay. Usually time and a half, sometimes double time. Overtime inclement weather pay can look mighty pretty!

At the end of the year, most linemen will come out with more on their W4 than most inside wiremen. 

If you're young and can handle a considerable amount of abuse, both physical and emotional, it's not a bad racket to get into. Absolutely guaranteed continuous employment.

Rob

P.S. To a lineman, an inside wireman is known as a 'narrowback'. To an inside wireman familiar with linework, a lineman is known as a 'knuckle-dragging stump-jumper'.


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## MDShunk (Jan 7, 2007)

I think the ideal candidate for a lineman will be the outdoorsman type. Farmer/rancher, logger/tree trimmer, hunter/fisherman. A guy that gets his energy from spending time outdoors. I wouldn't include myself on that list. Although I did linework for 2 years for a private contractor, it hardly bends the mind. It's just heavy assembly work 40 to 60 feet in the air. I might equate it to a factory job, except the factory is the face of the earth. The only "electrical work" of linework is that the completed product delivers energy to homes and businesses. The ideal job, in my mind, is the job of 'trouble man'. That's the job that typically a few of the sharpest guys in each shop get. They typically drive a slightly smaller bucket truck, and respond to individual outage calls. The trouble man gets to use his mind a little bit more often to figure out solutions to problems.


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## linehammer76 (Jan 3, 2009)

*you gotta love HEIGHTS*

not ALL linework is out of a bucket truck. I climbed for the LIRR and let me tell you, you can't have any fear. You DO learn all of the basic electrical theory, ohms law, motor controls, transformers, capacitors, resistors, electronics...they taught me all that because we really had a special craft that encompassed a lot. We ran everything you see on poles along the tracks except the high tension high voltage, that was another union but our stuff(signal cables, telephone, comm)was right below theirs.

But we were considered linemen and all of our work was out of hooks. Sometimes we'd have to climb towers with nothing but our safety belts, and I'm talking 60+ feet up. 40 feet was an average height. Not all the poles are a pleasure to climb either, some are chopped up and rotted. And the training you get before they let you climb is rough. You're expected to climb 40 foot poles for starters, with just you're climbing hooks and gloves on. Meaning no belt. up and down, up and down all day long, for about a week, then you start learning the hardware and tools. Brace and bit for drilling holes, no gas drills only the senior guys use those. 

I loved the work, sometimes it really sucked, but you can't be a sissy mary, being a lineman you can't have fear and you need lots of strength to pull up the tools when you're on a 60 foot pole, gotta know your knots, be able to lean out almost horizontal and perform tasks, it's a craft that not anyone can do. 

I'll be honest I'm happy I was laid off because I went back to resi electrical work! I'm much happier making the same money with my 2 feet on the ground, even if the retirement and pension is gone. If I had stayed in that field who knows if I would have lived to collect that pension!


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## mikeg_05 (Jan 1, 2009)

I know an older lineman around here that bought his wife a new honda accord, paid in full, with just the overtime he made in one winter.


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## waco (Dec 10, 2007)

I wonder, what is an "older lineman?" I mean, what is the career path for that line of work and how many people can stay fit enough to make it to retirement?

Electrical work is a path to owning your own business which you can exploit until you want to quit or you die, but it is your choice. We need to get a little more political and get the government mostly out of the business so it can be more competitive, but I think that will happen.


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## micromind (Aug 11, 2007)

I know a few linemen in their 50's. They usually look a bit older because of being outside all the time, but most can out-work a 25 year old. 

Around here, you can pull your pension at 55. 

Rob


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## trickyricky (Jan 19, 2009)

Matt7777 said:


> I am currently an apprentice electrician but I am thinking about going into the line worker trade. Just curious to see people opinions of high voltage lineman compared to electricians.


I've done both.I was a lineman for about 8 years.There is a lot of pride in being a lineman. It makes you feel good getting peoples lights on after a storm. There is a LOT of riging involved if that is what you like.Climbing poles and staying up their all day takes a toll on your body no madder how in shape you are. For me,after a few years it was a dead head job and just got boring.I am back to being an electrician.


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