Trades that require the least tools.

[JasonB1989]

I'm a truck and tractor mechanic, did my apprenticeship on diesel generators and do the odd side gig replacing clutches and working on small cars so my tool kit ranges from 1/4 inch sockets to 1'' drive. Wrenches up to 2 1/2 inch and box draws full of things I don't even feel like lifting on a Monday morning, never mind swinging off.

Occasionally an auto electrician helps me in the shop and he has minimal tools and charges a similar rate to myself.

Who else knows of trades where people make great money and only have to invest in minimal tools?

 

[readhead]

Insulators, painters, masons, concrete finishers, framers and many more. Anyone can get by with just enough but the best tend to have more tools to cover anything that might come up.

 

[kd3pc]

field engineers in the computing field used to be paid extremely well, and their toolkit fit in a shirt pocket for the most part...

 

[Tenex]

Automotive

 

[Robinson1]

Not sure what they are actually called but the repair techs that service hospital lab equipment carry almost nothing.

I was talking with the guy that services the lab where my wife works one night. Not including a laptop and several patch cables his tool bag consisted of a set of folding hex keys, small 1/4 drive socket set, rubber mallet, couple pliers, and a handful of screwdrivers.

I was blown away to say the least I figured it would take a service van to do that job

 

[Advan]

If you wanna talk union trades, around here all the pipefitters need to own is a torpedo level and a pair of Channellock's. As per their contract, every other imaginable tool a fitter would need (which is all that much), is company supplied. As a millwright that requires a vast selection of gizmos, I possess a small amount of jealousy!

 

[spike99250]

If you wanna talk union trades, around here all the pipefitters need to own is a torpedo level and a pair of Channellock's. As per their contract, every other imaginable tool a fitter would need (which is all that much), is company supplied. As a millwright that requires a vast selection of gizmos, I possess a small amount of jealousy!

Depending on the area or contract some fitters aren't even required to bring anything, contractors supply everything.
As a Journeyman Carpenter who sometimes works with the Millwrights, I share your jealousy.

 

[readhead]

I was a union tinner for twenty years and it would piss me off that after we hung the duct the insulators would roll in for big money and wrap our duct. They bought all their tools at Safeway, steak knives, and got paid an obscene amount of money.

 

[M_George]

Sears CEO

 

[-Brent-]

A mason doesn't need a ton of tools. Of course, the bigger you go, the bigger your tools need to be, e.g., scaffolding, mixers, lift equipment.

An electrician in the neighborhood I grew up in started his business with a used Chevy van and a few hundred in tools. He's now got a pretty large outfit. When I was a out of high school he told me quite a few times that I had a good mind to be an electrician and that I could make good money but I was stupid and didn't want to be work my way from the bottom.

I framed instead and I spent more money on tools, lots more.

 

[Alchymist]

Electronic technician. Company supplies test equipment & sometimes the few tools needed.

 

[Dimitri]

Honestly having worked or working in 3 trades I never needed half the tools people claimed.

Machinist? There are some tools but other then a short 26" Kennedy you didn't need much (high value measuring tools add up though).
Automotive? Lots of wasted tools for that one "special application" you saw once a year and could do with regular tools for a hair longer.
Forklift Mechanic? Same as automotive. Just add some larger wrenches and some 3/4" drive tools.

 

[sberry]

Sign painter.

 

[L.Cheapo]

******.

 

[jdlong]

Residential electrician

 

[larry_g]

Glazier.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[Jbullfrog]

Truck drivers or Teamsters get paid ok and don't need any tools.

 

[lakeroadster]

******.

 

[OccupantRJ]

If you wanna talk union trades, around here all the pipefitters need to own is a torpedo level and a pair of Channellock's. As per their contract, every other imaginable tool a fitter would need (which is all that much), is company supplied. As a millwright that requires a vast selection of gizmos, I possess a small amount of jealousy!

That used to piss me off when I was a millwright. 5 portable boxes of tools I had to guard, and the pipefitters had a folding rule, channel locks, and a torpedo level.

 

[M_George]

Electronic technician. Company supplies test equipment & sometimes the few tools needed.

Not true, I worked as an electronic tech for fifteen years before everything went to China. I had a Kennedy box with a draw full of various pliers and cutters, a full set of screw drivers, sheet metal nippers, dozens of terminal tools, a set of wrenches, small hammer, tweezers, and several soldering aids. Give me a little time and I can think of more

 

[Richard Cranium]

Lab tech, the lab supplies every thing.
T.S.A. agent, government supplies every thing except under clothes.
from socks to coats, from belts to ties.

 

[PeterT]

Custodial Engineers

 

[ecotec]

Union Journeyman Inside Wireman (commercial/industrial electrician) requires one small to medium hand box of tools. Everything beyond that is a company tool.

 

[Flat-rate]

Wast water treatment plant maintenance department, my landlord could show up in his skivvy's, everything else is supplied. By the way he gets every conceivable holiday off, full pension, real health bennies, vacation time that accumulates, paid overtime, and just about any perk you can think off. Shop is well equipped with welders, machine tools, what ever. If they don't have it, they are allowed to order it. Even have a lift in the shop.

 

[johndeereman]

like READHEAD say's the best have a truckload of tool's to take care of just about anything. also as ADVAN said it would be nice to just walk in with one small bag instead of backing up the entire service truck to the elevator.

 

[Super Mech]

Cathodic Engineer. They check the sacrificial anodes around in ground fuel tanks. They charge a fortune and carry nothing more than a multimeter and a couple of pipe and buffalo cap wrenches. Total scammers.

 

[M_George]

Why does it matter who owns the tools as long as they are required to perform the job.

 

[Local]

Electrical lineman you can drop 1500 and be set for the rest of your career.

 

[RPH]

Nuke plant maintenance, plant supplies everything in case of contamination.

 

[555]

City Electrical Inspector. My friend carries a plug tester and a Home Depot multibit screwdriver. The electricians supply anything else he may need. Most of the time, he just walks on the job, looks around and leaves.

 

[JasonB1989]

Nuke plant maintenance, plant supplies everything in case of contamination.

This is both true/untrue. I got my break on a nuclear station as I said earlier in the op. (Generators) It's not the contamination issue as over fifty percent of the plant is 'clean'. The issue lies in the health and safety and they want to be able to control every tool being used. I know hundreds of techs on nuclear power stations that would rather use their personal gear over what's provided but you wouldn't get it through the gates.

As for the other percentage of the plant I've never had a hand tool monitored out the reactor side rejected. Usually some fancy Rad Wipes (ultra expensive wet wipes) but probably just wet wipes will sort that right out.

Those health pyshics guys that monitor tools out of controlled radiation areas pay for no tools and make a fortunes mind!!!

Add them to the list!

 

[Revere Cycles]

I am a mason-contractor full-time, bicycles and cars are just my hobby. My daily tool bag (Klein) doesn't have much in it, but if somebody stole it, along with my levels, angle grinder, wheelbarrow and hoe, I'd be out a few hundred bucks. 99% of what I do comes out of my bag, but I do keep a large stock of tools that I could otherwise rent. A few seasons of bigger jobs made buying a Makita 14" gas powered cutoff saw, or a Bosch demolition hammer a wise investment for my business.

 

[kctyphoon]

It all depends of how easy you wanna make things on yourself. I can get by with minimal tools, but having extra is what makes things easier.

It's like saying a mechanic can get by with a basic socket set and some wrenches, but they would be cursing a lot more if that's all they had.

 

[crewchief888]

It all depends of how easy you wanna make things on yourself. I can get by with minimal tools, but having extra is what makes things easier.

It's like saying a mechanic can get by with a basic socket set and some wrenches, but they would be cursing a lot more if that's all they had.

I could get by with a lot less tools, but why make a (soetimes) difficult job even harder?

 

[Alchymist]

Not true, I worked as an electronic tech for fifteen years before everything went to China. I had a Kennedy box with a draw full of various pliers and cutters, a full set of screw drivers, sheet metal nippers, dozens of terminal tools, a set of wrenches, small hammer, tweezers, and several soldering aids. Give me a little time and I can think of more

Guess it depends on the company - worked many years for two of the largest in the US, never bought a tool there. That's what the stockroom was for. Largest tool box at any location was a 5 drawer top box, and it was company owned. I had more tools than most techs and still didn't fill it. Biggest tool was the one between the ears.

 

[OutsideMachinist]

Anything not mechanical will require significantly less tools. A millwright/ auto-diesel tech/ machinist etc will always require more tools to perform the work. Whether you are required to supply them for your job is another story. A lot of industrial work it is provided or provided past a reasonable point. That said, quite a few people prefer having their own tools still.

An electrician or plumber will require significantly less tools than a mechanic, and make the same or many cases more money as well. Though that depends on many factors including your industry and willingness to travel etc.

 

[rshadd]

paintless dent removal

 

[Coach James]

When my dad and I had our roofing business. His tools and mine together would fit in a 5 gallon bucket with the exception of a couple shovels.

My buddy that has an appliance repair business can easily fit all of his tools in a 5 gallon bucket.

Coach

 

[txvwnut]

******.

I was actually thinking **** star.

 

[RPH]

Every nuke plant I worked at told me up front not to bring tools. I worked on the overhead cranes and they supplied everything. Contamination risk was always the reason.