A nation of unskilled workers

[Bod ...]

I still won't knock all tradesmen. Lots if good ones out there.

Some probably even use this forum

There are that. But there's an awful lot of shockers too.

 

[IT Minion]

Nope because tradesmen in every trade will tell you the standards are atrocious now .

As they have done since the pyramids

 

[Bod ...]

As they have done since the pyramids

What have the Egyptians ever done for us.

 

[Brigadier]

Cars is just one example, a mechanic of 40/50 years ago, would have had a thorough understanding of them. Now it is near impossible to have a complete understanding, because they are so very complex.

Rare to find a mechanic now.
Mostly, they're fitters.
Probably a combination of lack of skills, training, and interest, and it being uneconomic to dismantle and rebuild a component.

 

[Dork Lard]

Rare to find a mechanic now.

My recovery Co' once sent t'young lad out to roadside a classic Velocette motorcycle. He was attempting to attach his jump pack to 'boost' the starter & not understanding why the owner was furiously beating him away . . . . . .

Job came in for a Mk1 Cortina non-start, bestest mechanic in his 60's jumps up & says "I know exactly what's wrong with that", pops out to fit a new roll pin to the rotor in the distributor cap & it's something he has fond memories of doing 1000's of times all those years ago.

To be fair there isn't much on vehicles these days that can be 'fixed', certainly not roadside.

 

[carmanmemoranda]

Rare to find a mechanic now.
Mostly, they're fitters.
Probably a combination of lack of skills, training, and interest, and it being uneconomic to dismantle and rebuild a component.

Thats a fair comment about fitting to a point.

But there's even more to learn and know about now on vehicles than there was 10, 20 or 30 years ago. It's why there is a tendency towards specialists of certain types or marques.

There are cowboys involved (as there always has been) but don't believe that there's a lack of skills generally

 

[transam]

One time of day you took yer car in with a fault and a bloke came out in over alls and spanner’s

Now they come out with a suit and a lap top

I was talking to a fella who had his specialist car tuned in the UK by some techy in Australia via a lap top

 

[transam]

Trades / unskilled workers

This country is drowning in armies of do nothing of consequence over paid pencil pushers and paper shufflers

If most of em actually explained what they actually do

You would probably be none the wiser ? As they probably have some jumped up job title to some how give some illusion of importance to their job

 

[Vinty]

Trades / unskilled workers

This country is drowning in armies of do nothing of consequence over paid pencil pushers and paper shufflers

If most of em actually explained what they actually do

You would probably be none the wiser ? As they probably have some jumped up job title to some how give some illusion of importance to their job

Too many Chiefs and not enough Indians and you end up with Cowboys.

 

[Mottie]

Rare to find a mechanic now.
Mostly, they're fitters.
Probably a combination of lack of skills, training, and interest, and it being uneconomic to dismantle and rebuild a component.

Showing my age now but when I started my apprenticeship, we overhauled practically everything. Engines - rebored and reground, Cylinder heads - decoked, cut valve seats, reface valves, fit new valve guides, starter motors - brushes and bendix gears, flywheel ring gears, dynamo's, gearboxes, steering boxes, propshaft U/J's, leaf spring bushes and shackle pins, rear axles, king pins, bushes and thrust washers etc etc - we even fitted new linings to brake shoes and clutch plates. I haven’t done any of that in the last 30+ years.