Choosing A Mechanic Trade School Over College

Is A Trade School A Better Choice Over College?
Here's an interesting video on people enrolling into a trade school for a 10 month diesel engine training course instead of taking 4 years of college which comes with a much higher tuition. The enrollment fee is a fraction of what college costs and finding a job is faster and easier in the diesel engine mechanic trade.

Once you get your initial training at a trade school the chances of getting a job are much higher. Employers who want to hire a Mechanic for an apprenticeship like to find someone who has the basic training. Having a new kid on the block without any training means more supervision and less production.

Chevy 350 CID Engine - Tool For Priming Lubrication System

Below is our current job of the week, a Chevy 350 CID Gasoline Engine that needed new head gaskets. The heads had to be surface machined and valves reground. After reassembling the heads it's always a good idea to prelube the engine since it may take a little longer for the oil to reach the top end (valve train). You could prelube with grease like Lubriplate engine assembly grease but for the time it takes to prelube with engine oil it seems logical to do it the natural way to get the oil galleries full of clean oil.

The drive tool fits on top of the distributor drive (distributor removed). With a cordless drill it takes 10 to 20 seconds to charge up the lube system and the engine is ready to be fired up. You'll be amazed how fast the oil pressure climbs.

The tool below was fabricated by one of our shop mechanics who knows the importance of fast engine oil pressure build up after a major repair. once the engine cranks over the hydraulic theory kicks in. The pump being a positive flow gear pump will push the oil though the system in no time.

Mechanic Education Includes On The Job Training

For the last month we had a student from Thompson Rivers University (just across the street from our location) complete a one month Practicum in our shop. His name was Dustin & he came in personally to ask if we would give him the chance to hang out with us to complete his course.


I immediately agreed to accept him into our workplace since it's nice to have the chance to mentor someone just starting out in this trade.

I have a personal connection to TRU since I started in the pre-app course there when it was called Cariboo College.

Dustin's course was called "Heavy Duty Mechanic & Commercial Transport Vehicle Mechanic Foundation Program" a 36 week course.

He emphasized his desire to get into Commercial Transport so I got him into the mix fast giving him hands-on experience with fabricating, brake jobs, electrical, automotive, servicing, vehicle inspections, trailers, hooking up / finding engine codes and he even experienced a service call.

I added up the experience in years of all the Mechanics working in our garage and it was approximately 135 years. This was a huge advantage for Dustin to learn and ask questions. The practicum is a great idea for anyone wanting to get into a trade and see what it's like to perform real work on equipment that operates on our streets and highways.

It was a pleasure to share experience and knowledge with someone like Dustin who was clearly interested in the Commercial Transport Mechanic trade.