r/WeldingRigs

I’ve seen a lot of people curious about welding pay — and the truth is, not all welding is the same.
Pipeline welding: $70K–$120K+

Underwater welding: $100K+ (high risk)

Aerospace welding: ~$80K+

Military/defense: six figures possible

The catch is that the highest-paying roles also bring more risk, tougher conditions, or require specialized certifications.
Curious — for those of you in the trade, what’s the best-paying welding job you’ve seen in real life?
If you want a full breakdown, I wrote more here:

https://weldwars.com/highest-paying-welding-jobs/

Needed a mobile platform for my Lincoln electric SA-250 to do pipe fences. Was looking on marketplace for something basic and cheap, but came across an m1102 and had to have it. I bolted a 3/4” plate to the trailer using the generator mounting holes, then mounted the welder and bottles to the plate. I roughly estimate it weighs 3,300 lbs. With the m1102 GVWR being 4,200 lbs, that still gives me 900 lbs of payload.