Going rate of pay for marine mechanic?
 

Just wondering what the going rate of pay is for a marine mechanic. Not certifed. And Certifed

Re: Going rate of pay for marine mechanic?
 

i think when i took it to a dealer here in KC, they were certified (well had Mercury diplomas on wall) & i think they charged $96/hr.

After getting the bill, i thought to myself i really need to learn how to change my oil & other basic things.

Re: Going rate of pay for marine mechanic?
 

I think he mean's the wrenche's wages, not the shop rate. I know the mech where I just took my boat makes $30/hour.

Re: Going rate of pay for marine mechanic?
 

Thanks Cuda...Yes I am looking into the rate the Mechanic makes. My best friend was hired by the local marina to wrench. This is his second year. He is an ASE certified auto tech and is working on his Master tech. He retired from the Army with 23 years in vehicle maintence. He retired as head of the motor pool with about 300 people under him. He simply is the best mechanic I have ever seen. He can work on anything. While not in school during the summer he has been working last summer and this one as a marine mechanic at the local boat yard.. We were talking and he was wondering what the going rate a Non mercrusier certifed tech was making.... He is retired and he works because he loves it so money is not the big issue....He is however curious....Thanks for the replies

Re: Going rate of pay for marine mechanic?
 

too bad we cant just pay direct :D

Re: Going rate of pay for marine mechanic?
 

:eek: :D

Re: Going rate of pay for marine mechanic?
 

I recently left a shop and I am Merc certifiedin sysstems 1, fuels and lubes, bravos, hydrualics, and EFI 1 . I was making 31/hour in California, and i am only 24 tears old and had been at the shop for 2 years.

Re: Going rate of pay for marine mechanic?
 

hey hillbilly,is that flat rate or were you on salary?

Re: Going rate of pay for marine mechanic?
 

Up here in Maine a good tech makes $15-25/hr.

Re: Going rate of pay for marine mechanic?
 

$60 per hour the best in the Biz....IMHO

Re: Going rate of pay for marine mechanic?
 

is that the tech at 60 or the shop rate?

Re: Going rate of pay for marine mechanic?
 

That was hourly, and as I said I had only been with the shop for like 2 years and I m fairly young, guys who have been around for a while can make $40 or so. I have never met a tech that made $60 an hour as an hourly rate. I know plenty of people incuding myself that could make that much working flat rate though.

Re: Going rate of pay for marine mechanic?
 

what i meant was are there any amount of hours garanteed or are you only getting paid if there are boats to work on,right now i have 40 hrs garanteed but that's not the way it usually goes in the automotive side

Re: Going rate of pay for marine mechanic?
 

It wasn't the normal situation but we had an unwritten 40 hour garauntee. The boss was a great guy and took care of us well. Full payed benefits, not a penny out of pocket from us and 3 weeks a year vacation in only my second year at the shop as well as about 3 weeks of Merc tech education in the location of our choosing, I went to Florida. He was one of those guys that never really took much money out of the buissnes it all went back in. On the rare ocasison that we were slow we would always find something to do like making engine stands or a welding bench or building drives out of pieces from the scrap pile. We were rearely slow though, ussually if I wanted to work 80 hours in a week they were there to be worked and I did it on more then one ocasion. Do you work at a dealer or something ?

Re: Going rate of pay for marine mechanic?
 

i used to,but all this talk is making me want to switch to the marine side.

Re: Going rate of pay for marine mechanic?
 

Yeah, I'd be interested in a little more info on this topic too. I am auto/ford dealer cert,ase,27 yrs in current dealer. My wife is looking to relocate her office to the N.C. coastal area. I'm considering marine instead of auto when I start looking.

Re: Going rate of pay for marine mechanic?
 

You had better be able to turn yourself into a pretzel, if you want to do marine work!!!

Re: Going rate of pay for marine mechanic?
 

thats the truth. gotta love the port engine starter on a non staggerd twin application. :eek:

Re: Going rate of pay for marine mechanic?
 

just fiished doing oil change(the right way)and it was a pain in the azz.

Re: Going rate of pay for marine mechanic?
 

Come on Turboed there are always boats to work on you know that, Hell all the mechanics in the solarsystem can work 20 years straight and there will be still broken boats out there. Mainly mine every 5 hrs. :eek: :eek: :eek:

Re: Going rate of pay for marine mechanic?
 

If you really want to do boat work, do it while you are young and flexible........ I'm 55 and have a hard time getting into places that seem like I could get into not long ago. I work on boats part time for myself and get $55.00/hr. I pick and choose my jobs. I don't take on a lot of work at one time, so I can get the customer back on the water quickly. I could stay busy every day of the week, if I chose to. :D

Re: Going rate of pay for marine mechanic?
 

the pretzel thing hits right on the nose. I own a shop. We service and repair auto and marine. The best auto guys usually turn their noses up at most marine work. It is hard on the body. Up and down ladders, hanging up side down etc. etc. Better not be very overweight either. A big belly and changing spark plugs on a big block twin don't go together very well. We pay our best guys about 29.00 an hour, this includes all benefits. We pay other guys a lot less. there is a huge difference between a 29.00 wrench and a 10.00 one as far as attitude and ability is concerned. We will hire and fire several so called "techs" before we find one that is worthy of the higher wage.

Re: Going rate of pay for marine mechanic?
 

Yeah there is a big diffrence between a parts changer and a tech.

Re: Going rate of pay for marine mechanic?
 

not overweight here,here is what im wondering,i for example have ase's wich is the standard and what you need to get work,what do i need for the marine industry and where to take the tests if it is even possible or is school mandatory to become mercury certified,are there any study guides like the mitchell books for example,i don't have a lot of time to start school again.

Re: Going rate of pay for marine mechanic?
 

You can't go to Merc tech eduaction until you work for a Merc dealer and have passed the basic knowledge test(it has a fancy name but I can't remeber what it is)There are other schools that you can go to such as MMI in Orlando but I have worked with several guys who attended these schools and found them to be less then knowlegable techs. They know alot of Technical info and how to work on the powertrain, but there is alot more to a boat then the engine and drive. You tell em to change a fule sender or a shifter and they ask where it would be on the boat, they have only worked on engines in test cells. If you have a mechanical knowledge you should do fine making the crossover. If you ask me it all boils down to logical reasoning and common sense. Some people get it some people don't . There is a huge diffrence between a parts changer and a mechanic as I'm sure you know. If you are a decent wrench you should do just fine. The big thing is that you have to go in open minded and be willing to give up things that you consider to be "the way to do it" I had to go throuhg it too, I came from being a diesel tech, wich I am now back to doing. First time I put an engine together at the shop, the boss told me to put perfect seal on the headgaskets(a mecr brand sealer that they tell you to put on just about everything) I looked at him like he was crazy, in my world you never put anything on a headgasket, sure enough though I looked in the maual and it said to put perfect seal on the gasket. Anway it's just little stuff like that and you have to be willing to accept things that you think are crazy.

Re: Going rate of pay for marine mechanic?
 

oh and by the way I am a big guy, 5'11" 240 pounds and I always managed to get where I needed to. You just have to learn to do alot of looking with your fingers instead of you eyes.

Re: Going rate of pay for marine mechanic?
 

thanks for the advise,so i guess first i have to get hired and then i can take the test to be certified?in my opinion the schools sometimes are a waste of time and there is nothing like hands on plus they cost thousands to attend,im 5'8 200 lbs and i can pretzel inside my bilge, working on audi for a while taught me to look with my fingers so i get you.i've also been thinking about diesel wich will be in my opinion easier to switch to,thanks.