Are most of the job sites non union up there? My brother in law has a non union electric co. out of Tomahawk and he's doing all right. I'am a mason looking to move up there. i'll work non union if i have to. Thanks for any info.

My advice is to wait until you have a pension and are old enough to retire. I was looking to move to the Minocqua area last year and I found that a job that pays $10 is considered to be a, "good paying job".
Unless you want to work 2 jobs, have nothing, live in a crappy house and still starve; Id suggest waiting until you are old enough to retire.

Apparently you do not work union now, because if you did "i'll work non-union if i have to" would not have shown up in your post. There is not alot of work to be had in that area by any trade. Most union work is at paper mills and powerhouses up nort. Bret, Local #19

It all depends if you want to have money and be miserable in IL or you don't want to have as much money and be happy in WI.

I sure am damn well thinking about it, on the trips home back from up north I get depressed. Can't really stand the city anymore and the taxes are too high.

My kids are 18 and 16 years old and will be out of the house in a few years, my house is paid for, no car payments ,no credit card balances and have made some money off the stock market the last few years. I figure with 2 less mouths to feed and clothe it won't be a problem taking a pay cut. I have given up some some nice material things I could have to be able to move up north or retire early.

Good Luck in what ever you do...Just keep in mind that ALL F.I.B.'s are hated with a PASSION in WI.

LOOSE the IL plates off the vehicles before you make the move.

Even after you get settled....NEVER let anyone know your originally from FIBLAND

They have a MOTTO up there.......Once a FIB....ALWAYS a FIB....

BTW...The second fastest growing county in the U.S. is right here in ILLINOYZ
Kendall Co. (Yorkville area) plenty of work there......

Naw, not really, just bussman & Nick...

This is not true as 98% of the people that live in the north woods are F.I.B. transplants. They just don''t admit to it.

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................................................................Not true.....i have been a member of Local #20 for over 10 years. and before that laborers union 1035. Keep in mind that if i leave the union i get my annuity after 2 years and would like to start my own masonry co. I'am may be willing to work non union because i'am willing to do what it takes to live somewhere better and the Houses are much cheaper up there ...................................................And as far as nobody liking Fib's, too bad.... i'am not going to deny what i am and where i'am from. ....................................................Thanks for the info guys.

Man, you'd think by the sounds of it, we have some kind of FIB KKK up here. We won't burn foam cheesehead hats in your front lawn in the middle of the night, and we won't lynch your dog that you named "Ditka" or "Butkus". TOTAL BS if you believe you will be singled out up here. We do however drive around in pickups that have a big green "G" painted on the doors, and usually a plethora of empty MGD cans in the back...

More power to ya. If you are willing to give up the luxuries and conveniences that you are used to and are willing to live a simpler life where having the big house, new car/truck and new sled; then you just might be able to make it work.
I wish you the best of luck...

Don't forget the BABES in CHEESEHEAD bras

It's the main reason I like cheese so much MM.

George,

Dont listen to the naysayers, my grandfather retired on wednesday and died on friday, so there is your arguement for doing it now. People that tell you there is no money up here just havent taken the time to look for it. You have a very marketable skill and there is plenty of money for people who show up and are willing to work, sure, we are going through a tough time just like everybody else but think about it, we live in a resort area with lots of second and third lake homes, people will always take thier vacations and people with multiple homes have lots of disposable income. Think about diversifying, can you cut stone and build fieldstone fireplaces? can you build/repair foundations?. I have a friend that builds homes and he just started building a 15,000 sq.ft lake home for a family that is only going to use it 6 weeks out of the year, we had a home (not mine) sell on fence lake for 10,450,000 in 2007, dont tell me there is no money up here. It is a bit more expensive to live up here with regards to day to day type stuff but the quality of life more than makes up for it, when was the last time you went to sleep at night and forgot to close your garage door or lock your house and everything was still there when you woke up?. Imagine this, keep in mind I dont know anything about your profession, you are building a fireplace in a million dollar home in january, it is a tuesday, you say to yourself " if I put in a few extra hours tonight and get this done, I can go riding tomorrow". You get done, it is 8 wednesday morning, about 5 degress outside, you hop on your sled and put on about 150 miles and never feel a single bump in the trail, better yet, you only saw 4 sleds the whole day, how much is that worth. You can always go back if it doesnt work out but dont wait until you are retired to say if only it had done it sooner. I have been up here since 1994 and dont regret a minute of it. You know what I did sunday? go to Rainbow falls and watch the video. some things money cant buy.

DS

And wake up to this every morning!!Click to view attachment

Yes there is money up there but most of it is coming from out of staters and non locals.
To truly make a comfortable living you need to own your own business.

Very well said!

If you are a hard worker you will do well. Part of the problem with contractors up north is the "slower pace of life". Keep somewhat to your current work habits and you will do fine.

1badHO,

You are exactly right, I moved here from Minneapolis and the one thing a business owner kept telling me is to slow down. He said that people will be offended by my fast pace and I will never make it up here, yes, you can slow down a bit because things are more relaxed up here and that is the appeal of living here but dont think it will be just like you are on vacation, you still have to hustle. If you have a good work ethic you should be ok, A bit of advice and I am not trying to dis anyone, I would not move to Rhinelander, yeah, you can buy a home for 40k but there is a reason for that. JMO

DS

Hey Red

I am not trying to give you a hard time but think about what you just said, most of the money comes from out of state and non locals... we are primarily a tourist industry. That is like saying Dell makes money but only from selling computers and stuff. The notion that you need to own a business to be comfortable is completely untrue, businesses have ups and downs just like everyone else. Although, I think you are right in Georges case, I think with his skills he would be better off going solo, there are a lot of guys that are one man shows up here that do just fine. Octane is right in that you are not going to get the new SUV every couple of years but that is just material BS anyway, do you absolutely have to have all the toys? if you do then up north may not be the place for you. After a long day at work you go home and you grab a beer and sit on your deck and it is so quiet that your ears are ringing trying to hear anything, after a few minutes, a couple of bucks come walking through your yard and take a few minutes to lick the mineral block you put out and then continue on thier way, can you put a price on that?. JMO

DS

Ya life is short Doo Sledder...Well said! .................I can do any brick block or stone. I have heard that working for somebody will result in a lower wage and that starting your own business could be a way to make some good money.(of course there can be major drawbacks with running your own co, insurance,keeping busy,injuries/lawsuits, cost of equipment).) A stone fireplace in a house like you described would be around $20,000 and up...labor only, not material. ............Whats wrong with Rhinelander? The house i was looking at was a 4 bedroom on the lake for $137,000. ......heres a pic of the Franklin fireplace i wrapped with 1.5 tons of stone for my neighbor.

Hey George,

Nice looking fireplace, there is nothing wrong perse with Rhinelander, its just more of a blue collar town rather than the resort area you will find in neighboring towns. In my opinion, if you want the northwoods experience like it is meant to be, go to land o lakes, presque isle, boulder jct, star lake, plum lake, st germain, mani waters, minocqua etc. JMO

ArticGeorge, When are you looking to move? My husband owns a masonry business and has work starting in northern WI (Crandon/Leona area) in Mid May. He is looking to hire a mason ...

Shoot me a message if your interested ...

Oh no Kurt, bussman's gonna have a field day with you if he sees that pic...

Whatev's...........I can take it..............Who is this bussman you speak of ??

LOL, look him up...

I guess I am one of the "lucky" ones. I went to college, graduated, got a job and realized that I did not like my chosen career path. I ended up riding up North with a friend and I picked up a newspaper. Looking through the classified section I found a job that sounded interesting. I applied, got the job, busted my ass, and have tripled my income of the job I had a four-year degree for. I have been here for 6 years and have very little desire to go back to the city (Milwaukee area) anytime soon. Once you adjust to the lifestyle up here it gets hard to leave. My wife was also "lucky" and found a good job that pays very well and has great benefits. This has allowed us to buy a nice house on 5 acres, new vehicles, a new sled, nice Mastercraft ski boat, and have money in the bank. Is my situation typical? No....it's not.....but I have proven that it is possible to live a great life in the Northwoods. My friend I came up here with originally only lasted 7 months before packing his bags and heading back home. He was not crazy about his job up here and got a good offer in the city so I can't blame him for leaving. Now he just leaves his sled at my house and comes up to ride on the weekends. The people that seem to be doing better than average are business owners...but that is not a guarantee of success by any means. The big problem up here is the lazy attitude of a lot of people in the building trades. I deal with a lot of people that are in the process of building/remodeling homes and almost all have a horror story to share. If you are a hard worker and show up for work when the fish are biting, there is a great opportunity for success. I saw one builder's business card that said "we don't hunt, we don't fish, we build houses" which I thought was pretty funny. If you want to move up here, I would go door to door and introduce yourself to some builders/masons in the area. Getting a foot in the door could go a long ways! As for places to live, I would also suggest staying away from Rhinelander. There are plenty of places to live within easy driving distance to take advantage of the conveniences (Home Depot, Menards, Wal Mart, etc.) without having to actually live in/near Rhinelander. It just does not feel like the Northwoods to me. There is also more people with money (more business opportunities) in places like Minocqua, Boulder Junction, etc.. Places like Rhinelander and Tomahawk are more blue collar towns with less opportunities to install $20,000 fireplaces if you know what I mean. If you really want to move up here, I would say go for it! Get your foot in the door, prove you are good at what you do, and the rest will work itself out!

X2 I have seen that over the years! Still don't understand the hate they have for them. Great place if you can find what you are looking for! We have been very happy here not as far north as I want to be but much closer to the north woods for a weekend. But, once you meet some friends they get over it after a while.

My WI Posse is just jealous because all the hotties live here in IL and all the WI women just each cheese and sausages. lol

Naw.........I'm not even the least bit curious.

And there you have it,

A first hand account of success, and he is not alone... living the dream, thats god bless america right there.

DS

LMAO, your posse, who's that, the dude that barfed in your bathroom sink last winter in Lando?


Yeah, don't think he is either.

x2. if you look hard enough you can find all of the work that you want up there and make a great living

What Red is saying is that most people up there only make $8-$10 an hour. I had the chance to take a job up north laying natural gas pipeline and they told me that Id be making $14 an hour when I was welding but would only be making $9 an hour when I was doing general labor.

I thought they outlawed putting out mineral blocks for the deer? Something about how it caused CWD to spread more quickly. I know that in the subdivision where my parents live in St Germain that you arent supposed to put out salt blocks and arent supposed to feed the deer. People still do it, but it was outlawed.

Octane,

Thank you for putting an exclamation point on this topic.

DS

Howdy dude.



You tell em' Nick.

3x had to import his wife from Illinois so he knew she'd have all her dental work paid for.

Wow, some real slanted views of people in the northwoods,

Some items are way more expensive in the northwoods, gasoline is one of them.

Feeding & baiting of deer was outlawed for a while, then a group of whiners got the ban lifted for their own personal benefit with no cares of how it affected the deer herds health.

Salt-licks are currently legal in any area of the state that is not in a confirmed CWD zone.

Pay rates usually suck in the northwoods, there is no real industry up here except for the service industry which includes servicing the visitors. if this was an industry laden area, would everyone still want to visit?? How many snowmobiling trips have you taken to Gary Indiana or Pittsburgh PA lately??

Illinois?
it's not becuase your from Illinois, it is from the poor attitudes and general lawless behavoir exhibited from the people that visited before you.

Work?
You might get lucky and find a great job as a mason, but remember not a hell of a lot happens up here in the winter months. So work your ass off in the summer to prepare for those lean winter months. I think an election year is not the proper time to pull up and try to start up in another area of the country, the economy is fairly fooked-up right now and things could go really bad in a hurry if this trend continues.

Funny how many people that do not reside in the northwoods think that we depend 100% on out of state money, that is not the case at all.
We operate 2 successful business's, and very few of our clients are not local residents.
Now if you owned a resort or hotel, then tourist money is pretty much expected as your main income.

Fixed it for ya....

Funny, she came up here to get away from the 3 tooth wonders from IL....

The one thing that confuses me is the deer hunting bragging. Wisconsin can only dream of having the deer Illinois has. Pike and Adams counties in Illinois have the best white tail hunting in the world but it's cool with me if you don't believe it. Right now there are two other counties that are kicking ass but nobody goes there. Your snow kicked ass this season though.

You found me.

Always.

oh snap, I'll have to remember that the next time I'm in Buffalo/Treampeleau counties..

Close, but not as good.

I'm a home Builder/Realtor/Broker just south of Rhinelander and I can tell you first hand, the economy sucks up here. Things started to slow last fall and continue to slow. I have a new home project in Rhinelander and it's on hold! Other small 2 or 3 man crews are working for wages alone. Take this for what it's worth and good luck.

Buffalo and Treamp. counties are 95% or more private, to hunt those deer are almost impossible. I have tried to find a place to hunt there, only opportunity was a ag deer hunt 12 years ago. Good luck, you have to know someone. But there again, the hunt has nothing to do with only shooting a trophy. I have never had the luck of shooting a deer bigger than 19 inches, but have 30+ years of wonderful hunts.

Did you know that the former world record typical whitetail was the Jordan buck from Burnett Co., WI.? I believe it was close to a 70 yr. old record before Milo Hansen broke it in 1993 with his Saskatchewan, Canada whitetail.

Overall, Wisconsin has better deer hunting than Illinois, until IL puts up a #1 world record whitetail, you're just stirring the shit.

wasn't this thread about work in the north? Why argue about the size of deer, like arguing about the size of your wand, who cares except for your girlfriend or wife. LOL

Lawless behavior isnt limited to the FIBs. I see plenty of locals who think they can do whatever they want and think that they own the northwoods just because they live there.

Sorry, but if it werent for the money that tourism brings in, the northwoods would die. Take away the money from tourism and all of the service type businesses would die. Take away the service type businesses and there would be nothing in the northwoods. I dont care what kind of business you own, everything up there is dependent on tourism.

I didn't hijack the thread, just commenting to one of them that did.

Awwww, cmon........leave the NATIVES out of this :P

Seeing that Illinois doesn't allow rifle hunting you'll most likely never see a Boone record. I'm not trying to stir the pot at all and was just commenting on the fact that in the last 10 years Illinois has taken over as the white tail capital of the world and I don't see deer there like I do here. BTW here's the Pope and Young record that may never be broken.

http://www.pope-young.org/WorldRecords/T-W....asp?id=RECORDS



Seriously, nothing pisses me off more than a bunch of Chicago suburbanites acting like assholes in the northwoods like they feel the locals or the state of Wisconsin is beneath them.

Sorry about the hi-jack guys and IMO the economy of the entire nation is pretty screwed right now.

I have relatives in Crystal Lake Ill. My brother-in-law works 15-20 miles from home. It takes him an hour and a half to get to work with helicopters reporting traffic flow and alternate routes. I'm surprised everytime I visit there how what was once farmland , open fields and wooded acres is now sub-divisions and mini-malls. All black top now. Mabye this what the original poster is experiencing day to day and is tired of it. Make the move. You wont regret it. But, the only opinion that should matter to you is that of your wife and family..................If someone wants to " have a field day" with a post of a picture if some deer in my yard, all the power to them. I dont care the deer population here or there. Dont hunt, Dont care. The other day I was watching a couple of beavers do what beavers do, for about an hour, I think I'll go see what they're up to.............Later

Nothing pisses me off more than a bunch of locals who think that they own the northwoods just because they are fulltime residents...