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Welder II

Location

Forada, MN

Wage

$44,297/yr

Employment Type

Temporary

Required Skills & Certifications

MIG WeldingTIG WeldingStick Welding
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Posted on August 18, 2026

Job Description

Overview

Astec is a global, environmentally focused infrastructure and manufacturing company specializing in asphalt road building and aggregate processing. The Welder II position involves welding metal components under supervision to fabricate and repair heavy mechanical products according to specifications and production schedules.

Responsibilities

  • Adhere to all safety rules and perform work at a quality level.
  • Read and understand assigned blueprints prior to starting a project.
  • Participate in process and product development and improvement programs.
  • Accurately inspect metal prior to welding to ensure clean welds.
  • Perform grinding operations that comply with Astec’s standards.
  • Support team by providing an efficient layout of the plant's equipment to ensure proper welding.
  • Weld metal parts using MIG, TIG, stick welding, and arc gouging.
  • Perform gang-welding techniques safely.
  • Weld vertical, flat, and overhead with both MIG and stick.
  • Inspect metal prior to welding for smoothness and acceptability.
  • Test all hot oil piping for leaks and perform necessary welding repairs.
  • Maintain welding machines by keeping them clean and changing liners in the welding guns.
  • Follow company policies and procedures at all times.

Requirements

  • High School Diploma or GED required.
  • Trade school or community college course work preferred.
  • 2+ years of experience with heavy equipment production line welding.
  • Computer experience desired, particularly the ability to use a mouse and locate and open/close programs/files.
  • Knowledge and ability to perform all Grinder tasks required.
  • Ability to properly and safely MIG weld, stick weld, and arc gouging required.
  • Ability to read and understand weld symbols required.

Benefits

Vision
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How this job compares in Forada, MN

Pay in context

At roughly $21/hr, this posting comes in about 21% below the $27/hr median for welding jobs across Minnesota, where the middle half runs $23–$30/hr across 89 postings with published pay. Put another way, it pays more than about 9% of the comparable postings we have wage data for. That gap is worth raising directly — in a market this size there is normally room to negotiate toward the median, particularly if you already hold the certifications the posting asks for.

The local market in Forada, MN

This is the only active welding job we're currently tracking in Forada, MN, which makes it worth moving on quickly — there is no local competing offer to weigh it against. Across Minnesota as a whole we're tracking 114 other active welding openings from 73 employers. Browse welding jobs across Minnesota.

The most active employers in Minnesota at the moment, by number of open welding reqs, are Aerotek (8), Minnesota Jobs (7), and Lake Air Products (4). Volume like that usually means either a genuine expansion or a staffing agency working several client sites — worth knowing which before you apply.

Within Minnesota, the best-paying metros we track by median hourly rate are Anoka at $31/hr, Minneapolis at $28/hr, and Saint Paul at $25/hr. If you can relocate or commute, that spread is worth factoring in.

What you'll be running

This posting calls for MIG, TIG, and Stick work. MIG (GMAW) feeds a continuous wire electrode through a shielding-gas nozzle. It lays down metal fast and is forgiving on clean material, which is why it dominates production and light fabrication work. TIG (GTAW) uses a non-consumable tungsten electrode with filler added by hand, giving the operator the most control of any process. It is slow, demanding, and the standard for stainless, aluminum, and anything where the bead has to look as good as it holds.

Similar openings near Forada, MN

Pay figures are medians computed from live postings in the Welding Pros index, not from survey data, and they move as employers post. Welder II figures were last recalculated when this page was built.