Just wondering what you guys use, as I'm getting ready to buy a new Mig welder. When I worked at AP I had access to nice ewquipment. Now that I'm on my own custom work wise, I need to get my own equipment. Since the majority of work I see most of us do is with 1/8" tubing & plate, is it really necessary to go overkill on the unit? This is why I am asking.. is a 110V unit decent enough to do cages and bumper / rocksliders? Or do I "have" to get a 220V unit ( detached garage doesnt have 220V currently and would be a lot of work to get it back there ). What are your personal preferences on brands? Seems the popular stuff is Miller, Hobart, Lincoln & Century. I'm currently considering the Hobart 135 Handler.. Opinions?
BTW I found a nice site that does free shipping on Welders and Plasma cutters, and lets you do 6 payments with 0% interest off your CC on Hobart and Century: http://www.toolscomplete.com/h/Hobart/
The Hobart Plasma Airforce 250 Plasma cutter will be next... $167 a month for 6 months, free shipping & no tax... yeah.. thats the ticket!

get 220, alot cheaper to run!

I would stay with lincoln...Im not impressed with the Hobart welders..

Ive used several of them, and didnt like any of them!

I personally have the Power Mig 200 from Lincoln.

I personally have own a Hobart Handler 175. Had one stolen this year and had the opertunity to upgrade to a larger unit but didn't. Unless you plan on doing large production I would stick to the 175. Going bigger does mean that you can run a spool gun for aluminum. But for what that is worth you are on your ways to buying a tig machine.

I do a good chunk of fab work and the 175 doesnt even miss a step when welding in the higher ranges. A good gas mixture that is suited for you welding aplication sure helps alot.

My list of purchases was as follows:

Hand tools
Mig
Chop Saw
3/8 plate fab table
(pending purchases)
bender and dies
air compressor(don't ask y I dont own one now?)
plasma
tig
band saw
2 post hoist(we can all dream)

Oh another reason for the 175. I really love the gun, the bigger machines run a big and heavy gun. My hands are small and you wouldn't believe where I wind up welding on some the equipment I work on.

Find somewhere that will let you demo equipment. That is a really good sign of customer care. I used diffrent machines for a few days each time until I figured out which one I liked.

Never did like 110's but hey if the shoe fits for yeah then giver hell. The 220 is worth the trouble, belive me!!!

I have welded with a Hobart, Miller, Lincoln and Clarke, and have liked the Hobart "feel" the best, so I completely understand the gun comfort comment.
One other option I didnt mention is I own a ReadyWelder, and could run a AC/DC Arc unit for power and the RW for a Mig conversion, has gas hookups & just keep a tank in the garage when using solid core, & use the unit as a flux core on the trail for emergencies.
2 votes for not using a 110V so far, everyone else?

i ahve the same one rude has and well get a big one if you got the cash and can get 220v out to your shop i have had 3 weld pack 100 (110 welder from home depo) and well there is a reason that i had 3 if i had to do it again i would get some thing bigger because of tig and stick welding and i cant do that with what i got :flipoff2:



:massey:

hobart is miller miller is better and there warranty is awsome
as for lincoln you are beter off not even looking at junk.
I have a millermatic 251 man it is nice . :goofball:

i use the miller 251 all bay at work (at least 6 hours a day) and i would rather use my lincoln any day


:massey:

Originally posted by lobtorock
hobart is miller miller is better and there warranty is awsome
as for lincoln you are beter off not even looking at junk.
I have a millermatic 251 man it is nice . :goofball:

Yeah Lincoln Junk:rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Go back to lurking newbie:flipoff2:

Well after 4 or 5 years, I just killed my Hobart 175....it shorted out where the handle plugs into the block near the pulleys. They wanted $300 to fix it...fawk that. I sodl it to my buddy at a severe discount (he'll buy the new parts later) and bought a Lincoln 255...best Mig I have ever welded with (& I've welded with lots of Millers) Lincoln has their new Technology that produces a smoother arc. It works great..that's all, I'm done with the zuk forum now!:flipoff2:

i have a miller matic 135 and it is an awsome little welder but after i used my friends lincoln power mig 255 there is no contest if you buy a big one now there is almost nothing you weld so you might as well get a big one now. and i would either get the lincoln power mig 255 or the millermatic 251 these are both very nice units and i dont think you could go wrong with either one.

I hate my 110V welder, even when it works.:D

220 is a must as for brand i have a hobart and a century in the back of a junk blazer both bought new,, i have a miller stick welder for years so i thought i`d try their mig and no problems at all ,, guess its what you like and what you have luck with for me it`s been miller

Lincoln 220 stick.

Couldn't afford a mig- but saying that, I'm still really happy with it. I also have a cheapo little lincoln 110 wire feeder for the stuff like sheetmetal/exhaust tubing that I can't use the big one on.

For my level of incompetence, they are just fine. :D

I built damn near my whole rig with a miller 110. I bought it through Tusker for $300. Little beotch finally burned out and Miller repaired it for FREE. 220 is nicer though for sure for anything over 0.120. My neighbor has a a Hobart 175 and it works great, especially for the price. Incontrol has a 220v lincoln and it works well too. Tusker has a big Miller 185 and it is my favoite of the batch.

I have met lots of people that have SWEET welders, and they cant weld for shit, cause its more about techniques/skill/practice/settings than how much you spend.

Century 170gs with gas will do 5/16" single pass And I agree with Scwa.. on the how its used not how much

Millermatic Pulser 200

OK, due to overwhelming recommendation I took the advice of the board and bought a 220 unit, the Hobart 175, which I have welded with and very comfortable using, with cart for $649, and its on the 6 month plan, $108 a month billed to the card... and in 6 months i'll do the same thing from the same site with a Plasma cutter... always easier breaking up the payment into 6 months then eating the whole thing at once. Now I just have to get the garage wired for 220...

You'll be glad you made the 220 choice, now wire that garage for 220. Ford or Chevy, Miller or Lincoln their all good, just your choice. I have a Millermatic 185 and Lincoln Squarewave 175 and love both.

Originally posted by RocKrawler
OK, due to overwhelming recommendation I took the advice of the board and bought a 220 unit, the Hobart 175, which I have welded with and very comfortable using, with cart for $649, and its on the 6 month plan, $108 a month billed to the card... and in 6 months i'll do the same thing from the same site with a Plasma cutter... always easier breaking up the payment into 6 months then eating the whole thing at once. Now I just have to get the garage wired for 220...

Where did you end up getting it Id like to break up a plasma cutter into payments :D

I put the link in the first post... they have Hobart & Century plasmas, free shipping, no tax & 6 payments broken up on your card over 6 months

Lincoln powerMig 200 and it kicks ass- real smooth. Lincoln square wave tig 175 and I cant deny with the hand amptrol it is also a winner.

I have a Millermatic 210 with the dual cylinder/spool gun package. It is awsome. My brother has built a ton of good stuff with a Lincoln 110v 135. He does "duty cycle out" when getting into bigger stuff. Can weld about a minute with the power up. We have a Miller 250 TIG/Stick at the shop and a 110v 140 MIG (No Name). I would much rather use the 220v MIG. The arc is "softer" at lower power. If you can buck up for a unit with the infinitely variable power levels (instead of steps) it would probably be even cooler. I got mine from: http://www.brwelder.com . Free freight, and beat the local welding shop by about $200. I decided to get as big a welder as I could possibly afford, alot of folks told me that you always want more. It will be a while before I have used 110% of this one. MIKE

I'll make you a real deal on a HF 110v welder.
It works great on sheet metal. Great for fixing trash cans and welding coffee cans together. Anything that involves steel without tin it can't handle.

I'm going to 220.

Lincoln Wire Matic 250. Fab for a living and we have Millers at work. If I want to use a good welder I go home.:D

I use a Miller 175 and a 251.

The Miller/Hobart 175 is really all you need for the kind of stuff we do with our rigs. Mine has never shut down. The 251 is sweet though. :D

free cart ? holly "sheat" .
i hope they don't sell you the tank's all so!
I had a cheep old pice of crap 7 year's ago
but man it work for the thing's i need it for .
hope you make some kick but stuff .:vader:

Miller 175. I love it, but aside from my buddies CH 110 wire feed, it's the only welder I've ever used. ;)

Originally posted by RudeZuk
get 220, alot cheaper to run!



Wrong. The 110v welder will draw twice as many amps as the 220v, at the same load, but it is also at 1/2 as many volts. Your meter is reading KWh. (kind of like Volts x Amps x Hours. Both would use the same KWh. The 220v would require a smaller breaker and wire (at the same load) than a 110v, but your meter will spin just the same. BTW my 210 is supposed to draw 27a at max power. It should run on 50a service, but I only have a 30a breaker in the garage. Hasn't popped yet. MIKE

I had been using a Lincoln 155 for about 2 years (since I learned to weld) and was very happy with it. A while back I toasted the liner and got pissed at it and went down to AirGas and bought a miller 210 (matched cyberwelds price).

The lincoln 155 was $500 new +$100 for gas kit and the miller 210 was $1145 all ready to go.

The lincoln worked great, but has a low duty cycle. Fine for home use, but not for the production I am doing now (building trailers)

I love the 210, but I wish I would have got the 251. Bigger is better ;)

Oh yeah....

The 44# spools are 1/2 the cost (per pound) as the 10# spools.

millermatic 251X

I use a Daytona Mig 140amp 110v welder, I have welded 1/4 steel single pass with no problems whatsoever. its an excellent price and its the smoothest operating welder I have had my hands on....btw, daytona mig is an excelent company, they are one of 3 major manufactures that evne produces a tig welder and they are the company that produces all of snap-on 's welders. :) the price was around $450 and I think its is a beder welder than the hobart or lincoln..lightweight, portable, and can weld anything on a samurai :beer: my rocksliders have bent in on the 3/16 wall steel before the welds broke, and that is even with welding flux core! dont waste the extra money on a 220 if you are only using it for automotive fab purposes.

er correction, mine is a 130amp combi 888 by daytona mig....it says may need a 40amp breaker on highest power setting, but when welding 1/4" on highest powersetting on a 20amp breaker, i have not managed to flip the breaker.

Hobart 175 (220v) A device running on higher voltage / less amps will run more efficiently (losses through heat and all that stuff) thus the "power" savings..... Plus the smaller wiring required to handle the load safley...


My welder has been great except last summer the main board blew out. No problems since... I run a big bottle and am in the middle of riggin up a 44# spool holder on my cart....

-yag

I have a Hobart 175. I rigged a holder on the cart for 33# spools.
I have run at least 150# of wire through it in the last 6 years.

But I really like the way our 250 at work welds. Just smoother and nicer.

Blake.

Go Miller, anything over 200 amps :flipoff2: Miller Thunderbolt is a wicked lil ac/dc stick machine if you want a stick. Very small but can burn a 5/32 rod with ease.