i want to get myself a small welding kit just to do some small welds here and there on my truck. i don't reallly want to go all out and stuff just small since i am not much of a fabricator just gonna be experimenting on my truck and need some welding done.

I didn't see a question in your post :confused:

Do you want welding tool info?
Welder info?

I didn't see a question in your post :confused:

Do you want welding tool info?
Welder info?


sorry, for not being clear. i want both really i want to know what brands to stay away and want to look for. i am going to do small not so harsh welding so nothing hardcore.

Explain small, not so harsh welding.

What thickness do you want to weld up to basically.

Hobart, Miller, Lincoln all make nice units.

I like the Hobart smaller units just because of price... they are a great intro unit and are cheap and still good quality.

(I have a Lincoln however. [Powermig255 not a small unit])

well, just regular duties i may encounter on adding/modding my toyota. for example i want to weld some brackets to my truck for a higher clearence on my seat. the tube is about quarter inch. the biggest metal i may deal with is probably inch thick or so. any good grinders too, i just thought about it and i will be needing a grinder aswell.

1" :eek:
Even my welder has trouble with an inch thick.

For working on your Toyota a Hobart Handler 175 should be fine.. 1/4" just fine.
You shouldn't even need to worry about 1" or 1/2" or even 3/8". We just put rockwells and 46s under a jeep and that was 3/8" but we could have gotten by using 1/4"... So any 175 machin miller/hobart/lincoln should work fine.

Sawzall & Grinder.. I have a dewault but milwakie(sp) makes a highamp model that
's nice too.

yea 1" is thick!!! Ive seen people build full buggys with just a hobart 140, and seen some guys build them with miller 135's. But, you will always want more power.

I agree, give us some more idea of what you are looking for - stick, MIG, oxy-acetylene, TIG? Do you have any experience with any of these or are you learning from scratch? Do you have a shop with 220V power or do you need something for 110V power?

You're basically telling us you want a vehicle, but at one point saying you want a two-seat commuter car (small not harsh welding) and then saying that you need a crew-cab dually for towing a 32' horse trailer (1" welding).

i have had tig welding experience from school and what not. i didnt mean 1inch thick just matter of 3/8's and quarter inch mostly. i am being honest in i don't have much experience but i really want to learn. i am not going out and manufacturing a buggy/trailer/etc. just that bolt on parts are not going to be cutting it no more. i am going to start doing small fab work as in adding brackets or anything like that.

On my rig there was ONE place 3/8" thick steel was used, and that is holding my steering box in place.

There are a couple places 1/4" thick was used. Front crossmember/bumper and winch mount.

EVERYTHING else is ranging from sheetmetal, to at most 3/16".

i have had tig welding experience from school and what not.

Ok, on to the other questions...

Do you have 220V to your shop? Should we assuming you have a shop to store/use this equipment in? Not being a smartass - this will dictate whether you get a little 110V flux core MIG that you can store in your closet and haul out to the carport when you are using it or whether you can get a big 220V MIG with a gas cylinder that you can roll into a corner of the shop when you aren't using it. Believe me, I started out with the 110V unit when I was still living at home with my parents.

If you're talking a range of materials from sheet metal to 3/8" then you're probably talking MIG rather than stick. Or you could go TIG which would also give you stick in most cases. Depends on what sorts of welding you want to do as to whether you should be looking at MIG or TIG.

Do you plan to weld aluminum? That will further define what sort of machine you may want.

What sort of budget are you talking? Under $500? A couple grand?

Basically, you have to give us more information to go on. Even if you are saying you're starting out small, if you are serious about it then it pays to get a decent machine from the start rather than looking at selling it and upgrading three months later when you've gone beyond the capabilities of your machine.

Ok, on to the other questions...

Do you have 220V to your shop? Should we assuming you have a shop to store/use this equipment in? Not being a smartass - this will dictate whether you get a little 110V flux core MIG that you can store in your closet and haul out to the carport when you are using it or whether you can get a big 220V MIG with a gas cylinder that you can roll into a corner of the shop when you aren't using it. Believe me, I started out with the 110V unit when I was still living at home with my parents.

If you're talking a range of materials from sheet metal to 3/8" then you're probably talking MIG rather than stick. Or you could go TIG which would also give you stick in most cases. Depends on what sorts of welding you want to do as to whether you should be looking at MIG or TIG.

Do you plan to weld aluminum? That will further define what sort of machine you may want.

What sort of budget are you talking? Under $500? A couple grand?

Basically, you have to give us more information to go on. Even if you are saying you're starting out small, if you are serious about it then it pays to get a decent machine from the start rather than looking at selling it and upgrading three months later when you've gone beyond the capabilities of your machine.


i am sorry for not being so clear. i want to stay under 500 possibly 600 depends on the situation. i want to start with a 110v because i will not be having the support/space for a big time machine. i am really serious because i also work on my bike alot which i basically just shave and welded on gussets at school. i reall doubt i will go out of my capabilities since i am not going to go all out on 4x4 for the next year or two. i will be starting college and wont have time for it. i will have time to go out 4x4 maybe 2,3x's a month or so since my other hobby is bmx and computers. i just really starting to need a some welding done.

for aluminum of course not. aluminum is very hard and i will not be doing aluminum in the near future. thanks for being so courteous with me guys, i appreciate it very much.

See, that gives us something to work with... :)

I tend to be partial to Miller. Others will say Lincoln. I'd stay away from the Harbor Freight units if you plan to keep it for any amount of time. You could get a Millermatic 135 110V fluxcore MIG setup for about $570 here: http://brwelder.com/indextemplate.cfm?file=shop/detail.cfm&ID=13&SubCategory=1

That would probably serve all your needs for some time to come without being completely overkill.

thanks for the guidance i will write down the model number to keep track on which ones i may want.