I'm looking into buying my first welder. I've never welded before so I'm a little confused on what to buy. After quite a bit of practice I eventually plan on doing some welding for my truck. The thickest steel I'd be welding is 1/4". The welding shop down the street recommended the Millermatic 140 auto set Mig/Flux welder since I'm using a 120v outlet. Plus it's easy to use because of the auto set.They even offered to teach me how to use any welder I buy. The specs on the miller say it can weld up to 3/16" in a single pass.

On the other hand, I was looking at a Hobart 140 Mig/Flux for a few hundred dollars cheaper. It has a standard adjusments setup. The specs say that it can weld up to 1/4".

I was just curious if anyone had some insight or opinions on either of these. Thanks for any help

From what I learned, they are both made by miller. The Miller welder has better quality parts in it. The Hobart is their budget welder.

Thing is buying a welder without knowing how to weld is like buying a car without any idea how to drive. You have no clue as to what you need or even tell when you do find it.

The only real difference between the Miller and Hobart is most often in the wire drive housing area. With the autoset you have of course a different control board .

either of those 2 units would be a good place to start My own self i just don`t like the whole autoset idea . As a new welder how would you know if it was welding where it should be. Take all the help you can get.

Good luck

i have personaly had very little luck with anything "auto", ill take a manual control everyday of the week. it will take some practice to understand how to set for what thickness's but it will be the same every time you pull the trigger.

that's axactly what I needed to hear. I was a little skeptical about the auto set system. I totally agree Wyoming9. Unfortunately every welding class in the area is completely full for the next 6 months. But at least I'll have some guys that know what they're doing teaching me the basics. Lots of practice. Anyway, thanks a bunch for the help. Very much appreciated :D

If you have any questions feel free to pm me I will do my best to give you the correct answer.

Good luck

I could not be any happier with my Hobart 140! Granted, you really should double pass on the thicker stuff to get the best weld, but its a great unit for tube and most other fab work on vehicles. I even welded 1/4" plated to my 3/8 DOM tie rod (groved it a little first and double passed it) and its holding strong after almost 2 years of full hydro. I have a couple friends that would love to buy it from me too.

what about welding brackets to an axle? My dana 44 has .5" wall, will the hobart 140 successfully weld brackets onto this?

I don't think I would trust it unless you really ground things out and did multiple multiple passes. There are just some things that I wouldnt want to burn on with a 110v machine and suspension brackets to .5" tube would be one of them. I'm sure it could be done, but I wouldnt trust myself to do so.

i have welded a few sets of perchs with my lincoln to 14bff and d70's, crank it up, turn the wire down, and dig. multi pass is a must.

Great info guys! keep it comin if anything comes to mind. I just ordered the hobart 140 from Tool king. I'm curious though. what is the biggest wire that the 140 is capable of welding with? They recommend a flux cored .035 for 1/4" on setting 4 for amperage and 50 for WS as a starting point. I did a google search and found that hobart also makes a new hornet .045, .052, and 1/16" flux wire. Any idea if this would work for thicker material like an axle tube like previously asked?

Great info guys! keep it comin if anything comes to mind. I just ordered the hobart 140 from Tool king. I'm curious though. what is the biggest wire that the 140 is capable of welding with? They recommend a flux cored .035 for 1/4" on setting 4 for amperage and 50 for WS as a starting point. I did a google search and found that hobart also makes a new hornet .045, .052, and 1/16" flux wire. Any idea if this would work for thicker material like an axle tube like previously asked?

it wont work in your machine.

ok cool. thanks for clarifying that for me

I just remembered another question that I've been meaning to ask. Would it be possible to run the HH140 off of a 12v automotive power inverter for trail use? If so, what size inverter would I need? here're the specs

Stock Numbers #500500 115V, 60 Hz

#500505 115V, 60 Hz with Small Running Gear / Cylinder Rack


Rated Output at 20% Duty Cycle 90 A at 19 VDC
63 A at 21 VDC (CSA Rating)

Current Range 25 - 140 A

Max. Open-Circuit Voltage 28 V

Wire Feed Speed Range 40 - 700 IPM
50 - 740 IPM at no load

Amps Input at Rated Load, 60 Hz 115 V 20 15 CSA Rating
kVA 2.9 2.2 CSA Rating
kW 2.5 1.77 CSA Rating

Dimensions H: 12-3/8 in (315 mm)
W: 10-5/8 in (270 mm)
D: 19-1/2 in (495 mm)

Net Weight 57 lb (26 kg)

You would need a HUGE inverter to run it, if the waveform would make the welder happy even. On the highest setting and longer welds I can pop a 15a circuit with it no problem. You really should have a 20a circuit to use it on. This corrolates to 115v * 18a (roughly as I didn't see it in the specs) = 2070 watts of power. I use the outlets on RV campsites to run it when I need it for a trail (camp) repair.

I have the Hobart Handler 140 and it is a great machine I really like it. I have welded some 3/8" with it but I cleaned the metal really good and did a bevel and I would have pre-heated the metal if I had a propane torch with me but it is holding up good so far.

Check Northern Tool, they have it for $480 plus free shipping and a free cart.

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_200306073_200306073

to run it off the inverter it would be weak, like using a super long, thin extention cord or a circut that has a bunch of other shit already pluged into it.

i have to run mine from the 20a in the wash room, the garage wont do it.

If you can, get a 220 volt machine.

With a 115V welder I would run just .023 solid wire for all your needs .

The downside is your travel speeds will be slower but as novice it will help to learn to control the puddle to make it do what you want.

When the Lincoln SP135 or which ever model was first came out I was doing warranty repair for Mack truck cabs The .023 wire welded from sheetmetal to 1/4 inch and sometimes bigger with out a problem.:grinpimp:

Good luck take the time to read the owners manual

Even though its a lot messier, I prefer to use Flux core .030 in mine. This is mainly because most of my welding is done in the driveway and not where there's minimal to no wind. The flux burns pretty hot and thus gives a little bit more heat to the weld as well. Wire wheel and an angle grinder cleans things up really nicely, too.

That's pretty much what I figured about the inverter. I'll have to figure something else out for trail fixes. I think Premierpowerwelder.com sells a nice offroad spool gun kit for pretty cheap. I've been doing a lot of reading online and even barrowed a welding book from a buddy. I've found some great techniques for better penetration. The tech guys at Hobart recommended a flux .030 wire with multi passes for better penetration even the though charts say to use .035. Pretty sure the .035 was for single pass though. Most of my welding will be done in a driveway. I plan on preping the surface as best as possible and using a propane torch to preheat it. Any recommendations for "stick out" when welding at odd angles? how about techniques for controlling the pool while verticle or upside down?

And one more question. Is there a difference in the quality of flux wires? Is one stronger than another? Or does one penetrate better? Ant recommendations?