I'm pretty sure I am set on either the hobart 180 or the hobart 210. The 180 cranked up will probably be as powerful as I'll ever need it however having the extra overhead of a 210 would be nice.
So unless you guys have another set of welders that you would recommend (outside of the obvious lincoln or miller machines), which welder would you recommend and why?
Why is the miller off the table? From what I've read the miller has much better internals than the hobart (metal vs plastic).
I'm about to buy a miller 175 and I think this will be more than enough for any lite fab work I'll be doing to my truck. From what I've been reading the main reason you might want to bump to the 210 would be if you were doing a LOT of welding and wanted a much higher duty cycle to work with. (less time waiting to cool off). But honestly what are you going to weld on a truck that the 175/180 cant do?
Does the new 180 have spool gun capability? I know the 175 did not.
If not, I'd recommend the 210 for the spool gun capability. You might think you'll never want it, and I bet you're wrong.
I've got the Hobart 210 and it's just fine IMO, I can't imagine a non-pro fabber ever needing anything more, unless you need to regularly weld thicker than 3/8" plate.......
I have a 180, and I'm completely happy with it. It does well, but does require multiple passes for 3/8", and I really prefer to make 2 passes even on 1/4"(I don't use flux core, ever) It does everything I ask of it.
If I were to do things differently, I'd get a Miller 175. A few bucks more, but I am attracted to the infinite voltage availability. Especially on the light stuff. I spent a lot of time welding 14-11 ga material in the last few months, and on the lowest setting it wouldn't penetrate, and the next setting had a tendency to burn through if I didn't work quick enough.
NOW,
What will my next machine be? Likely a Miller 251. It also gives the infinite voltage capabilty (the 210 doesn't apparently) and has some awesome capabilities on thicker material. To my knowlege, none of the Hobart machines offer infinite voltage control.
but, how do you guys rate the Hobart 180 vs the Miller 175. I am debating back and forth between the two. Does the infinite voltage capability on the Miller really make that much of a difference? Any comments on the pros and cons of each are more than welcome.
but, how do you guys rate the Hobart 180 vs the Miller 175. I am debating back and forth between the two. Does the infinite voltage capability on the Miller really make that much of a difference? Any comments on the pros and cons of each are more than welcome.
Are you looking at your local shops or online for your purchase? My local shop is $20 cheaper on the Miller 175 than cyberweld.com, but buying it locally I would have to pay tax and that would make it more.
I went with the m210 when I was looking to buy, best thing Ive done in that arena. I was able to use both at a show and felt the 210 was much better and the spool capabilities was a help. It seemd to run a bead smoother, but thats also the person welding....me
I also went with the 171 tank as I wanted less runs to have to fill it.
My old welder recently died and I talked with a lot of the local shops, NONE of them recommended a Hobart over the Miller or Lincoln unless the upgrade would require the kids to eat mac and cheese without the cheese for the next 2 months.
Seriously, the Miller or Lincolns are much better machines and all the shops asked me if I liked red or blue. The Lincoln consumables are a little less expensive and the warrantees are the same.
I went with a Lincoln Power Mig 215 and it's a real nice machine, very stable arc. If that is too much $$ (it kind of was for me, had to put it on the card) then the 175+ is nice as well.
Joe
I have the MM175 and it more than suits my current needs. I was looking into the 210, but I used the money I saved by buying the 175 to build up my welding tools stock, auto darkening helment, and a tank.
However, if your situation permits you to purchase a 210 amp machine over a 175/180 amp machine, and you aren't sacrificing toooooo much, I would get the 210.
You could also get a Thermal Arc Fabricator 251 for about the same price as you would pay for anybody else's 210. We've got one on order right now.
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