I know these things have a cult like following and you see a ton of them on pipeliner's trucks. Have they done a ton of mods to them to make them reliable or are they just adept at keeping them running? I recently picked up a 71 red face SA 200 with the round barrel and copper windings. F163 engine. The thing seems really simple and easy to fix but seems to always have little things going wrong with it. The carb probably needs rebuilt, the magneto ignition is troublesome, the idle acts up, etc.
I am not a welder by trade but do a fair amount of welding at my property. I have been using a trailblazer I have had for 7 years and bought this because I love the arc characteristics on them. Now granted this is a 40 year old machine but it seems I spend more time messing with the machine than actually welding. My original thoughts were once I was satisfied the SA200 was good to sell my my trailblazer and just use the the SA200. Now I am not so sure. Maybe I need to spend some time and money and go through the whole thing? I have even considered selling them both and buying a new Vantage diesel.
I am not a welder by trade but do a fair amount of welding at my property. I have been using a trailblazer I have had for 7 years and bought this because I love the arc characteristics on them. Now granted this is a 40 year old machine but it seems I spend more time messing with the machine than actually welding. My original thoughts were once I was satisfied the SA200 was good to sell my my trailblazer and just use the the SA200. Now I am not so sure. Maybe I need to spend some time and money and go through the whole thing? I have even considered selling them both and buying a new Vantage diesel.
