Welder question

[forgeblast]

I have northern tools mig welder, and love it. It came standard with the 10lb spool adapter, and I use it all the time. I have welded up the frame of a farm train for my daughter, rewelded my mower deck and have even made some metal chickens for our flower garden. Cant say enough about how easy it is to use.

 

[bobodu]

I mean a pukey 120 volt MIG. Sure...there are thousands of guys that'll tell me how that can build a battleship with one. God bless them. But I have seen enough bike frames, trailer and AG equipment failures to shy well away from those things. I have one. It gets used on mower decks and body panels. Mostly, it collects dust.

 

[grsthegreat]

I mean a pukey 120 volt MIG. Sure...there are thousands of guys that'll tell me how that can build a battleship with one. God bless them. But I have seen enough bike frames, trailer and AG equipment failures to shy well away from those things. I have one. It gets used on mower decks and body panels. Mostly, it collects dust.

well to each their own, i have a lincoln pro 140 unit, 120 volt mig. It has never produced a weld that has broken. not in over 6 years ive had it. Mind you i limit the thickness to 1/8" plate. Anything over that im a stick man.

 

[nonwelder]

the small mig welders work great as long as the steel you are welding is super clean. I also think that the bare wire with using "gas" instead of flux core works better. seems to get better penetration because of not having to deal with the flux part. hope this helps

 

[JB4310]

I have a 110 Hobart handler and it mostly collects dust too.

I'm not knocking them, but I feel more comfortable with a DC stick, especially since I'm mostly working with 1/4" plus. I've never tried the flux core, maybe I'd use it more if solid wire worked well for lighter tasks.

Here's a pic of mine, got the nice cart which makes it easy to access and move around, but I haven't had it out of this spot in 2-3 years. Got a hole in the muffler of the minivan, was thinking of trying to mig it.

JB

 

[VA MTN MAN]

Thanks for the replies.

 

[BOBBYROGERS]

i have a miller 135 i think the new moble is a miller 140 i have had mine for years now work great never a problem. a freind of mine has the lincoln 140 and loves it to i my self am a blue fan so that would be my choice but i think you get what you pay for i know the hobart 140 is a good one to

 

[IslandTractor]

I have a Miller Passport that can weld on either 110 or 220 so I've tried both. It is an inverter so gets a little more umph out of 110 than many of the basic 110 welders. No doubt it is easier to get penetration in 1/4 inch with the 220 but it is not a night and day difference. I use the 110v mostly for 1/8 and smaller like the rest of you but if I don't have access to 220 I'm pretty confident the 110 will get me acceptable welds in 3/16 and even 1/4 especially with fluxcore. I'd blame me rather than the welder if a weld crapped out.

 

[moored4]

I wouldn't trust a weld made by one of those things with my worse enemy's life anywhere safety is concerned.

I don't think it's so much the machine as it is the welder!

 

[forgeblast]

What you want to do is figure out what your going to use it for and buy what you can afford and use. For me it made no sense to go up for a 220v machine when the 110 is what i can use and use often enough to justify the expense.
When i ran all the info/specs/reviews and compared hobart, miller, harbor f, and northern tool, the northern tool one came out ahead in price, shipping was free, and included accessories.
Get what you need, I know a lot of very good welders and they have the heavier duty equipment, I got what I needed.