A good budget priced welder?

[Fordman1981]

That must have been a sale I seem on them at one time they've went back up to almost $2,000 list price. If you are interested in one call airgas they come down off list price quote a bit.

 

[Scooby074]

An Everlast inverter is a better machine than than AC/DC Thunderbolt and probably half the price and twice the duty cycle. Kind of a know brainer if you ask me.

Ill take the built like a tank thunderbolt over a chicom neverlast anyday. In 10 yrs, I know which one will still be running like the day it was made... not the everlast.

Plus the OP is looking for a Made in USA option.

 

[Shield Arc]

One of these days I'm gonna have to get my hands on one of those Thunderbolts! To see the quality of arc. I've seen them in the welding supply, and even seen one on a job once. Metal stud guys had one inside a building using it.

 

[Scooby074]

One of these days I'm gonna have to get my hands on one of those Thunderbolts! To see the quality of arc. I've seen them in the welding supply, and even seen one on a job once. Metal stud guys had one inside a building using it.

If you were closer you could run mine all day if you wanted and give your opinion. :thumbsup:

There's nothing particularly "special" about its arc. Just a tough, old school, farm approved, transformer welder.

 

[Shield Arc]

That's exactly what it would be too! Everybody has their opinion on the quality of arc.
I like the arc of my Lincoln SA-200 Shorthoods for 6010 better than my SA-200 Red Face machines. But I like the Red Face machines better for 7018.:confused3: Like I said it's just an opinion.

 

[joshuabardwell]

Ill take the built like a tank thunderbolt over a chicom neverlast anyday. In 10 yrs, I know which one will still be running like the day it was made... not the everlast.

Yes indeed! I'd like to pay $700+ for a 150-amp welder with a 20% duty cycle! On top of that, it weighs 100 lbs! In 10 yrs, I know which one will have destroyed my back... Or, for $349, you can get a 200-amp welder (PA-200) that weighs 35 lbs, with a 65% duty cycle, hot-start, arc force, and it'll run 6010 if you like, to boot. The fact is, not everybody is trying to buy the Last Welder They'll Ever Buy. Resale value, you say? Well, since I start the game $350 ahead, you'll have to sell your Thunderbolt for 150% of its new price to come even.

Plus the OP is looking for a Made in USA option.

That's fair, and Everlast isn't that. But let's consider that few, if any welders are truly made in the USA today. Best you can hope for is "assembled in the USA from foreign made components". So the real question is, where is the money going? Who are you supporting. And sure, when you buy Lincoln or Miller, you support an American company, that employs lots of Americans. But when you buy Everlast or Longevity... is it any different? Last I spoke with him, Mark didn't have a Chinese accent.

EDIT: And that is the last I'm going to say on this topic on this thread, because I'm not interested in derailing it any more than this.

 

[Scooby074]

I didnt know I was supposed to carry my welders around on my back... Here I am using a cart or my tractor like a chump.. Learned something new today.

 

[Mark @ Everlast]

One of these days I'm gonna have to get my hands on one of those Thunderbolts! To see the quality of arc. I've seen them in the welding supply, and even seen one on a job once. Metal stud guys had one inside a building using it.

Nothing Spectacular. It welds. They used to weld better than they do now, but so did the dial arc. Both have declined with use of cheaper internals.

 

[Mark @ Everlast]

The fact is, not everybody is trying to buy the Last Welder They'll Ever Buy.

Well a few of these geezers and wheezers might be.lol. (Just kidding with Shield Arc)

 

[joshuabardwell]

Well a few of these geezers and wheezers might be.lol. (Just kidding with Shield Arc)

Well, I reckon his v350 will do the trick. I mean his PA-200! Oh heck. Now what have I done...