Engine Driven Welders

[_RaT_]

Do any of you folks know much about the engine driven welder/generators like the Lincoln or Miller Bobcat in roughly the 20 HP size? I've been looking specifically at the Miller 301G Trailblazer and the Lincoln Ranger. Rat...

 

[cowboydoc]

We've got a lincoln and love it. It's mounted on a trailer and when something breaks down we just haul it out to the equipment. Saves alot of time and hassle.

 

[Egon]

In the oilfield engine driven Lincolns mounted on 3500 series trucks are the norm.

Egon

 

[Taylortractornut]

I have a 225 Bobcat I bought after the first lay off around march. I gave a 1200 for it with 60 hours on it. I paid for it in 2 months on the side. I havent mounted it on my truck yet, I wanted a Trail blazer they seem to weld better but Im now used to its welding. I like Lincoln Ranger 8s to but Im a Miller man. I think a newBobcat is 2800 plus tax here. I like a Pipeliner but they are sorta buly for me. All the pipeline welders here have mostly gone to the BobCat welder with the 100 percent duty cycle. When I worked for Huffman When it was too wet to dig Id hitch up their pipeliner and go to the other job or weld around their sites. I grew to like it but the DC output on the 110 is rough on grinders with brushes.

 

[wroughtn_harv]

I have the Trailblazer on Lucy, 251 model.

The advantage of the Trailblazer line is the three phase power to the weld circuit. It just welds better. If you don't think so then go in and weld with a single phase machine and they try a three phase one. There is noticeable difference.

If I had my druthers I'd buy the new 301 D. It has a three cylinder Kubota with an idle lockdown. With the idle locked down you can still pull a hundred and seventy amps and ten thousand watts of auxillary power. With the idle lockdown deactivated you can pull three hundred amps.

I have nothing against Lincoln. But I've had nothing but good luck with the Miller gas drives.

 

[_RaT_]

I have heard the same thing about the 3 phase units. When I was certifying for pipe, some guys actually hauled in their own welders to certify. Different welders do make a difference, sometimes a huge difference. The 301 D looks like a very nice unit. Amazing how much that Kubota diesel adds to the cost of the machine. Almost double.

The 301G Legend offers the same 3 phase welding, no AC Tig, but runs a 5500 watt generator at only 1800 RPM. That compares to the Trailblazers 10,000 at 3600 RPMSounds interesting and quiet. I'm not familiar with Tig either AC Tig for Aluminum or DC Tig for other metals. It looks very interesting to try. All my time is with Stick 6010 and 7018, Mig and last and least, Flux Core.

 

[Taylortractornut]

im the same way with my welder I wont weld a thing if I cant get used to a new welder or have mine present. I cant just get one machine then go to another. Iwished my welder had the 3 phase option on it to run my poratbale borings hydraulic unit.

 

[wroughtn_harv]

I wasn't aware of the Legend's three phase capability. I had a Legend before the Trailblazer. The quiet generator is nice. But it's a pain to have to stop welding to use any electrical tools without brushes. You can use a grinder etc with brushes on the DC ciruit while welding though.

The Legend was acting up a bit. So I called my supplier to see if they had one in stock that I could buy and put the other one in for repair. They didn't have a Legend but they did have a Trailblazer. It was about to go on sale nationally. If I bought that week I could save three hundred off the sale. If I waited until the sale I had to pay that price. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

It was a simple lift the old one off and bolt down the new. I went back to the job. I was welding in a four inch pipe security rail around the perimeter of a Chevrolet dealership.

I laid down about an inch of bead and then stopped to check if I'd changed rods by accident. There was that much difference.

Are you a grey rod sixty tenner or a red one?

I'm a 5P+ man.

 

[_RaT_]

The (New) Legend uses a separate generator for the 120/240V. I am not sure of the mechanics of it. Since it runs at only 1800 RPM and no welding occurs at that speed, I would guess that it would require flipping a switch. 2400 watts and 120V is available at all speeds. Welding happens at two different RPM's depending on Amps required.

I use the Fleetweld 5P, not tried the 5P+. I understand it has a better appearance given the same operator. Thanks for the information, Rat...

 

[Taylortractornut]

Harv whats 5P rod, Most of the things we build like boat houses and a few log road gates are welded with 7018. I have a fella the buys bulk rods and get a 50 pound box of 7018's for 20 dollars a box. Most of the welding I do is truck and equipment repair mainly.
My friend william has a Kubota powered Miller that sips fuel and is more pleasant inside a building. Im looking to buy a welder generator this spring big enough to run a plasma cutter to help us on a few of the boat houses we are going to build.

 

[wroughtn_harv]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I use the Fleetweld 5P, not tried the 5P+. I understand it has a better appearance given the same operator.)</font>

I like the 5P+ for a couple of reasons. Probably the most important one is ninety nine percent of my welds are bottom up, just the way I prefer to work I guess. The plus just seems to easy to work with in this position. The puddle seems to be more plastic and easier to control. I really enjoy working the puddle and watching the magic happen.

Another reason I really like it is it's an easy clean up. I use a cup brush on a small angle grinder most of the time. But if it isn't convenient the plus still cleans up with a hand brush and no chipping hammer.

Taylor, 5P is the red rod pipeline welders use for their root welds. It's an E6010 which is the DC verison of E6011. 5P+ is also E6010.

The difference between 6011 and 6010 is the eleven rod can be used with AC or DC plus or minus. The ten rod won't work with AC.

If I have my rod pouch on am visiting a bud welding up something with his buzz box or using AC I will attempt to sneak in a stick of Plus just to see his reaction. It's fun to watch. Almost as much fun as the sorry son of a southern sheep chaser had at my expense when they handed me some stainless filler rod to weld aluminum via TIG. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

For me the biggest difference between red and grey rod is red cuts harder and is nasty to clean.

It's been explained to me there are grey rod weldors and there are red rod weldors. It's almost like a Ford pickup versus Chevrolet real truck thing. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[slowrev]

I don't believe the 3 phase capable welders only put out single phase power. 3 phase is for the welding portion only. I am sure there are some huge units out there that generate 3 phase for use, but none of the smaller ones I have seen do.

 

[_RaT_]

Actually there is a Miller Bobcat that generates 3 phase power. 11,000 watts/3 phase/480V. It is called the Bobcat 3 Phase. The welder is still single phase.

Wroughtn Harv, do you ever do AC Tig? off a engine driven? Any need to have that capability? I should think the smaller inverter type with wave change and frequency adjsutment would be mor esuitable, but I know next to nothing about Tig. It looks like one of the most interesting ways to weld though.

I used to use the red sticks because I would visit a construction site and find them laying around all over the place. I would collect them and use them on my Dads Lincoln 180 stick welder. I did pipe with a 6010 root pass and 7018 fill in the 6G position. That was some time ago. I just hobby weld now.

 

[wroughtn_harv]

My tig set up is a Dialarc 300 single phase machine set up on AC with high frequency box and an air cooled torch.

I don't see why the same set up wouldn't work just as well if not better on the Trailblazer.

I like tig. But then I like gas welding and tig is just gas welding with a different heat source. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

My biggest problem with aluminum is I watch the puddle and work it like I do steel. That makes for an ugly bead of sorts.

Welding or cutting is speed and heat. That's why machines do it better than human beings. /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif I have a bud that tigs aluminum and it's just gorgeous. He tells me I spend too much on looking at the welding and not enough concentration on consistant movement.

If I lived in a perfect world it would probably be a tig one.