Help me choose a new welder!

[big bubba]

agree w/mikehaugen on either miller or hobart. and that infinite voltage control on miller could be a plus. but i'm not a mig welder, strictly arc. i stepped up from a 35 yr old lincoln ac buzz box (still works great) and went with a hobart ac/dc w/infinite amp control. great to fine tune esp when welding thinner stuff. but that feature may be apples to oranges when it comes to mig, don't know.... am sure someone here could chime in on that. and then there are always the product reviews on line on each that can be helpful in narrowing it down. but like mike said, can't go wrong with either of those two makes.

 

[Colonel Monk]

Anyone else?

 

[Colonel Monk]

My vote would be for the miller 211 or the hobart 210, depending on if you care about infinite voltage control. The reason I personally choose those is because they are made in the USA. The new Lincoln sounds good on paper but doesn't give me much a warm fuzzy feeling. It's assembled in Mexico, but for the price I'm guessing it's nearly entirely Chinese parts. I've only heard one first-hand review, the guy claimed it didn't do well with 6010 and was having feeding problems with it. It's too new and too cheap for me to trust it right away. I've heard of dozens of people with both the Miller and the Hobart and all seem more than pleased.

Someone also mentioned everlast, they also seem to get pretty good reviews, but I personally can't bring myself to consider one, though not for performance or reputation reasons. They do stand behind their stuff it seems.

Thanks Mike for that comment - I didn't know that about the Lincoln but like you, when it comes to tools nothing beats Made in the USA! I didn't know that Hobart was made in the USA! That's great.

Now, I didn't mention it before, but YES I do plan to play with aluminum so adding a spoolgun is important to me. All the models I picked had spoolgun capability.

 

[Colonel Monk]

agree w/mikehaugen on either miller or hobart. and that infinite voltage control on miller could be a plus. but i'm not a mig welder, strictly arc. i stepped up from a 35 yr old lincoln ac buzz box (still works great) and went with a hobart ac/dc w/infinite amp control. great to fine tune esp when welding thinner stuff. but that feature may be apples to oranges when it comes to mig, don't know.... am sure someone here could chime in on that. and then there are always the product reviews on line on each that can be helpful in narrowing it down. but like mike said, can't go wrong with either of those two makes.

I hadn't thought of the infinite control, but that is pretty nice. Without it, some materials/thicknesses you just have to reply on your skill and "alchemy" to get a weld with no burn thru. I'm not that good, but I want good welds!

I found a pretty nice package deal for the miller on ebay, cart, cover, spoolgun, for just few hundred more.

Still need to give the hobarts a look, I have seen them in local farm fleet but never looked up the specs.

Thanks guys

Going to look at a 7ft snowplow for my FEL, so I'm gonna need a welder real soon.

 

[Winmac]

I have a hobart 187 and the only bad thing I can say about it is that I hate how stiff the gun Leed is, I'm always fighting to hold a steady bead.
Other than that I think it's a better machine ( less complicated electronically) than millers. A taped machine lays nicer welds compared to the infinitely adjustable one and the auto set is kind of a gimmick anyway.

I have not used any of the multi process machines your considering but generally there are trade offs, one process out shines the others. for me I wound not want a tig unless it has ac for aluminum.

 

[BethelHntr]

I can only vouch for the miller 211 as Iv'e only had 110v machines in the past, Excellent penetration with 3/8" and 1/2". I would recommend adding a 75/25 argon co2 bottle and regulator to your new purchase, For myself it makes welding cleaner and I can see how the bead is flowing a lot better than flux core.

 

[Colonel Monk]

I have a hobart 187 and the only bad thing I can say about it is that I hate how stiff the gun Leed is, I'm always fighting to hold a steady bead.
Other than that I think it's a better machine ( less complicated electronically) than millers. A taped machine lays nicer welds compared to the infinitely adjustable one and the auto set is kind of a gimmick anyway.

I have not used any of the multi process machines your considering but generally there are trade offs, one process out shines the others. for me I wound not want a tig unless it has ac for aluminum.

See what I learned? I didn't know that tig for AL was AC only, and if those welders don't have that the tig kit would be worthless. I'm pretty much leaning towards the Miller 211 and looking into the Hobarts. I like that they are both made here at home in the midwest. LAST thing I want to do right now with a high dollar purchase, is send more money away from our workers. I was just out of work for a year!! First time ever.

 

[Colonel Monk]

I can only vouch for the miller 211 as Iv'e only had 110v machines in the past, Excellent penetration with 3/8" and 1/2". I would recommend adding a 75/25 argon co2 bottle and regulator to your new purchase, For myself it makes welding cleaner and I can see how the bead is flowing a lot better than flux core.

I'm definitely getting a bottle. First MIG I ever used, welds looked like a pro made them and it was all because of the gas. Also on the list of things welding is a torch, so I'll be getting friendly with the industrial gas co anyway.

 

[Big Barn]

See what I learned? I didn't know that tig for AL was AC only, and if those welders don't have that the tig kit would be worthless. I'm pretty much leaning towards the Miller 211 and looking into the Hobarts. I like that they are both made here at home in the midwest. LAST thing I want to do right now with a high dollar purchase, is send more money away from our workers. I was just out of work for a year!! First time ever.

Maybe not totally useless. Don't forget you have the capability for stick welding with the same machine on your dirty, rusty, heavier, windy condition projects.

Terry

 

[Colonel Monk]

Maybe not totally useless. Don't forget you have the capability for stick welding with the same machine on your dirty, rusty, heavier, windy condition projects.

Terry

OK, not totally useless, just useless for tig welding aluminum.

I have thought about getting an ARC welder, and probably will when my shop is built and I have the space. I see the good old stuff on CL all the time in estate sales, I'd love to have one of those 400 lb mothers around to keep the shop from blowing away!!