Lincoln Tombstone or Hobart Stickmate?

[RickB]

I gotta kindof say, and since it's my pashion, the Hobart looks more Skookum. The Lincoln looks cheesey, big box store like.

Lincoln welders have looked like that for about 40 or 50 years. They are a great welder and a benchmark for their class.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I would bet that there are tobstones that are consumer grade and others that are more commercial. Probably older. I doubt, Home Depot or Canadian Tire sells a commercial HD Tombstone Welder. although they do sell a Tombstone Looking Lincoln Welder. Maybe only your low end Buzz Box.

I have repaired HOBART Mig welders that perform daily production work and are built tough as heck, without a transistor in them. A welder that can be easily repaired without any proprietary parts. I would grab one on sight if I ever came across another. HOBART built some nice stuff, although they probably never built ones with NASCAR decals on them like a stupid Lincoln Mig that I have.
.

 

[RickB]

Todays Hobart is little more than Millers consumer level brand.

 

[yomax4]

Both will out last you so you can put one in your will. Both are also entry level machines and not made in the USA so Flip a coin. Personally I vote Hobart this time but likely not next time.

 

[Sonny580]

I use the Lincoln brand myself but had a big ole engine drive DC Hobart and it was a REAL welder---so both are good brands---OR used to be!

 

[Big Barn]

These old tranny Lincolns are the ones to keep. IMO

 

[Gary Fowler]

The Hobart has a higher DC amp rating (160 amp) compared to the Lincoln of only 125 amp DC. It also appears to infinitely adjustable whereas Lincoln Tombstone have set ranges than jump from 5 to as much as 25 amp increments.

I would keep the Hobart.

 

[rankrank1]

My 2 cents comparing a Lincoln AC225 (AC only machine). to a Miller Thunderbolt AC 225/DC150 is that the Lincoln welded a microscopic bit better comparing the AC side of each unit only. Additionally my Lincoln had like an industrial type cooling fan in it compared to my Miller's rinky dinky little fan which is borderline cheesey. In my case I kept the Miller since it had DC.

That all said, I would keep the Hobart in this case for the extra amps it puts out on DC side (160 compared to 125 on DC) which will be helpful if you ever run any 1/8" diameter 7018 rod. Additionally, the fully adjustable settings of the Hobart should be a slight advantage over the tapped settings of the Lincoln but only a real skilled welder is likely to notice the difference on this type of entry level machine.

This all said, with both machines at your disposal already, then I would think that you should know by now which one you prefer using for your uses. I would keep the one you like using best as both welders are so similar in capability that the differences are small. (e.g. If I rarely stick a rod with one but am always stcking a rod with the other? I lay good beads with this one but struggle with the other? Keep the one that works best for you and your uses).

 

[FrankJG]

I have a Lincoln AC/DC tombstone just like you have and I did alot with it from building implements from scratch to simple repairs and steel art, always been reliable even if its store on a cold non-heated high humidity shop. That being said the Hobart like others said have infinite output adjustment and higher DC amperage, if someone offer me a Stickmate like that in exchange of my Lincoln I'll have no problem making the trade.

 

[Birdhunter1]

Having used both quite a bit I would opt to keep the Hobart because you can dial in your amperage and aren't stuck with the presets of the Lincoln. Both are good units capable of alot of repair work, I wouldn't get caught up on duty cycle or which one will likely last longer.