Lincwelder 225 vs Everlast Mig 160

[gauthier]

Well,lets put it this way,I have welded pipe with mig that has passed bend and tensile tests,with .035 wire about 120 amps or so,I was a stick welder,than worked for a guy who wanted to start welding some stuff with mig[short circuiting],so I had to figure out how this thing worked,took me a quite awhile and several failed attemps to get it,

So,,from experience can tell you mig has a big problem with cold lap and lack of fusion at around those amps[you can't weld pipe in postion at much higher amps than that],so considering your average newbie/back yard type has less experience at welding than I did when I first started trying it,would not recommend it for anybody who wants to weld something other than thin stuff,he ain't going to be running high amps,he won't know the tricks to get the weld to fuse at lower amps.

Generally on thick stuff in these fab shops they use flux core or subarc,from my experience. But guess not all,in a bridge shop you won't see them welding the thick stuff with short circuiting mig,know that from having inspected in them for a few years

 

[toy]

I had a nice talk with Mark over at Everlast today and before I decide what I'm going to do I thought I'd toss it out to the group.

My barn is too far from the road for utility power so I have a 10KW Onan Diesel generator for barn power. I've been looking at adding a welder to my collection and the Everlast inverter technology looks real appealing. I'm leaning towards a Mig 160 but I just ran across a used Lincwelder 225 for $275. I'll be basically putzing around in the barn building brackets and such with the occasional bushhog repair all on steel.

I figure that a Everlast is going to cost around $620 or so, another $100 for the argon tank and another $50 for a HF cart. Basically I'll have $800 into the welding rig that can do Mig and stick. However if my generator power isn't 'clean' (I think it is) I stand the chance of burning up the inverter.

If I go with the engine driven Lincoln I'll have $275 into it but I'll be limited to stick but I'll have high DC amps. No power quality issues to deal with but I'll have problems with sheet metal projects (though I do have a torch).

I keep wavering back and forth on which would be the best way to go.

Thoughts from the group.

I would consider the condition of the lincoln welder, I believe you said that it was a dc welder and had an engine to generate the power for it {or was you referring to the generator you already have} I would find out what a new one like that would cost and I would let that play a part in my decision making. If the savings is substantial and the machine works good and don't look too beat up then I might get that first and then later on get a mig and that way you would have both and if the lincoln has an engine driven generator on it you wouldn't be limited to where you could weld with it. The new mig will still be there when you recoup a little funds from the $275 of the Lincoln purchase , but if you get the mig first the Lincoln will be gone probably by the time you recoup from the cost of the mig. You might be able to negotiate down the price of the Lincoln. I kick decision making like that around back and forth but when I finally decide and get whatever it is home then most of the time I am satisfied but my wife says don't talk about women not being able to make up their minds while I am in the decision process.

 

[Brad_Blazer]

Check out this option at Northern:
FREE SHIPPING — Northern Industrial MIG/Stick 200 Welder | Wirefeed Welders | Northern Tool + Equipment

 

[Stampeder]

Scott:

Easy solution, buy both!!!
I have a fifteen acre ranch and I have both a tombstone and a MIG. I am looking to buy a gas powered welder. Some of my stuff I can get back to the barn, but others like the pipe fencing we have alll around the property requires going to it.
Mig gives you nice clean highly controlled welds. I guarantee you will be very happy with the Mig once you get a little practice with it. I use my mig all the time for every kind of welding. Mine is a 160 amp and I've welded upto 1/2 thick plate with it and down to 20 gauge sheet metal.

Stick and DC welding have they're places, but given the choice and if I had to chose one over the other, I would definitely take the mig first for all my farm welding.

But as I said before, buy them both and you'll be really happy.:thumbsup:

By the way, I've been hobby welding for over 30 years and I just got my mig about 2 years ago. Previously it was ALL stick.

Glenn.

 

[scopx]

Concerning the comparison between stick and mig, if the mig has the beans ~400 (amps) and sufficient wire speed, one can take it to full axial flow and there is no sound at all as wire is vaporized before contact with the metal. But due to the amperage, this type of welding can only be done in the flat position as pool can be 1/2 wide or better. It usually requires a heat shield on torch hand gets some kinda hot pretty quick.
Yeah, one can get the same heat levels with a stick, but with a mig you can keep on truckin.
Cold weld problems are due to operator error, not the type of unit.
I have both mig and stick. The 160 mig gets used 5 to 1 over stick as my general usage is not that heavy stuff.
Am now looking for, and eventually will be getting a Tig unit as need to fab some alum lifting strakes on pontoon boat. And will see if can (fill) rebuild an alum head just for grins.

 

[Kubota 2350]

You should be able to find a good used AC/DC Lincoln Tombstone for the 275 your looking at spending, they are a bullet proof machine.