New to welding

[BMan2005]

I'm looking to get set up with a stick welder for all the small project's, mostly broke or cracked equipment on the farm that keeps coming up. It gets old to keep taking stuff off to be done when I should have been doing this all along. I'm not looking to jump into anything major just odd and end hobby farm welding. Can you guys help lead me in the right direction of a good but economical welder? Even older ones recommend I could maybe find used is fine. Feel like I'm in for a big learning curve here.

 

[Pete6114]

I learned on a cheap 200$ Italian made unit and quickly realized it's limitations. I then got a Miller Thunderbolt XL (stick). After that a millermatic 251 MIG and haven't used the stick welder since.
I'm not one to recommend anything to anybody not being a pro, but you get what you pay for seems appropriate. A MIG in my opinion is much more user friendly

 

[Shield Arc]

BMan2005 I own some of the best welding machines ever built! I' am so impressed with my Everlast PowerArc 200 ST. It welds every bit as nice as my $4,500.00 Lincoln V350-Pro.
Here is what it can do with 6010, and 7018.

 

[3Ts]

I started out with an AC only stick welder. Finally got to "decent" on my welds. Then I got a MIG welder. It is so much easier and makes nicer welds. For starting out, I recommend a MIG welder. You'll need to determine how thick the steel that you're going to weld will be and get a welder that will handle that (whether it is stick or MIG).

 

[Shield Arc]

If you buy a Mig welder, buy one with power! Mig welders are notorious for making cold welds that look good, but there not!

 

[BMan2005]

BMan2005 I own some of the best welding machines ever built! I' am so impressed with my Everlast PowerArc 200 ST. It welds every bit as nice as my $4,500.00 Lincoln V350-Pro.
Here is what it can do with 6010, and 7018.

Can you weld 1/2" steel with this welder? I don't foresee welding anything larger than that.

 

[Shield Arc]

Can you weld 1/2" steel with this welder? I don't foresee welding anything larger than that.

If you are going to splice beams or plate. With the proper joint prep yes! Fillet welds on 1/2-inch thick material, no problem with the correct weld size.
PM Mark with Everlast to see what kind of a deal he can make you.

 

[California]

How much do you want to spend? If cost isn't important listen to what the pros have already said.

On the other hand - there are always old 200+ amp 'buzzbox' AC stick welders on Craigslist cheap. I paid $50 for one. These were sufficient for shipbuilding in WWII, and after a little practice mine worked fine for my first project: weld a trailer hitch on the back of my box blade. I've done some other simple farm fabrication and repairs on heavy material like that. Everything broken that I've welded hasn't broken again.

Watch some Youtube videos before starting out.

I now own a mig welder and also an inverter unit for dc stick welding. Both are more convenient but I'll keep the buzzbox. There's one thing only it can do - I got an inexpensive used carbon arc 'torch' for it that is handy for heating and bending metal.

But if you want a big step up in convenience and weld appearance, then look at the modern gear suggested by others, above.

Typical project with the buzzbox: I added a flat plate to beef-up something that looked under-designed. 1/8" 6011 rod.

http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=70932&d=1312254019

http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=70933&d=1312254064

 

[4570Man]

A mig defiantly works better on clean metal. IMO, a stick welder works a lot better on dirty metal and I'm too lazy to clean all my broken rusty stuff.

 

[California]

A mig defiantly works better on clean metal. IMO, a stick welder works a lot better on dirty metal and I'm too lazy to clean all my broken rusty stuff.

:thumbsup: Yeah that too.

Photo: rear pallet forks/carryall base, made from scrap.
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...71849409-pallet-forks-rear-3-pt-p1050890r-jpg

 

[Birdhunter1]

I bought the Everlast Powerarc 200ST and very happily sold my Lincoln 225 last year. I have 2 Everlast Welders and am very happy with them in farm repair, modification and fabrication.
Like ShieldArc said "PM Mark with Everlast to see what kind of a deal he can make you."

 

[BMan2005]

I appreciate all the suggestions guys. It'll be farm implements and trailers I mostly repair so sometimes metal being the cleanest isn't easy. So with what y'all said let's say I go with the Everlast stick welder. What else would I need to go with it?

 

[Shield Arc]

What else would I need to go with it?

These come in handy! :thumbsup:

 

[shadetree]

In your third picture, what are the four on the left?

 

[Shield Arc]

In your third picture, what are the four on the left?

End / peanut grinders.

 

[Gary Fowler]

A mig defiantly works better on clean metal. IMO, a stick welder works a lot better on dirty metal and I'm too lazy to clean all my broken rusty stuff.

I hear that all the time, but 2-3 minutes of cleaning will make the weld strong AND more importantly make it much easier to weld with less sparking (buckshot) being thrown off. I always clean as much as I can get to prior to welding and then when there is a corner or something that just cant hardly be cleaned, the stick rods will usually take care of the problem.

So even if your process (stick) will weld dirty metal, take the time to clean if a bit and it will work much better for you

 

[CincyFlyer]

A mig defiantly works better on clean metal. IMO, a stick welder works a lot better on dirty metal and I'm too lazy to clean all my broken rusty stuff.

By that you mean that a stick welder works better on dirty metal (paint, rust, the crud of ages) than a MIG works on dirty metal. A stick welder works best on clean metal, of course.

 

[California]

Yes of course. It's always worthwhile to prep as much as possible.

My thinking is it's easy to reach for a 6011 rod which is designed to 'dig', to burn deeply, when working with steel that's been left outdoors for decades. Because 6011 rod will penetrate below the rust pitting that I couldn't grind deep enough to remove.

As an amateur I'm not aware of mig wire that will burn as deeply nor would I want to switch wire just for one application.

Pro's do it differently, that's why they are pros. I don't do enough projects to get to that level. Stick for nasty rusty stuff, flux core mig when I can clean and prep the joint properly, someday I'll get gas bottles and do it right if I ever have a project that deserves pretty as well as strong. One limitation I'm working with is no place to lock up a bottle cart. I can get the welders secured and out of the weather but putting bottles on a cart would mean leaving them at my welding work area (photo) an open-front barn stall - which I don't want to do. Yes this is welding at the amateur level.

 

[Shield Arc]

When we built the Pioneer Square Station of the Metro bus tunnel down town Seattle. We lowered the beams down with a crawler crane setting on 3rd avenue. Track loader drug the beams to there locations, and an excavator set them in place. Before setting the beams in place we had to cut them to length, and weld plates on the ends. We used self shielded wire. Majority of the beams we didn't clean as well as we should have.
We placed over a million tons of falsework iron in that station!

 

[BMan2005]

Pretty good bit of hardware Shied Arc. I have some, but definitely not most. Lol I'll be investing in a pretty good bit of stuff to go with the welder looks like. Also I will PM Mark about the welder. I'm sure I'll be back in here with alot of questions, so excuse the newbie in advance.