Welder Selection Help

[DHennet]

I have been researching welders and need some help. Can you accomplished welders give me the low down on Arc, Mig, and Tig? I want to add stake pockets to my trailer, providing the perfect excuse, uh I mean reason, to by a welder. I've never welded before, but have friends who can teach me. Among the people I've talked to it seems split between Arc and Mig. In the future I envision making cool tractor parts like y'all do. I'm not looking to spend more than about $250.00.
Thanks-
Dan

 

[GaryE]

Dan,

I prefer "arc" / stick... For the quick fix welder, MIG is the way to go. But for $250.00 you are going to be hard pressed to find one. You might find a used AC/DC arc welder for that price.

Good luck,

Gary

 

[Soundguy]

I agree. 250$ limits you to a garage sale ac/dc stick welder, or a New 'tombstone' AC stick welder.

( yes.. you can get a small mig or flux wire welded for 200+ range but it won't weld anything but bright shiny 3/16 plate in 'perfect' conditions.

The arc welder won't be sensitive to welding outside in the breeze, where a mig can have problems.

Arc also lets you change out electrodes for different materials and different jobs.. Different sizes too. i can use 30a and a 1/16 or 5/64 rod to do sheet metal.. or kick over to 180 and grab a 3/32 or 1/8 rod and make trailer ramps using 3/8 and 1/2 inch metal.

Also. for a beginner, a big beefy buzz box like the trusty 200a ac lincon tombstones can weld right thru paint and rust like it wasn't there. I swear they could draw an arc on a piece of wet cardboard /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

Soundguy

 

[_RaT_]

<font color="blue"> ( yes.. you can get a small mig or flux wire welded for 200+ range but it won't weld anything but bright shiny 3/16 plate in 'perfect' conditions.
</font>

Not according to all the welding courses I've taken, if it's got flux core, you don't need "perfect" conditions or bright and shiny, just clean. That being said, a stick is nice for several reasons. It is always ready to go, with MIG, if your out of gas your not welding unless you convert to flux core. If you need a different wire size and respective contact tip, you have a conversion to do. While MIG is a truly fantastic way to weld in no wind enviroments, you do need to spend some money to get get good penetration in steel from 1/4" thick and up. A inexpensive ARC can easily handle that. If it were me doing what your doing, I'd get a ARC welder that has AC/DC capability. Your typical current range will be 90 amps or so varying of course with what your welding. The rod you buy will be dependent on what you are doing. As Chris mentioned, you can weld dirty steel with the appropriate rod, just don't use 7018 rod in dirty conditions and expect a great weld.

 

[RedRocker]

The learning curve is a bit longer with a stick, but with a $250 dollar budget that's pretty much your only choice.

 

[rcrcomputing]

Do you have to go 220v or can you get it done with 110? (Stick AC/DC)

 

[GATC35]

I bought a 110 VOLT 135 AMP MIG last year. It's nice for exhaust pipes and very thin metal like Soundguy stated. For welding on trailers and tractor parts it's pretty much useless. I have considered buying one of the "tombstone" Lincoln 225 Amp welders from Home Depot, or the Hobart AC/DC 185/230 Amp welder from Tractor Supply. The Lincoln runs around $225.00 and the Hobart is around $380.00. Like already stated I think the only one in your budget is the Lincoln. I have a friend with the Lincoln and he welds all types of trailer and tractor stuff with it. Keep in mind the stick welding is harder to master than the MIG.

Good luck...just don't buy a 110 MIG like I did, it's a waste of money.

 

[_RaT_]

<font color="blue">Good luck...just don't buy a 110 MIG like I did, it's a waste of money. </font>

That entirely depends on what your welding. I use the daylights out of mine. I never have to do any spatter cleanup on the material I do weld with it and often times the weld needs little or no grinding where I want it to look great such as at gate latches etc. For thick material though I use my ARC or stick welder.

 

[Highbeam]

Don't forget to save 50$ for a decent auto darkening hood.

I vote arc welder. Get a 220 volt from a major brand name like lincoln or hobart. I have a 225 amp tobstone AC arc welder. It came free from a dead guy's garage. No real moving parts so a used arc welder is probably like new.

MIG is really nice and so is a AC/DC arc welder but these things always cost much more.

I can run my 225 amp AC arc welder with a coleman 5500 watt generator remotely anywhere I need it!

 

[_RaT_]

I have the original Lincoln 180 red ARC welder.