Welding Costs

[dirt clod]

You might find a used stick welder for $100-200. thats about what this job is going to cost you and you will wonder how you lived with out a welder with all the other projects you'll use it for. just get some scrap metal to practice with 1st as a grab hook flying off with what ever it is hooked to could be bad.

 

[patrick_g]

Maybe someone likes those alternator killer welders and or has had good luck with them. I would recommend an actual welder. To save money buy something that plugs into the wall instead of an engine driven unit. Then if you have or get a portable generator you can then use your welder as a portable rig.

If you are only going to do up to about a quarter inch or so and not weld a lot then a small MIG with innershield wire may be your best bet. One of these MIG units will let you do a better job with less requirement for skill. They are easier to use by far compared to a stick welder in the hands of a beginner or someone who doesn't weld enough to stay in practice with a stick.

If you will weld enough to stay in practice then either MIG or stick will work for you. The poorest welding I have seen is stick welding by someone who doesn't do it very often.

The other gems of advice are to: 1. Don't buy some off brand HF or mickey mouse cheapie and 2. don't undersize it.

Of the two pieces of advice, the first, regarding buying a good brand, is the more important but not by a landslide.

Pat

 

[MotorSeven]

At these costs yet another reason I have been shopping for a Mig welder.

steve

Yep, me too.....I like the Lincoln 175HD(also badged Pro) Mig. They can weld up to 1/2" plate with the proper wire and gas. HD and lowes sell them for $600 and all i will need will be a bottle of gas(Tractor Supply-$100). You can get a 10% off coupon for either BB almost anywhere.
The Hobart 180 and Miller 175 can only handle 1/4 inch in a pass because they can't handle .45 flux core wire...only .35. They are all around the same price, but Lincoln parts/accessories seem to be more readily available. So, for me Lincoln gets the nod.....can you tell i spent a few hrs last night researching?????

RD

 

[Ford960]

I sure like my Ready Welder II 10000ADP and it's definately not a toy or cheap piece of junk. It has a 100% duty cycle and welds steel, aluminum, and stainless steel. You can't beat the portability either and it will run .045 wire. Definately one of the best purchases that I've made in a long time. I've posted here about it before. Makes fantastic tack welds when using an autodark helmet and great for tacking sheet metal to the deck of a bush hog. I've also welded for hours on end building my Club Car limo golf cart with an aluminum frame. That's where a spool gun has the advantage over a regular mig welder, the aluminum wire is too soft to push through and will birdnest. My RW II is almost 2 years old and going strong, I use it several times a week and buy wire every time that I'm in a store that sells it. The RW II has never given me any problems and works much better than the Westinghouse SP100 spool gun that I owned in the early 80's, In fact if something ever happened to this one I would immediately buy another one.

http://www.readywelder.com/home.htm

I have no interest or connection to this company, I just know a good thing when I see and use it.

 

[AlanB]

If you wanted to bring it up here, we could weld it up for you together. Would not cost anything but the time / fuel to come up. (which here lately is not cheap)

Just contact me ahead of time and we can schedule a time if you wanted to do that.

 

[MadReferee]

Yep, me too.....I like the Lincoln 175HD(also badged Pro) Mig. They can weld up to 1/2" plate with the proper wire and gas. HD and lowes sell them for $600 and all i will need will be a bottle of gas(Tractor Supply-$100). You can get a 10% off coupon for either BB almost anywhere.
The Hobart 180 and Miller 175 can only handle 1/4 inch in a pass because they can't handle .45 flux core wire...only .35. They are all around the same price, but Lincoln parts/accessories seem to be more readily available. So, for me Lincoln gets the nod.....can you tell i spent a few hrs last night researching?????

Not so fast, as I posted in another thread,

I assume you mean the SP-175 Plus. The Lincoln web site does not list a 175HD Pro so it must be a special label for Lowes/HD, etc.

Anyway, I think you should read the spec sheet VERY carefully. The marketing blurb says it will weld 1/2" with .045 (NOT .45) flux core wire, but when you get down to the nitty gritty charts you will find that it will only do up to 1/4" in a SINGLE PASS and up to 1/2" in MULTIPLE PASSES. This is the same as the Miller MM175 or Hobart models.

It always pays to read the marketing hype with a grain of salt and go right to the actual performance charts for the real information.

The performance chart is on page two of the spec sheet.

http://content.lincolnelectric.com/pdfs/products/literature/e735.pdf

 

[MotorSeven]

Thanks Mad, looks like i was going to make a frustrating mistake. I am no welder, so doing multiple passes would likey result in a crappy weld. I guess i will hold off(save) and look for a bigger Mig than the 175/180......arrgggg! Or....if i had 5 min in my 90hr work week i could learn how to weld.....arrgggg again!

RD

 

[MadReferee]

Thanks Mad, looks like i was going to make a frustrating mistake. I am no welder, so doing multiple passes would likey result in a crappy weld. I guess i will hold off(save) and look for a bigger Mig than the 175/180......arrgggg! Or....if i had 5 min in my 90hr work week i could learn how to weld.....arrgggg again!

You can make a crappy weld with the bigger machine too. If you are going to be welding a steady diet of 1/2" then go for a bigger machine. If you are only going to occasionally weld 1/2" the 175 amp class machines will work ok by doing multiple passes. I used a MM175 for almost 4 years and about 25% of what I did was 3/8" and above with multiple passes. Very little of what you will be doing tractor wise will be more than 3/8" and most will be 1/4" or less.

Cost would be a consideration too since a decent 250 amp machine will start to cost near $2000. I upgraded because I needed the bigger machine for some stuff I want to do for my bulldozer.

 

[bdog]

Welders must be cheap in my area. I have hired several to do small jobs on our equipment that breaks in the field. I have never paid over $50/hr, and most have a $100 minimum. Just two weeks ago we broke a trailer hitch. The welder drove 30 miles each way to our location, cut the old one off, welded the new one on and charged $75 labor.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

I've got a guy out here that always charges me $35.

Re-build a stock rack for my pickup...$35
Drill a few holes in my trailer frame...$35
Repair the deck of my rotary cutter...$35

I always take the stuff to his shop. I drop it off with a note of what I want scrawled on the back of a used envelope or used napkin. Sometimes it's ready in a few days. Sometimes a few months later it's still sitting in the same place with the same note attached.

That's when I bought my own welder. It was after the two month wait.