Help with welder purchase

I've come to the conlcusion that I need to break down and purchase my own welder for my ongoing AC tractor projects. With my limited welding experience and not really wanting to spend thousands on a set up, it seems a mig, with it's wide range application would be the direction I should go. I've been looking at the Hobart welders at the Rural King. I've heard they are nice welders for the money. Looking for advice, tips, any and all comments appreciated. Thanks Ron

I've had a  225Amp AC only 'stick ' welder for the past 24 years.Only use 7018AC rods.Fixed or made everything from lawn tractor decks to very heavy duty trailers. It was the best $200 I ever spent.I've heard MIG is great for thin tin, 'sticks' better for 'real steel'.Then there's the flux cored wire or bottled gas MIG decision. My guess it depends upon how much you want to spend for a machine that will do your types of jobs.

go 220...for easiness of running get a miller 185, 210...will weld most anything, and easy to set up....set your top and bottom dials about the same way and you're pretty close....start welding....I have a 185, it was replaced with the 210. Hobart builds a nice machine as well. Miller, Lincoln and Hobart and ESAB are the best of the best.....

I have an old Forney AC welder and I would like to see somebody weld with it using 7018. I have never been able to use it. 6011 or 6013 is all I use for the "farm" repair work. I have a ton of it that was thrown out at work years ago so I'm set for life for rod. My SIL is a Boiler Maker and he thought I needed some 7018 rod so he brought some home for me. I told him it won't work and he proceeded to "show me how" to use it. He couldn't believe it wouldn't work. He couldn't do it either.

Ive been welding for years with 7018 it all i use .  Have a miller syncro wave 250. also a hobart 140  wire feed for light stuff.

If stick welding is your choice, then get an AC/DC lincoln. If you plan to do some wirefeed also get a Lincoln that will do both. (220 volt). Now when it comes to rods, get Esab 7018. When buying wire you need to spend a little to get enough nickle content, it will pay off in the end. Cheap wire can be used for haywire repairs till you get sick of it. Lincoln can make welders, but their rods and wire suck. Good luck.   This reply is aimed at mild iron type welding only.  But with the right machine and a little training you can weld almost anything.

Edited by RickUP - 13 Oct 2010 at 7:57pm

An acetylene torch set for brazing, heating, bending and cutting and a used 220V stick welder have handled all my farm welding needs.  Stick welders seem to last forever and you can often find them barely used for very reasonable. 

You want a 220v.  I have a Miller 200 it works really good unless the wind is blowing. Wind blows the co2 away and then the welds cool to quickly.

i have a Miller thunder bolt 220 volt, 180 amp AC/DC stick welder also. VEry nice. THe 6010 rod is a deep penetration rod to burn into  rusted or dirty metal. Flux looks pretty poor after welding. 7018 rod is a nice finish rod. Metal should be mostly clean to start with, littel rust, wire brush surface. With 7018 you should be able to tap on the flux after welding and it just falls off easy. Very pretty weld when done, if your a good welder.  I gave up on the 180 amp AC lLincoln buzz box about 20 years ago.

Ron, I would suggest getting a Mig 220 V welder.They are great for ease of use and all around welding. Spark's are more confined.

I have several welders, a century 180 ac/dc which I used for years then I got a little Lincoln 125 or 150, can't remember, 110volt wire feed.  Very handy for patching things where only 110 volts are are available.  Got a Miller 251 wire feed a few years ago (220 volt).  It is so easy to use and makes even my welds look good.  It is hard to use outside on windy days tho.  I buy the 44 lb rolls of wire, much cheaper per foot then getting it in 10 lb rolls.  I heard somewhere that Miller welders have copper coils and Hobart uses aluminum wire to keep the price down. 

Hell I can teach a stupid monkey to well mig in 4 hrs.  Problem is that its the hardest to master, especially for thicker applications.  A mig weld can look perfect and be little better than glue do to lousy penetration.  I have not met a person yet that has always used a mig welder that welds well.  They don't look at the puddle and understand penetration.  There is a difference between making nice looking mig welds and good welds. 

I always recommend an old miller dialarc or lincoln idealarc.  They are either 250 or 300 amp dc industrial duty arc machines.  They are bullet proof, I have never seen or heard of a failure(although I sure one or two out there have).  The good thing is that you can buy them for dirt cheap used off of craigslist if you are patient and wait.  Sometimes welding shops will know or sell used ones as well.  Make sure its a single phase 220v machine and not a 3 phase 480 or something like that.

A dc machine is not necessary but is much nicer to use.  Starts easier, smoother welds. In arc welding, if your welds look nice, chances are they are good.  Unlike mig, porosity and bad penetration look bad, can cover it up, tells you, grind it out and fix it. 
If you are buying new, get a miller thunderbolt in ac/dc.  While the lincoln tombstones are durable welders, I don't care for their limited adjustability, although many use them with no issues. 

If you are not going to listen, I will tell you about some mig welders.  First get a 220 machine.  110v is only good for thin body work(might be good to have a 110 machine along with a stick welder for heavy work).  Hobarts welders are identical in many models to the miller.  In the smaller models, a few years ago at least. Some of the rolls and wire feed mechinism in some but not all of the hobarts were plastic vs steel/aluminum in the miller. 

If you are an occasional user of mig welders, you only want small rolls of wire.  Not using the wire consistently will surely result in rusty wire that you will have to throw out.  If your garage has moisture, good luck almighty. 

Welding rod should be kept taped up in the plastic tube until you need to use it. Get a tube with screw on cap that holds rod your currently using.  7018 especially.  Old 7018, especially if its around for a while should be put in the oven at a few hundred degrees for a few hours to drive off the moisture, I do this if its especially wet out or the rod has been setting for several months, then it goes in my sealed tube.  Rod ovens are nice but are a little salty and drive up the electricity bill, and are not necessary unless doing pipeline work. 

Take a class at the local community school/some high schools.    They will show you the proper way and you will get to cut up welds and test them to show you how mig can look so good and be so crappy. 

I personally have a Miller syncrowave tig/stick machine.  I use stick 90 percent of the time.  The tig on medium thickness precision jobs, stainless, and aluminum. I paid about 1500 for it, but waited for a while for a good deal to come around.  Very few people need its capability and I would have to say that its digital controls make it suceptable to expensive repairs down the line compared to an old stick welder like the dialarcs and idealarcs. 

I still use an oxyfuel torch to weld chromemoly tubing, body panels,  braze, and thin shaped aluminum sections. 


Edited by firebrick43 - 14 Oct 2010 at 9:20am

Any welding is PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE, this is where the school comes in , learning to make a puddle.  Vertical up or overhead is where the challenge comes in .

i will have to go along with cokes summation of info.DONT TRY TO ECONOMIZE GET A GOOD ONE FROM THE GET GO.i have a 1450 hobart,a 140 hobart wire welder and a airforce 400 plasma cutter,like them all.was amazed at the way the 140 runs aliminum wire.the main thing welding alum.is to use a clean ALUMINUM brush to clean the base metal.no metal wire brush.getting the machine fine tuned for alum,can be somewhat nerve wracking but it does a good job of it.also i use a wire oiler in my wire machine.really helps.on my wire welder i keep a 50 watt light bulb in close proximity to the wire spool.keeps the rust off the wire

Thanks all, for the advice. I may look into the stick welder a little more. I really don't need a high dollar professional set up with the limited use it will receive. General hobby farm/repair, minor fabrication, but want to be able to weld sheet and the big stuff. Can I get a mig that can do everything, say a Lincoln ac/dc 225 can do for under a grand? Tracy, I think with my limited experience a tig would be way out of my league. what would you be asking for that set up? Thanks, Ron