middle of the road welder

[MESSMAKER]

My friend has a small shop and I can get big stuff welded. I hate to bother him for the little stuff. I need a small welder for the little jobs. I think a flux core or MIG would be best. This will be for small jobs and infrequent use. I have my share of Harbor Freight stuff but am scared of their welder as it seems to be a love/hate sort of thing. I know Lincoln,Hobart and Miller. They seem to run about $350-$450 dollars. Is there nothing in the middle. I hear Clarke was good but is now out of business. Is there anything in the $200-$250 range to look at. Not much used stuff other than 220v buzz boxes in my neck of the woods.

 

[MikeInEburg]

So buy a used 220 volt used buzzbox - folks have successfully used them for decades.

Mike

 

[Mark @ Everlast]

Look at the HF inverter welders. They are cheap and fairly decent for their amp levels. A lot of people consider them disposable. But the little pocket size inverter ( I think its 80 or 90 amps maybe...) they have for less than $100.00 is a good deal, if you will be welding thin stuff, and its DC current which for the most part, yields a better quality weld.

We have a 160 amp inverter stick welder that's a good bit more beefy with 60% duty cycle for just under $300.00.

 

[MF RED in MT]

My friend has a small shop and I can get big stuff welded. I hate to bother him for the little stuff. I need a small welder for the little jobs. I think a flux core or MIG would be best. This will be for small jobs and infrequent use. I have my share of Harbor Freight stuff but am scared of their welder as it seems to be a love/hate sort of thing. I know Lincoln,Hobart and Miller. They seem to run about $350-$450 dollars. Is there nothing in the middle. I hear Clarke was good but is now out of business. Is there anything in the $200-$250 range to look at. Not much used stuff other than 220v buzz boxes in my neck of the woods.

I was considering a HF 110v mig welder, but finally bit the bullet and went with a 110v millermatic mig ($649) 140 with auto-set :thumbsup:. The auto-set is good to go every time and it also starts and welds smooth every time. I also purchased my own 80cf tank for 75/25 gas for cleaner welds. I did get a HF welder cart and auto welding hood using sale coupons and 20% off coupons. Another HF good item is the $0.99 magnets for holding your material in place to tack together . I figure after building a backhoe thumb, front bucket rake, and front bucket forks, my welder should just about be paid for instead of purchasing these items. Good luck with your search for a welder, KC.

 

[MESSMAKER]

I forgot to mention. I would like to use it on a 5000w 6250peak gas generator. How does that change things?

 

[Mark @ Everlast]

You'll need fairly clean power if its an inverter or heavily electronic welder. What kind of generator?

To be on the safe side, you'll need something with in the range of 20 amps or less on 220V, if you wish to weld at full amp range. That will limit your choices even further, between the price issue and the power supply. Definitely you'll want to look at an import inverter for two reasons: 1) They draw much less power than the equivalent transformer machine, 2) They cost much less, and are close to your price range. Even if you went with the "buzz box" route used, you could not run them on your generator.

 

[MESSMAKER]

You'll need fairly clean power if its an inverter or heavily electronic welder. What kind of generator?

To be on the safe side, you'll need something with in the range of 20 amps or less on 220V, if you wish to weld at full amp range. That will limit your choices even further, between the price issue and the power supply. Definitely you'll want to look at an import inverter for two reasons: 1) They draw much less power than the equivalent transformer machine, 2) They cost much less, and are close to your price range. Even if you went with the "buzz box" route used, you could not run them on your generator.

Oh well. Back to the drawing board. Nothing is ever as easy or as cheap as it first appears.

 

[rjkobbeman]

So buy a used 220 volt used buzzbox - folks have successfully used them for decades.

Mike

:thumbsup:

I recently inherited my dad's old Montgomery Ward arc welder. This thing just wont die. It has laid down many miles of rod. It is a straight A/C arc welder.

I was going to get a new Lincoln AC/DC welder until I found out my dad upgraded to a nice TIG. Knowing the history of his old welder and the duty cycle it can handle (although I will never push it to its limits), I took it! I probably paid more in shipping than a new one! D'oh!

Several years ago I bought a 240 volt MIG from Home Depot. It has worked great. I weld the small stuff with the MIG and use the buzz box for bigger stuff.

Although the MIG is more pleasant to use, the stick welder should not be counted out!

 

[Diamondpilot]

For the money the Hobart 187 is hard to beat. I got one on sale at TSC for around $500 with the cart, mask, gloves, wire, ect. I bought a tank and run 75/25 mix and its been a great unit.

It complements my HF $100 flux core job and my Miller 250 AC/DC stick welder great. I use the Hobart for 95% of my stuff now. Although I did use the HF unit just last Friday to weld a track on a barn door where I needed to have the welder 10' in the air it was easy to carry up the ladder.


Chris

 

[lostcause]

Oh well. Back to the drawing board. Nothing is ever as easy or as cheap as it first appears.

my experience has been that the two are inversely proportional. i also try to do things as inexpensively as possible, and it seems that low cost = more man hours invested and lots of research. spend a little money and often it's real simple and fast.

for what it's worth on your subject of welders, i've had a 120v century 90/110 mig for the last 15 or so years. i've only used it on the 90a setting (20a circuit) and i've never used gas with it. with 0.035 flux cored wire, i'm comfortable welding most any steel between 1/16" and 1/2". granted, i think that machine was $450+ new, but the prices and design are probably both better now. assuming that the harbor freight, northern tool, campbell hausfield & similar flux core only wire feeders are somewhere near the same quality range as my century, the will probably serve you well, as long as you understand that they are lighter duty units, and aren't intended to do everything for 10 hours a day, every day. those small wire feeders are well within your price range and can be had for $100-$300.

as far as running on a generator... that may be a tough one. it doesn't seem to be a matter of brute force anymore. the electronics in welders are a lot more advanced than they used to be, and everywhere you look you see "clean power" comments. kinda leads me to believe that the answer may be no for most generators, but i think you'd probably have to test it on your particular generator to be sure.

For the money the Hobart 187 is hard to beat. I got one on sale at TSC for around $500 with the cart, mask, gloves, wire, ect. I bought a tank and run 75/25 mix and its been a great unit.

It complements my HF $100 flux core job and my Miller 250 AC/DC stick welder great. I use the Hobart for 95% of my stuff now. Although I did use the HF unit just last Friday to weld a track on a barn door where I needed to have the welder 10' in the air it was easy to carry up the ladder.


Chris

i know it's way out of range for the poster's price range, but northern has been selling the hobart handler 210 at a deal i haven't seen anyone else able to match either. last catalog i saw was $889 for the 210 and they throw in the spool gun for aluminum and free shipping on everything. for places that don't toss in shipping, it's likely to run $50 or more for a welder.