Miller welder

[radman1]

Not sure where to put this post. Saw a Miller 302 Trailblazer welder with Kohler motor for sale. 266 hours, 1.5-2 years old on a 4x6 steel trailer. The seller is asking $2300. Price seems good but I don't know anything about this welder. I have a Miller 250 mig welder and works fine but I had no experience with a stick welder until this weekend. The idea of portable welder is interesting because I can't always fix things in my shop and 10000 watts of portable power could be handy. This weekend, I borrowed a 30 year old, portable DC welder with 200 cu ford motor and welded a broken rod on a windmill and fixed a broken piece on an irrigation pivot. Never could have done that in my shop. DC stick was kind of cool to watch compared to MIG. Can actually see the arc jump from the rod to the metal -kind of like a short lightening bolt.

Any tips on portable welders? Any info on the Miller 302 would be appreciated.

 

[Tom_Veatch]

You could also try posting your question over on the Miller discussion forum. Should be a lot of experience with the Trailblazer there.

 

[Baby Grand]

Radman-

I have a TB302. It's a fine machine and you should be very satisfied with the performance and the price you paid - that's a very good price. I'm in the process of designing a 3ph mount with wheels so I can move mine around the garage/driveway by hand or take it out back on the tractor. I like the idea of being able to take my electric tools, compressor, etc, far, far away from the nearest outlet. This should be a real time saver when I start work on upgrading the open sided shed in the woods. Also nice to have as a standby power source for the house - I had a transfer switch installed when I upgraded from plug fuses to breakers.

I've spent many hours welding burner assemblies and furnace boxes for ships and hospitals, dumpsters for the waste hauling industry, and truck bodies for oil field and lumber rigs. I've used both stick and MIG a lot and prefer using the stick whenever I can. Mind you, I'm not saying it's better ... just that I prefer the time spent welding with a stick machine. I hope you find the same, puttin' the puddle to the metal,

Jim

 

[BobG_in_VA]

Make sure that the maintenance records are up to date on the engine. The Miller TB may be the best engine driven welder out there. I've got a TB 251NT ('99) model that has the Onan engine. Most of the Bobcats/TBs don't require much beside oil/filter changes for at least 3000 hours (my Miller dealer said 4500 hrs on their rental units). BobG in VA

 

[radman1]

Thanks for the info guys.

 

[cdhd2001]

I bought the slightly smaller Miller Wildcat 200 Welder/generator brand new for $2,600. The Miller you are looking at lists for $4,000 new by itself.

I love my Miller!

 

[radman1]

Well, it turns out the deal is a scam. The ad says he lives locally but it turns out he is currently in the UK bla, bla, bla.

 

[George2615]

Check with your local welding supply house. Some sell factory reconditioned welders. My local store sold me a reconditioned Miller Bobcat 250NT with 19 hrs. on it for under $2500 with new cables and clamps and a two year warranty. That was about 3 years ago. Has about 90 hrs. now with no problems. I use it for misc. welding and as a backup Generator for the house.

 

[radman1]

George2615

That is a good idea.

 

[4shorts]

You can't go wrong with a Miller. My shop has all Miller gear. I put a new Trailblazer in service last year and it's been fantastic. I built a custom trailer to pull it around as well. The 302 has a duel in generating system that will put our plenty of power as well. I'm more than pleased with it.

 

[jayste]

4shorts, that is one good looking rig! Miller ought to pay you for advertising.

If it were me I'd look for a unit that didn't have a Onan engine on it. I'm not knocking Onan's for reliability but parts are out of this world; If you can find them! I happend on to a very, very used Bobcat 225G with a shelled Onan engine that was owned by a oil drilling company for cheap. After tearing into the engine and finding out that the crank and block were ruined that's when I got the Onan lesson. I've considered retrofitting another engine but that's as far as I've gotten.

Jay

 

[JohnDeere4300]

You can't go wrong with a Miller. My shop has all Miller gear. I put a new Trailblazer in service last year and it's been fantastic. I built a custom trailer to pull it around as well. The 302 has a duel in generating system that will put our plenty of power as well. I'm more than pleased with it.

Very nice 4shorts!

You really did a great job on the trailer.... I like how you made the storage.

Yea Jay is right, Miller should pay you for advertising.

This is hard for me to say since I own Fords... But nice truck. .............

Thanks for sharing!

 

[4shorts]

Very nice 4shorts!


This is hard for me to say since I own Fords... But nice truck. .............

Thanks for sharing!

Oh man I know it must of hurt like heck to say that

Thanks guys glad you liked the trailer. When I bought my Trailblazer new last year I had a choice of two engines. I could have either the Kohler or the Subaru/Robin and I picked the Subaru/Robin because the shop that does the repairs for both engines said the Subaru/Robin didn't give any trouble but the Kohler had some cylinder head problems. I've had no trouble with the complete unit and glad I got the thing.
Onan haven't been used in Miller welders for years now. I don't think they even exist anymore. They were a good engine and were used in many applications but you may be right on the price for the parts.

If you want to see a video of the making of the trailer I added the link. As Miller said "Dream it, Weld it". Seeing you liked the trailer I attached a video of the Crazy Cart I designed and fabricated for the new Dynasty DX200. I think you might enjoy that one as well. It has it's own license plate and trailer hitch, fenders, storage area and all custom graphics with some air brushing amongst other unique features. I'll let you look for the rest of them

By the way. In the picture you'll see a bucket that I was patching. that was a few months ago. Today I got it back for a total rebuild. Sure was happy to have my old forklift for this lift. The bucket is off a Cat 320 excavator and it's big and heavy. Here's a picture of it.


YouTube - welding trailer

YouTube - Crazy Cart

 

[Scotty370]

jayste-Not highjacking, but I had heard that Onan's are no longer made. This site may be of interst:  Question List

 

[skidsteer.ca]

Not sure where to put this post. Saw a Miller 302 Trailblazer welder with Kohler motor for sale. 266 hours, 1.5-2 years old on a 4x6 steel trailer. The seller is asking $2300. Price seems good but I don't know anything about this welder. I have a Miller 250 mig welder and works fine but I had no experience with a stick welder until this weekend. The idea of portable welder is interesting because I can't always fix things in my shop and 10000 watts of portable power could be handy. This weekend, I borrowed a 30 year old, portable DC welder with 200 cu ford motor and welded a broken rod on a windmill and fixed a broken piece on an irrigation pivot. Never could have done that in my shop. DC stick was kind of cool to watch compared to MIG. Can actually see the arc jump from the rod to the metal -kind of like a short lightening bolt.

Any tips on portable welders? Any info on the Miller 302 would be appreciated.

I have a old 200 amp miller from the 80's with a onan 16 hp that has a some major hours (no meter) but still runs great. I bought a 280 miller, which they now call the 302, with a Kohler. It been a good welder too, for the 460 hours I have put on it so far.
They also stand behind them. The first 280 I got, had about 120 hours on it when Miller called me, Some of the machines in my serial # range had the armature coming loose on the crank. They wanted mine back to check it out. But I was busy using it daily, so they said keep running it, a new one in in the truck on its way, when it arrives, ship your old one back.

They must have sold it as a refurb too, and someone got a deal on it I'm sure, as it never missed a beat for me. There is alot of blue paint around my shop, needless to say.
Ken

 

[BobG_in_VA]

jayste-Not highjacking, but I had heard that Onan's are no longer made. This site may be of interst: *Question List

The Onan's are not made anymore. However, my unit only had 11 hours on it when I got it (has about 60hrs now). It was kept in the garage the whole time the guy had it. Got a great deal on it with the leads. I'm betting that it will outlive me and the next guy that owns it with minimal maintenance (got my fingers crossed!). The Onans were the "the standard" for industrial use for years. Oil filters are plentiful at any Miller dealer. bobG in VA