About to Buy a Welder...

85TrailRunner

85TrailRunner

Member
Joined
Mar 16, 2007
Location
Monroe
I've never welded before but am looking to learn & get into it as a hobby & have a few ideas right now. I'm not looking to earn a paycheck by welding, just do some project welding around the house. I've read on several sites that the MIG welding is the easiest to learn & can make nice looking welds that are strong. Right now I'm looking at the Hobart Handler 187 230v MIG from NorthernTool. I'm not looking to spend anymore than $650 on just the welder so that limits my options because once you buy the welder then I figure you gotta buy bottles, helmet, gloves, etc. & it'll add up quick. Some ideas I had in mind & reasons behind the 230v were that I am going to lift my 4Runner soon(after I learn the basics of MIG of course & do some small projects first) & would have to relocate the spring hangers, make front & rear bumpers, sliders, etc. The NorthernTool website had really good customer reviews on this welder but what does everyone else think of it or the Hobart brand? Any input would be appreciated. Thanks.:beer:
 
welder

Hey man I have used smaller welders like this before with no problems. It should handle about anything on a vehicle up to 1/4". As far as the helmet and other things you dont have to start off big. The helmet I use at work is a $350 Miller Elite. The $40 to $50 Jackson helmets will work just fine. I have to weld 6-8 hours a day so an auto darkening helmet is required. Once you get started just remember that metal prep is just as important as anything else in welding. There seems to be a few pros on here. I'm sure that they have alot of input to.
 
I will post up my usual here for newbie welding. Something to consider if you are not going to weld alot is the Ready Welder which is a portable MIG welder.

The portable part means you can store it on the trail rig and use it as needed in the deep woods when something breaks. You can also use it at the house for any welding jobs, though it is not quite as easy as just grabbing the other MIG gun and going.

I bought the model that has the DC adapter and later I scored an AC/DC stick welder that is my DC electric source for welding at the house with the Ready Welder.

I have under the $650 with both my RW and my used Miller AC/DC stick. So far they have done anything I needed at home!

If you get interested in that, PM Upnover he is a RW dealer here on the board

Sam
 
The Hobart is an excellent choice. I have the Hobart 175 and have welded everything I need to weld with it. I have been very happy with mine.
Another good choice is the Lincoln brand welder that sLowes has, it's about $600 plus tax. Very similar to the Hobart as far as operation.
If you do choose to go the Ready Welder route let me know. I use mine mainly for trail use, but as Sam said you can use it at home too. You can use a DC stick machine as the power source or you can use a couple of 12V batteries. Pretty good lil machine if I do say so. I had to build a drive shaft last weekend up at Callalantee with mine. I won't go out on the trail without it.
 
I just bought the HH187 6 weeks ago and have been very impressed with it. It has a good reputation for a reason. For the money, you can't buy a better 180amp class machine. IF you feel like making your way to Gason county, I'll let you make some sparks with it and make a decision for yourself.
 
I'll do my regular response to this...

Buy a lincoln buzz box. It cheap and easy to learn. Of course it will be stick welding, but in my past supervisor (and welder) experience in heavy industrial construction, people that know how to stick weld learn MIG and TIG much faster and are, overall, a much better welder.

You can get the whole buzzbox setup for around $450 and includes some small welding tools and a shield.

If you are dead set on a MIG the Hobart is a decent welder for the $$$ and the Ready Welder is a good one if you don't plan on using it for production welding. Plus it doubles as a trail welder for minor repairs
 
I'de have to say that the Ready Welder is good for much more heavier repairs, not just minor. Chip's welded major stuff with it with no problems at all. He has loaned it out a couple times for other's major repairs. I remember when Greg Slade had a VERY major break up at Tellico and the Ready Welder fixed it so he could get back to camp. I do think Greg did some more welding on it with another welder but, I think, only because he was unfamiliar with the Ready Welder's capabilities and it was dark or near dark that day on the trail and he wanted to make sure the welds held.

Greg is now the proud owner of a Ready Welder!
 
I really appreciate the responses. I'm ready to learn because I'm tired of having to rely on other people to do any kind of welding that I might need. Now I'm just waiting on my tax-return to arrive to actually buy the welder & begin. Using gas with a MIG is the way to go & worth it right? Whats size of wire do ya'll use normally?
 
i've had no first hand experience with anything other than my 175amp 220v lincoln mig i got from lowes.... paid 5 or 6 bills for it and i couldn't be happier.... or at least i don't think i could, hehe

thats my last 2 cents

-Erik <--- learned to weld with his lincoln with the quickness
 
85TrailRunner said:
Using gas with a MIG is the way to go & worth it right?
Click to expand...
Yep, it is for me. Unless you plan on doing all your welding on rusty steel and in the wind, ditch the flux core. As a beginner, you'll never get a good "looking" bead with FC wire.
Whats size of wire do ya'll use normally?
Click to expand...
I run .030 for just about everything I do, except sheetmetal. Then I drop in a spool of .023 wire. If you want to do a little reading and learn a few things, check out this site:
http://hobartwelders.com/weldtalk/
 
willness33 said:
Yep, it is for me. Unless you plan on doing all your welding on rusty steel and in the wind, ditch the flux core. As a beginner, you'll never get a good "looking" bead with FC wire.
I run .030 for just about everything I do, except sheetmetal. Then I drop in a spool of .023 wire. If you want to do a little reading and learn a few things, check out this site:
http://hobartwelders.com/weldtalk/
Click to expand...

Thanks for answering my 2 questions from up above. I plan on doing plenty or prep work on whatever I weld & for the most part I'll be in my garage out of the weather. I also read on another site a good thing to remember was "measure twice & weld once" so you don't have to go back & fix mistakes nearly as much. Thanks again. :gitrdun:
 
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