Welder Advice

JMOliver

JMOliver

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 17, 2008
Location
Winston-Salem
Im looking to buy a welder this week and was woundering what was the best bang for the buck. Like to keep it under 500 dollors. Was looking at the ones at Homedepot/Lowes They come with mask, regulator.

Suggestions?. I also saw one at Tractor Supply Think it was a Hobart.

Thanks
JMOliver
 
I have a hobart from tractor supply, ive never had a problem out of it since i got it, and it has miller leads. I can get a lot better looking weld with it then i could with the lincoln i used to borrow from my grandpaw, and seems to have a lot smoother power and feed with it. Take it for what its worth, this is just my opinion and i am by no means a professional welder
 
Find a used Miller and buy a decent helmet. Not a Horrible Fright auto dark. There's been a couple of Miller 135s on craigslist recently. Not great deals, but not bad, either. There was also a newer Miller on there, I think a 140, for a reasonable price. The 135 is a 115v unit, and a pretty heavy beast, but it's got a great arc and lots of power for it's size. For the money, I couldn't recommend anything HD or lowe's sells. If you find one and you want it looked over, I'd be happy to help if I can.

The Hobarts from TSC would be your next best bet. Not bad, but not a Miller. DO NOT buy wire or consumables from them, though. Airgas by the airport is going to be much cheaper. Like 1/3 the price on wire.
 
an important question is, what do you want to build with the welder?

i have a lincoln 125, got it at lowes for around $500 with a helmet. i love it. very smooth. it'll do up to 1/4" in a single pass. i mainly use it on flux core, but i'd like to get some gas for it eventually, just to clean up the welds.

i've heard good things about the hobart 140 too, i know a bunch of people on another forum that have them. northern tool has them too.

i dont think you'll go wrong with either one. i'd get an auto darkening helmet too, once you've used one you wont want to weld without one.
 
I have a hobart 187 from northern tool and i love it. If you have a 220 outlet its what i would suggest for the price range your looking at.
 
I think you'd be fine with a good 110 unit and flux core wire. Cheaper to operate, extension cords are MUCH cheaper, and it's more portable. Personally, I've got one of each. I had a big-assed 220v welder, then had to borrow my uncle's Miller 130 to do a job in a driveway with no 220 access. So now I've got both.
 
catfishblues said:
Find a used Miller and buy a decent helmet. Not a Horrible Fright auto dark. There's been a couple of Miller 135s on craigslist recently. Not great deals, but not bad, either. There was also a newer Miller on there, I think a 140, for a reasonable price. The 135 is a 115v unit, and a pretty heavy beast, but it's got a great arc and lots of power for it's size. For the money, I couldn't recommend anything HD or lowe's sells. If you find one and you want it looked over, I'd be happy to help if I can.

The Hobarts from TSC would be your next best bet. Not bad, but not a Miller. DO NOT buy wire or consumables from them, though. Airgas by the airport is going to be much cheaper. Like 1/3 the price on wire.
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I have had great luck with a harbor freight auto darkening helmet, but I don't weld very often. For the price it has been great, if I welded as an occupation I would spend more.

As far as a Hobart being "not bad, but not a Miller" No, it's not a Miller, but it is produced on the same line as Miller using many of the same components with a few less features, and directed more towards the hobbyist than an industrial use.

I like my Hobart 187, keep an eye out, I picked mine up for $500 last summer at TSC on sale.
 
for just 1/4" stuff, i'd find a cheap 110 unit that'll run off a wall outlet and run flux core wire. i'd love to have a miller as well, but they were way out of my price range. i'm not building stuff to sell and i dont need to be able to weld 1/2" material in a single pass. i need to hook up my exhaust or build a bumper or some sliders. i even built my dad some tikki torches out of 1/2" rebar and some flat stock.

i still wouldnt go to harbor f*cked though, i only buy crap from there when i need a tool to use one time and i dont want to spend a ton of money on it.
 
I have an old Hobart Handler 125 that I have been borrowing from my FIL for a year or so. He welds for a living and has more welders than he needs. For what I do, it is perfect. I have built a bumper that has held up to a 9k winch pullin hard. If you can weld, then any decent machine will work for you.
 
http://charlotte.craigslist.org/tls/2835043451.html

http://charlotte.craigslist.org/tls/2813091621.html

There are a couple decent deals on craigslist. Considering that those two come with the bottles makes them an even beter deal.

I would not buy a 110v welder thats not made by Miller, Lincoln, or at least hobart. My dad is in the tool business so I've messed around with tons of different machines and from experience "hobby" machines like Campbell Hausfeld, Clarke, Harbor freight or any other rebadged version are not worth buying. They just don't have the power that they advertise.
 
I would buy a 220 machine as well. You can turn down a 220 machine but it is hard to turn up a 120 machine.

But if it were down to a quailty 120 machine vs. a bad 220 machine. I would go with the quality machine.

Hobart should be regarded in the same class as Miller and Lincoln.
 
you dont need one of those fancy carts. i snagged mine from a dumpster at the autozone i used to work at:

ai893.photobucket.com_albums_ac134_88_Eddie_BII_P3070003.jpg


i've been meaning to add more to it, but i havent yet. it's a smaller than normal shopping cart from a drug store i think.
 
88 BII said:
you dont need one of those fancy carts. i snagged mine from a dumpster at the autozone i used to work at:
http://i893.photobucket.com/albums/ac134/88_Eddie/BII/P3070003.jpg[IMG]
i've been meaning to add more to it, but i havent yet. it's a smaller than normal shopping cart from a drug store i think.[/QUOTE]
I like that :hmm: I just went with a Harbor Freight cart I got with a coupon for $15 IIRC, it does the job, it was a little flimsy so I stiffened it up, but other that that you can't hardly buy the casters for that cheap.
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GCncsuHD said:
I like that :hmm: I just went with a Harbor Freight cart I got with a coupon for $15 IIRC, it does the job, it was a little flimsy so I stiffened it up, but other that that you can't hardly buy the casters for that cheap.
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i figured it was meant to be when i found it. i was manager at autozone at the time......so i never had to take the trash out.....but that night i was closing with a guy that had hurt his back so he couldnt lift anything. i thought about it for a second and decided i was supposed to have it lol. i did make the guy i was closing with disinfect it since i took the garabage out for him lol.


i would've taken a $15 cart from HF, they were $75 or $100 when i looked there and like you said, seemed a little flimsy. this one was free and it's solid as hell
 
Another vote for Hobart. I think they're great for the money. I've had mine for about 7 years now and never had a problem with it.
 
Been running a Hobart 175 since 2002. The 175,180,187 are all basically the same. I've ran some very nice Miller's and Lincoln's here at work, but I'm still quite happy with my Hobart.
 
Yep the Hobart 187's are great little machines for sure. I've used a few of them and they are great for the money.
 
I just bought a Miller 211 MVP with Autoset. It is an awesome machine. It was a race team welder, so I got it for almost half price and it is only a year old. I would check with the local welding supply houses and see when they will get more race team machines in.
 
I have had my Hobart 187 for 5 or so years maybe and love it. I recommend them to everyone that is looking for something in that range. They really are impressive welders for the $$.
 
Spence said:
I have had my Hobart 187 for 5 or so years maybe and love it. I recommend them to everyone that is looking for something in that range. They really are impressive welders for the $$.
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Same here. I use the crap out of mine and it still works just as well as the day I got it. Good machine for the money and has a smoother arc than my neighbor's Lincoln 175. Hey neighbor, :flipoff2:.




:lol:
 
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