[Guest]

Its become painfully obvious that nobody rents MIG welders in the area, and my other sources (borrowing) have all dried up... SO, for the cost of somebody to come out to the garadge and weld my front end in, I figure I'll get a 110V mig welder. I don't even have prices on the miller or lincon, but for $299 Craftsman has a 90 amp, with everything but bottle and gas.
http://www.craftsman.com/jsp-scripts/tools/[email protected]@@@[email protected]@@@&BV_EngineID=ialhhdeelkkbgfbmgcfecfkj.0&page=brand&brandname=CRAFTSMAN - I hope that works

or the millermatic 130xp
http://www.millerwelds.com/getprod.pl?page=mig/millermatic-130.html

or the lincoln sp-100t
http://www.lincolnelectric.com/products/wprod/sp100t.asp

Any ideas what these will cost, any other models I should consider? Probably the thickest I'll ever need is 1/4", and I want to buy new... I'd like 110V, for convience, but could wire a dryer connection for 220v... And I already went back and read the posts earlier, and general concensus seemed to be 220, and price range of $600... That's alittle heafty for me...

Thank in advance.
George

Florida Mud CJ-5
'77 RB304, t-150 D20 4" 35" swampers

 

[Guest]

I would reccomend the lincoln SP125plus if you can afford it. TiP in canfield OH sells it for 699 complete bottle is another 109. My local welding shop sells it complete with bottle for 850. It will work on any 120 volt outlet, but needs 30 amps for full output. It has rheostat controls on both voltage and wire speed, and also has a better qaulity wire feeder than the lower priced models. I have had my lincoln sp250 for almost 20 years now (no longer built) I have never replaced anything more than Liners and wire guides, this welder has had well over a thousand pounds of wire and hardfacing run through it. I highly reccomend lincoln welders. The only reason I am looking at a new welder is I want something portable, that I can take any where and plug in anywhere. I anticipate that my SP250 will last another 20-30years. To sum things up I would say: stretch the budget, if you buy something good you will probably be giving it to your grand kids in 30-40 years.
good luck jjc

 

[010]

I got the miller 130 $499 at Northern Tools and Equipment comes with hookup for bottles, Regulaor, lines,etc Very, very happy

brownbagg

 

[CJDave]

/wwwthreads_images/icons/smile.gif Search the back pages and look for Loosenut's post on welders. He ended up doing what I recommended and went with the Hobart Handler in 220V. The 110V stuff is VERY limited. Our local welder guy rents MIG's and he uses the Handler because they don't give trouble. It is $599.00/wwwthreads_images/icons/crazy.gif

CJDave
Quadra-Trac modified by the crack moonguy/wwwthreads_images/icons/wink.gif/wwwthreads_images/icons/smile.gif/wwwthreads_images/icons/tongue.gif transfer case team.

 

[338]

I use a Hobart 135 Handler, it is 110V and is a great little welder. I paid $369 at Harbor Freight about a year ago.
Jeff
89 Wrangler

 

[Guest]

I went with the 90 amp craftsman, when it was on sale (10%) so I paid $269.

I picked up a 60 (lb?) bottle instead of the 20 they recommend for another $135.

I can weld with gas or flux. I am pretty happy with it, but don't kid yourself about the power. I had the setting on high using flux on my replacement rear crossmember for 4WDH, which I think is 3/16" thick it did a fine job, but I wouldn't trust it to do anything thicker. Not enough penetration.

Also I have it on a 15 amp house circut and on high it would blow the house circut in less than 1 minute of welding, I had to stop very often to let the house circut cool down. Obviuosly in doing that I never came close to the duty cycle of the welder.

All in all I'm very happy, but then again as others mentioned this something that will last 20 years so ammortize the additional $200 over that period and it pays to upgrade.

Good luck
Mark F

 

[Guest]

i ran down to hobart and got one for next to nothing i think i paid like 50 bucks for it they had a closeout sell on the demos they had.. only five minutes from them..

Low Riders are for boys who can't get it UP...

 

[13337]

In the last 6 months I have had Lincoln /wwwthreads_images/icons/mad.gif, Miller /wwwthreads_images/icons/smile.gif, and Hobart /wwwthreads_images/icons/laugh.gif

The Lincoln was trash... (Lincoln builds for sears), and was really useless.
Broken parts all the time, out of stock everything, temperamental as hell about the wire it used, the poorest quality tips I have ever seen, power regulation was a nightmare, couldn't weld anything but two like pieces of like metal and they had to be thin... and the list goes on...
--------------------------------

The Miller 110 volt mig welder did alright, and I was pretty happy with it...
Good feed control, good gas regulation, fair power regulation, and over all, it was a Miller, it just worked the way it was supposed to... Welded all sheet metal really evenly, and did a fair job on some of the thicker stuff...
Wasn't a power monster.
--------------------------------

The little Hobart 110 volt is just the ticket for light shop work! At about 135 amps, and really good wire feed control rates, a decent gas regulator, and is really cost effective.
I think I paid $269 for mine at the local tractor supply store on sale...
The only complaint I have with the Hobart is the wire has to be on a two inch spool instead of the usual 1/2" hole spool...

It won't weld 1/4" correctly, but neither would the others... and it did a great job on anything smaller. Best heavy sheet metal bracket welder I have ever used...
--------------------------------

No matter what brand you buy,

GET A 10 Lb. FIRE EXTINGUISHER AND KEEP IT HANDY!

Buy a good quality helmet with a TOP OF THE LINE FACE PLATE...
Your eyes are nothing to cut corners with...
Face plates are cheap, and most interchange in the different helmets...

DON'T USE THE FLUX CORE WIRE!!
Get a gas bottle, and use it with mild steel wire.
(I think the rental on my gas bottle is like $22 dollars a year, and it's like $14 to fill it.
If I fill my gas bottle more than 5 times a year, they forget the rental fee...)

Have extra tips on hand.
Have extra wire on hand.
Always shut off the gas bottle.

Use leather gloves while welding, (unless you like putting yourself out when on fire...)
I have a leather apron I wear while welding, Helps save your cloths and skin...
--------------------------------

If you want to weld 1/4" or thicker, you will need to go 220 volt.

.

"I Have The Body Of A God... Buddha"

 

[Guest]

TeamRush's commenst are pretty much right on. I disagree with CJDave about the 110 - I find it is all you need for a Jeep. You'll RARELY need to weld 1/4" steel on a Jeep - frames and roll cages are all 1/8"

I have had a Daytona MIG 140. It's a 110 gas job. It was $599 new about 10 years ago. Like everything else in my life (except my wife) - I have ABUSED that thing - I'm very hard on equiptment - it just keeps on ticking!

If there's that many people bragging about the 110 Hobart Handler 135 amp job, I'd go with that - sounds just fine.

P.S. - I've found the key to deep penetration with these is higher heat, lower feed speed...

Chuck Hadley

 

[13337]

True, turn the wire speed up, and all you do is pile the weld up on the materials to be welded, with little or no penetration. I found that out the hard way...

If I need 1/4" or thicker welded solidly, I use the stick welder anyway... (I need the practice)
About the only time we do 1/4" or thicker is when we are making a Jig for something, so the little Hobart gets a lot of use around here.

I found that the little 90 amp welders are just about useless for anything except thin sheet metal, and then they still kick out if you use them too long...

"I Have The Body Of A God... Buddha"

 

[291]

I love my 110V LINCOLN! Saw it at Lowe's for $309 the other day, just needs gas/bottles. 220V comes in handy for thick sh!t, just remember, you have to have 220V to use it! Everybody has 110V in the garage, back patio, neighbors front yard, etc... Welded my motor mounts on with my lincoln, worked great, also built my entire custom double tube bumpers, see my webpage for pics. have probably ran 20 spools of wire through it and several tanks of gas, still works great! just another opinion

/wwwthreads_images/icons/cool.gif Big Ed
'88 YJ, 4" susp,3" body,33's,283 Chevy V8,TH350,4.11's,D30,D35c

 

[Guest]

Well, I went around today and looked at all the welding shops in town, and I've decided to get the Lincoln sp-125Plus. I might be doing some light aluminum work in the future, and the lincoln lends it self to that eaisly. I haven't seen any hobarts, but the lincoln's infinite wire speed and voltage sold me... The miller, Daytona, and Craftsman all have four voltage levels... I'm going to pick it up tomorow, for $700 including cylinder, argon, and a complete kit.

Thanks everyone, it was a great help hearing the different opinions and experience.


Florida Mud CJ-5
'77 RB304, t-150 D20 4" 35" swampers

 

[Guest]

It depends on what Craftsman you buy. I have their 130 amp model (biggest amperage I've seen with 110V) and it has infinite power and wire speed adjustments. This one also happens to be made by Century, not Lincoln. I think I paid around $460 with the regulator.