Need advice on choosing a mig welder

What's your budget?

I got my Hobart 140 off craigslist about 5 years ago for $225, and another $100 for a bottle upgrade and fill.

Today I think that's close to a $550 welder.

It does 1/8" all day and can do up to 1/4 in a pinch.

I use a Lincoln 135 110V for my sheet metal work, nice little MIG. I would just advise staying away from the Lowe's, Tractor supply, Rural King, etc units, they will contract brands to build a home owners grade MIG at a lower price=cheaper machine. Lincoln, Miller and Hobart are all great machines so take your pick but once you have a welder you'll find more and more things to weld (build) and a 110V unit will limit what you can do. I personally would buy a 220V unit if there's any chance you'll be taking on more projects.

I'm trying to get the most I can for under a thousand. I've got a lot to buy still. Besides parts.

Scoots45 said:

Trying to decide what mig welder to purchase for my 70 Roadrunner project. Looks like I'll be doing mostly sheet metal work. However I do need to replace part of my rear frame rails due to rust. Right now I'm leaning towards the Hobart 140 since I don't have 240 out in the garage. Any advice is appreciated.

Click to expand...

Perhaps instead of buying a particular welder you could rent one for a day or so and see if what they rent you does the job you have at hand. That way you wouldn't be laying out hard to come by cash for an inadequet machine. Rentals will usually carry a broad range of welders, many of which have been discussed here. While you've got it try it out on varying thickness's of metal, assess the helmet that comes with it and find out what you like about the machine and what you dislike. I tried out four different machines including a plazma cutter at a farm show and settled on a machine that does all the brain work just by selecting the metal type and thickness. I believe the days of digital displays and selection are upon us. Who wants to piss around with wire feed speeds, amperage or a plethora of dial settings just to do a small job. Mine even has a memory so I don't have to screw around with manual settings when I repeat a type of welding more than once. Honestly, the manufacturer's want to make your welding experience as satisfying as possible lest you jump ship to another brand so give a few a try before committing to any particular brand. It's you money, invest wisely. Considering helmets can cost as much as $2500 what kind of new machine would you get for under $1000 unless you snagged a great deal on a decent used welder. Now there's an idea!

Miller matic 211. 110 or 220 dual , go blue .

Lincoln "donates" welders to NASCAR every year. I bought a "used" one from my Lincoln dealer with full warranty and for 30% off of new one. I would ask your Lincoln welder dealer if he has any ? My dealer had (2) I bought the nicer looking one. But both were in great shape.

Joey D

I personally went with a Miller 252, buts it 240 50 amp. To just do sheet metal, any small 120 volt welder will get it done. I used the Miller to do a ton of metal work on my 1969 Roadrunner and it did great. My local tool rental store rents welders. May be a good idea to rent one or play with a buddies welder and see what you like and don't like.

Make sure the duty cycle is high on whatever you buy.

5.7 hemi said:

Make sure the duty cycle is high on whatever you buy.

Click to expand...

duty cycle is the number of minutes out of 10 that a welder can run continuously at full rated power without resting. 30% duty cycle on a 200amp welder means you can run at 200amps for 3 minutes straight and need to let it rest for 7 minutes. %50 of my job at work is welding, and my welder here is 60%. ive used the full power of the machine on some thicker stuff, and i cant tell you anything ive ever dumped 200 amps into for 3 minutes straight without killing it, and i still have another 3 minutes to go without over heating the machine. we're all hobbyists here, duty cycle doesnt matter to us(unless you buy a $100 chinese welder with a 30 second cycle...) in fact, welding car sheet metal, first youre not even close to being at full power so by definition its literally impossible to reach that timing, plus if you welded flat out you'd warp every panel you touched. even welding suspension or chassis parts with more amperage, you need to level, align, clamp, grind, bend, sip your beer, go take a piss, make fun of your friend standing there not helping, patting your dog, oh ya, then weld a three inch bead on a frame rail, then repeat... no one here needs to worry about duty cycle . Anyone who is buying a welder for a production shop where of the 8 hour work day youre making sparks for 7 hours straight, you're definitely not going to being asking a forum which 110v welder to buy. duty cycle for any hobbyist, even a hardcore welds a boatload kind of hobbyist, is simply more money and not an option thats worth it, just makes the machine waaaay heavier. the trend for almost everything, typically, is get the biggest you can afford, building a garage, buying a gun safe, or and air compressor, people think the same goes for welders, but if youre only welding sheetmetal, theres very few big *** machines (all of which cost about as much as an entire rusted out b body project) that can be turned down low enough for great welds on sheet metal, ya theyll work but theres a lot of post work to do, grinding off the extra bead, flattening out and body working the panel. buying an appropriately sized, small welder will give you all the penetration you need with very good control over the full range of voltage and amperage you need to use so you can fine tune it, you cant do that if the knob is turned all the way down.

YY1 said:

What's your budget?

I got my Hobart 140 off craigslist about 5 years ago for $225, and another $100 for a bottle upgrade and fill.

Today I think that's close to a $550 welder.

It does 1/8" all day and can do up to 1/4 in a pinch.

Click to expand...

i had this welder for a long time, and it was awesome. i just upgraded to the 210 mvp for thicker projects. i sold my 140 for $400 with the cart and bottle/regulator

Wow!!!!!!

A 30-60% duty cycle is better than 20%. So you can disagree all you want, but in the end, the higher the duty cycle, the better the welder and welds.

5.7 hemi said:

A 30-60% duty cycle is better than 20%. So you can disagree all you want, but in the end, the higher the duty cycle, the better the welder and welds.

Click to expand...

Ya i still disagree. My point is anyone asking for recommendations for a 110 welder is not going to need a huge duty cycle. They dont make a 110 welder with a duty cycle higher then 20%. So irregardless, for the OPs question duty cycle doesnt matter.

k

I bought a hobart handler 140 at tractor supply last year, and it works great.

I have a Lincoln welder.. depth of weld is okay.. but not great.. Ive tried the Miller and use one at work daily.. Miller just performs better.. keeps the consistancy better..

I have a Lincoln Argon shielded Solid Core
.023 110v Welder that we bought in 1990. It's still kicking ***. Welds metal up to 1/4" great. Welds sheet metal thinner than quarter panels fine. Welds stainless good. I use it regularly. At least 3 times a week. Much more often than my 220 stick welder
I understand the same welder today would be pricey though.

Larger CV welding machines not going low enough amps to do sheetmetal is not necessarily true. It just depends on the machine. I have a CC/CV inverter machine, im not sure what its max welding output is but i can run 3/16 low high(stick) all day and run it hot at that. I can put 023 solid core in the wire feeder and weld sheet metal with it. 110 volt machines are good for sheet metal and really not much more. Never ever should be used for anything requiring strength and stress. In fact most guys that weld for a living day in and day out will not use even the larger 220v MIG welders on any high strength application.

Long time friend of mine works at the local welding supply. He has worked in the industrial tool industry his entire life. When he speaks about mig welders I listen. His words "if money doesn't matter miller products all the way." "If you have a budget the hobarts at tractor supply can't be beat." I have "access" to the use of a miller 252 and a 165? 110 unit. No complains. I'm about to purchase my own. It will be a Hobart. His advise was to check the Build date on the box. Part do to the fact that Hobart goes from the build date for the warranty not the purchase date. If it needs any warranty work.

Go to a real welding supply / gas distributor and talk to them. You will want to get the 75 % Argon / 25% CO2 mix gas, and 0.023-0.025" (depends on the machines roller setup) solid wire for sheet metal work, and they usually will give you better pricing on the helmet, gloves, and bottle with initial gas fill when you buy a machine from them.
To get an idea of machines and their low/discounted prices, check out CyberWeld and Welding Supplies from IOC. I have bought from both places, and got some really good deals. If you know this information, then you will know if the welding supply shop is giving you a good deal or trying to gouge you. I'm lucky to live in an area where there are several welding supply stores.
You will want a machine that replacement are easy to get (tips and shields for the mig gun.)
One thing I look for is the length of the mig gun. The 10' and less (miller Hobby is only 8') means you have to locate the machine really close to what you are welding, and these machines usually have cheaper roller drive assemblies. I would recommend at least a 12' mig gun/cable and ground lead (if it is in the budget.)
The newer inverter technology machines are much lighter and smaller than the older transformer machines which makes them easier to move around, and they are also more efficient (more power out, better duty cycle, uses less electricity.)

I was just looking, and it looks like all the lower end machines only come with 10' mig guns, although the MillerMatic 141 says the drive roller system will work with a 15' mig gun assembly. You might find a welding supply place that would swap out the miller 10' mig gun and credit it towards a 12' gun?

I do confess, my first machine was the Hobart Handler 120, and it had a 10' mig gun. I forgot the brand of the mig gun, but it is no longer in production and I had to get a conversion kit to use the common tips and other parts. I did buy a Tweeco 181i (multi-process) machine on close-out a few years ago for (I think $499 or $599?) Pretty good deal on that one, but it is a 220 volt machine.

My expensive machine is a Miller 280 Tig runner (TIG / stick, no mig).