Need a MIG welder

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ratrod101

New member
Joined
Sep 10, 2011
Messages
4
Hello

I'm looking for a reliable MIG welder that's not to expensive. Does anyone have any good suggestions? I have been looking at Longevity's MIG welders but still want to do more research. Any recommendations?

Thanks
 
Try these guys for very good deals on quality equipment:
http://store.cyberweld.com/

This question comes up on occasion. Basically, what you really want is a 220v Miller180 or similar Lincoln (maybe Hobart) with gas. They're quality machines good for frame work, have autoset for ease of use, and just generally perform better. Resale value is better too.

Anything less and you're trading off something to save money. 110v is not enough power for serious frame work. You can add gas later, but it's easier to weld thin with it. The rest is just less frustration.

We all understand it's a big purchase, so bottom line, buy the best and then the biggest you can afford.

Good wire makes a difference too.
 
A wise man once said, "Cheap costs money" and I agree, though I'm still cheap. :D

I was fortunate to buy two of my machines from local distributors, both as "demonstrators". Both came with full warranty and factory support but hundreds under retail. Just a thought...

.
 
Depends on what you plan to do with it and your ability. As stated earlier you can't go wrong with miller. I also recommend a local dealer, they will stand behind it and warranty it if you should have any problems and will be there to help with consumables and questions. also cheap off brand welders are hard to get parts for. lincoln is another good name.
 
I have a Miller Millermatic 180 (230 volt) with the auto set feature and i'll tell you it welds great. The first MIG i bought was a cheap one from Eastwood (135 A, 110 volt) and it worked pretty well for about 1 year. Then all of the sudden one day it just started welding like crap. I got so fed up with it cause i was in the middle of trying to finish a project on time that i just ordered the Miller from Cyberweld.com. I never looked back it was well worth the money. I wish i had gone that route in the first place instead of going cheap. I would not recommend Eastwood welders or plasma cutters for that matter. I had one of those and it was a POS too, ended up buying a Miller and i love it. Bottom line is do your self a favor and save up the extra cash to get a name brand piece of equipment, you wont be sorry. Best of luck.

-Chris
 
If you were expecting one answer to your question then that's not how it was going to go down.
Each of use has our preference and it shows.
Whether you go Blue, Red or Tan (Hobart ?) we all agree that quality and a one time purchase is the way to go.
 
I have a Miller 211 Autoset. It has plugs for both 110v or 220v. I haven't run much on 110v but it works well on sheet (thinner stuff). With the 220v it does a sweet job on anything up to 1/4". It welds very smooth with very little splatter.

I like the Autoset because it takes a turn of one knob the change material thickness. You can go from 18 ga to 1/4" in about a second.

Cheap? Probably not at the beginning, but in the long run it may be the least expensive investment you could make.
 
I also have the miller 180 autoset, if I had the money I would have gone for the 211 as stated above. Probably the best piece of welding equipment I have used for building a vehicle from the ground up.
 
I have a Hobart 135. It is a low budget base MIG which has a descent regulator for gas; around $500. I have used it for many years. Let me rephrase that, I have abused it for many years; hard. I have asked it to do many things outside the scope of what it was meant for. I have used well past duty cycle to the point of thermal cut off several times in a fashion which would void the warranty. I weld thin metal and thick metal on projects which I was told I could not.

I have gone through a couple of liners and many many 5 foot bottles of gas as well as many many large spools of wire.

I have welded thin metal, fenders body parts, I have welded 1/2" thick backhoe buckets from scratch, built the back end of a flatbed truck, and even welded on 1" thick blades on an 8 foot bush hog. Everything from farm implements to throttle brackets to sheet metal.

There is one caveat. It was all done with .023" wire. The welder just handles and penetrates with the small wire in a way it will not come close to with .030 wire.

Hobiest learn to do with what they have. If this welder goes up in smoke today it has done more then I ever asked it to do and I would buy another in a heartbeat.


Bucket2.jpg
 
In our family we bleed Miller Blue. We have a 210 and 211 Mig and a 200 Syncrowave Tig, and every one of them has been way beyond perfect. The 210 has been used and abused for probably 8 or 9 years and has laid down miles of welds. The only thing we have replaced is a liner in the hose so far.

No question that a quality welder is a huge hit to the wallet, but it is a piece of equipment that will keep working day in and day out for years and years. If you buy a cheap one you will outgrow it and end up with a good one anyway IMO.

Don
 
If you are looking for a 110V unit, look at the Lincoln HandyMig series. I bought one from Sears online, and love it. It's 10 times the welder than the Chinese one I had before. It will go flux or gas, I have only used flux on mine so far. Only thing about gas is the regulator doesn't have a gauge, never understood why that is. I bought a gauge to put on mine, just haven't ever gotten around to getting a bottle for it yet.

I would love to have one of those Millermatic jobs, but they were out of my price range. If I need to weld thick stuff, I just break out my rusty trusty Lincoln stick welder.
 
I have a Hobart from Norther tools cost around $500 its a 110 volt unit so it can be used anywhere. I only use it for light work sheet metal to 10 ga steel

for heaver work I have an ESAB multy master 260 it a mig, tig, stick requires 220 signal phase or 3 phase wires either way
 
Hey guys ; I can see there is some deal going on in hear; thanks a lot for all the suggestions, even if they weren't addressed to me!

Here is a present for you all; I usually try to find used machinery close to my place, so I can pick it up myself and check that it works fine, I am so picky that sometimes I do several trips just to compare the options. Recently I bought a welding machine online from a company that guarantees the quality. Here is the link of their page in case you want!

http://www.surplex.com/en/home.html

I can only speak from my experience but I am pretty happy w the deal I got
 
On the hobart 135, can you change the lead out to lets say 25 foot? or are they a lot shorter? It sounds interesting, my Chinese one lasted about 6 months and it's weld lead wasn't changeable and generally sucked in general.
 

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