Welder Selection Help

folks,

I live on a small farm and have become rather proficient through trial and error with my craftsman 110 lot stick welder but it is not hot enough for some of the equipment repair I need to do. I was looking at welders at tsc and am thinking about this one:

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/hobart-ironman-230-mig-welder?cm_vc=-10005

Tell my why this is a good or bad choice and should I add the optional direct connect spool gun? Most of my welding will be heavier 1/4 inch steel on farming implements.

 

That's a great welder. Use a good gas and er70s-6 wire and let it rip

 

@Britt to the white courtesy phone please.

 

Can't view it without giving your zipcode, and can't close that popup.

That's stoopid.

 

I'd support a Hobart (Miller would be better) over a Lincoln for starters. I've just personally had more problems with Lincolns and I've owned a 110 Hobart for awhile and loved it. For ease of use and convenience consider buying a small spool of flux core before you get the tank and what not. Welds aren't as pretty but if your using a 110 stick now they will still be an improvement. As for the spool gun my vote is to pass all day. Only thing like that I ever used constantly jammed up and was terrible to work with. If your machine is running well there should never be a problem feeding wire.

 

Worked for me....

 

Why? He thinks he can weld, until he sees my handy work.










Then he KNOWS he can weld . Actually Britt is great with advice and is an amazing fab / welder and all around great dude.

 

I didn't get that, came right up for me.

 

IMO for farming repairs and stuff, I'd stick, with stick. Upgrade and get yourself a Lincoln 225 buzz box off craigslist, and have at er. Should be able to pick one up for around or under $150. Will have much more balls than your 110 stick, and is better suited to farm repairs and such.

Now on the other hand. You should be able to pick a buzz box up cheap enough that you can still buy that bigger mig too. Doesn't hurt to have both, and he who die's with the most tools wins . Get the spool gun if you plan on doing any aluminum welding, but otherwise not needed for what you're doing. Also look into getting an oxy/acetylene or oxy/propane torch for preheating,cutting, and braze repairs of cast iron stuff.

Every body likes mig because it's "easier" (to lay down good looking but extremely shitty welds). But IMO unless you're doing new steel fabrication, or thin sheet stuff stick welding is just more versatile.

 

On the farm the stick is still my go to for repairs, mig or tig for fab work.

 

Stick. Lincoln or Miller. E6011 will burn through grease and penetrate deep. Cover with E7018. Mig and Tig are for cleaner metals, not farm equipment, IMHO.

 

This ^ MIG doesn't weld worth a shit on dirty steel. I used to be a partner in a welding / machine shop, we did alot of farm and construction eq. repair, hardly ever used a mig on it.

 

Plus stick welding makes me just feel better for some reason. Maybe that’s because when I was maybe 8 or 9my grandpa taught me how to weld with one. Practiced A LOT on old scrap farm pieces, and practiced more and more and more. I absolutely love welding, something therapeutic about it.

 

The Hobart is an ok machine, I had one for years that I used for alot of projects. I ended up selling it to a guy at work and replaced it with a Miller 211. For farm use it might be worth taking a look at it. It's dual voltage (120/240) and very light so if you have to move it around it would be pretty easy.
I got a spool gun with mine for doing alum mig
If you do Tig work at all you might consider a Lincoln Squarewave 200, it does stick, alum and steel Tig, there are other multi process machines out there too
Edit: These are not industrial grade machines like Britt uses

 

Forklifts are kinda like farm equipment. I have a big stick welder my guys use. I acquired an old used mig a few years ago from a customer that owed me a bunch more money than it is worth. We haven't even bothered to hook it up, although once we move I probably will.

Also for farm use, you might consider a used stick welder/generator combo. I bought one about 2 months ago for $100. The briggs motor needs rebuilt and I bought the rebuild kit for a hundred bucks I just haven't done it yet but it supposedly works?

 

A "bad looking" stick , E6011, will hold stronger and longer than a "good looking" mig, flux core spool, weld. You have to have a good eye, ear, and sense to make a penetration weld with a mig. They can be used for structural welding but it takes practice. You have to pass a bend test to be qualified. Some pipe welders struggle with full pen welding with a mig.

 

Thanks beebers, I think I am going to get a used 220 stick for some immediate work I need and keep an eye out for a multi purpose welder on CL too. I just down loaded a couple books on welding but in the meantime can someone tell me what the differences are between AC only and Ac/DC stick welders and why I might need the latter as they seem higher priced.

 

DC gives you more rod selection and the ability to change polarity. Learn to run nice beads with 7018 dc and you'll have a good strong weld.

 

A 220 lincoln tombstone welder for 50-100 bucks off craigslist,and 7018's will do most any damn thing you need for farm equipment. Hell,7018's are designed to burn through mud,grease slop whatever you throw at it. Its what we use for pile-driving in the hole and when we do major bridge repair.

 

My suggestion is to pick what you want to do, then buy 1 welder to do that. Now, we own multiple machines because we do lots of different things. Here are a few things we weld so it takes a few different.

Car body, thin carbon, Lincoln 140, Millermatic 250
Trailers, thick carbon, Millermatic 250, Lincoln 300
Pontoon toon, thin aluminum, Lincoln 300
Trackhoe bucket, very thick carbon, Lincoln 300

The Lincoln 300 is AC/DC and is capable if wet tig rig