Welder opinions

[cutter88]

My welder is getting tired so I sold it off a guy wanted it for the generator... So I'm looking at brand new gas engine powered ones what's everyone else running? We're leaning toward the Lincoln 225 ranger

[BargeMonkey]

 Depends what your actually doing with it ?  Just basic ac-dc welding or do you plan on running a carbon arc off it ? Big wire feed like an LN-25 ?  I recently struggled with the same problem. Youve got to carefully look at the options, depending on if its carb or fuel injected, with an ecm or not. A diesel welder isnt worth the money for what im doing. Our local welder runs miller, and the people who crush for us run miller, if your comparing the 200-250 amp machines miller amd lincoln are close to identical. I bought a 325 trailblazer, DC only with out the airpack. Shop around online, thats where the best deals are, factory warranty shipped right to your door.

[Gadrock]

I believe the new Lincoln ranger and the Blue thing are both CC/ac/cv...which means that you can run a wire hand held unit, or stick weld, or tig, AC or DC+ or DC-

That does not mean a lot to some and does more to someone like me. But I already have different machines for all of those same things. those 225 machines will do more than most farm / rancher / logger/professional guys until you start welding 1/4 rods all day long. Of course those would be big heavy duty cycle rigs.

Most welders are usable as a genset but are highly inefficient at that task.

If I were going to buy a good unit today either color rig of that same type would be acceptable with me, especially if they had foot pedal remote control options. That is not such a high tech item to ask for either.

One thing those machines does have is a great OCV level...open circuit voltage...which allows you to soft start a stick without it sticking to the base metal. Good machines have this.

Comparable in price. Get gas and turn off the fuel to drain the fuel while running. Diesels are for pros...in welders...in my opinion.

David g


carry on

[thenorthman]

I just picked up an older lincoln weldan 225, got it for a song... low hours just old, its more then enough machine for my little fixes, and if I where so inclined I could run my mig off of it.  So far I really like it other then its been 20 years since I've done much stick welding...

Probably a little anemic to be running carbon arc off it, but dealer says 3/16 carbon rod only needs 200amps...I've yet to try that yet as I don't have the torch or a compressor with the stones to make it work.

If I had unlimited funds... and my choice of machines, I'd probably go with a miller diesel, partly because I like the box shape of the millers, and I've always had good luck with miller stuff. Diesel because I don't plan on using the welder daily or even monthly, and with the ethanol in our fuel out here thats basically asking for a carb rebuild everytime I want to use the welder... and everytime I'm going to want the use the welder is because something broke and needs fixed...

[Timbercruiser]

I weld in constrution for a living doing quality tig and preassure pipe work. Alot of guys now run a lincoln ranger on a rig truck. I never used one but they say its great and a huge price saving . Just never arc air with a small machine . If you want to arc air just go get a rental

[redprospector]

In 04 my 30 year old Miller Bluestar quit me and I couldn't get parts. So I figured I'd just get a new Miller. I got the Bobcat 250 and I love it. It's a little harder to just throw in the truck than the Bluestar, but it's a lot more welder too.
The town I live in runs all Hobart machines. I think Miller owns them, or vica-versa.

[36 coupe]

Miller and Hobart are owned by Illinois Tool Works.Hobart tends to be lower priced.

[1270d]

whats considered a small machine for air arc?  we use the miller trailblazer for it and it works well, although im not a professional welder.   

another handy thing to look at when buying a machine is dual armature.  with this you can run other things while welding.  we run a small air compressor when using air arc.

[bushmechanic]

 One of the companies I used to work for purchased a Lincoln Ranger 225 gas welder about four years ago. It had the Kohler engine and I must say it exceeded my thoughts on what it could do. That particular company had five excavators and I rebuilt all the buckets with that welder. There was a lot of one inch and three quarter plate and one and a half inch moldboards and shanks welded with that little welder. You have to give them there own time as not overheat it but you will be suprised at what it can do. Never had an issue with it just put gas in it and regular oil changes. I even had an extension cord made so I could use a migpack 180 with the generator side. I would recommend one to anybody.

[Southside]

I have a Miller Bobcat 250 that I am quite happy with, I have welded anything with it that I needed to including aluminum and it works nice as a remote generator when you need power.  I have used it to run the house when the electric was out for a week.  May not be the most efficient in that setting, but it did just fine.  At the moment the welder is out of gas because somebody forgot to fill it up the last time it was used and being the end of the week most all the saw gas was mixed or used up.  My other post has the rest of that story...  If you built a little trailer for it one could easily move it around on concrete by hand or use a lawn mower or pickup to get it around rough places.  I usually just toss it into the bed of the pickup and keep it close to where I am working for when I need it. 

[Timberjack_395XP]

I run an Lincoln air vantage 500 & 305D ranger. The 305 is a good all around machine for running suitcases and such its pretty good but pulls hard when using all processes at once.The 500 is just a straight up brute it has a 3cyl cummins use it for air arc things like that at 485 amps plenty of power if you have serious jobs to do.

[Randy88]

I own a miller bobcat 250 and have a suitcase feeder for it as well, I like the machine a lot, mine is old enough that it doesn't have much if any electronics on them, but the new one's bother me a lot, with digital read out and circuit boards to control everything, I've heard some horror stories from some of the locals that have issues with those components and the costs associated with them, or the inability to even get some of the parts, which have already been discontinued.   

To buy another one new, I'm not sure what I'd buy, I just went through this with a wire welder for the shop, everything is nice when its new, but my old stuff is over 30 years old before we replaced it, I'm not thinking any of the new electronics will last anywhere near that long, forcing a person to buy new in only a few short years, rather than decades.

I've been told by some of the fix it shops, that miller has discontinued a lot of electronic components over five years old, this comes for the those that fix them, they are also telling me not to worry about keeping anything for another 30 years, chances are I'll get to buy plenty more welders before my fixing days are done, and to me that wasn't really a positive thing, I tend to get used to something and like to hang on it for decades, hopefully because its working without problems and is dependable.   

[36 coupe]

I have done electronics repair since the 50s.Looked at a board for an Esab welder. The switches were part of the circuit board and were shot.A new board was 700 bucks, almost half the cost of a new welder.You can buy a large screen TV for 300 bucks.Parts for welders are at ripoff prices.A fellow who needed a blower motor for his pellet stove said the mfg wanted 275.00 for a new motor.He bought the same motor for 40 bucks from Grainger.Grainger id was on the original motor.Prices on parts have gone nuts.Before you buy a new welder ask how much a new board would cost.