hobartt mig welders

**taterjuice** · 03-22-2012, 01:58 PM

Anyone own em ? Gonna buy one pretty sure was considering the hobart want a miller but don't have 2 grand to send right now.

**corycouch** · 03-22-2012, 03:30 PM

imo miller is king, but i have a hobart its a cheapo model you can get at home depot about 4 to 5 hundred,but it had a miller gun thats why i went ahead and got it, its okay for what i do, if you spend two grand id go with the blue and white

**taterjuice** · 03-22-2012, 03:41 PM

Was thinking on either 185 or 200 amp model will do most of what I need to rarely weld on anything thicker than 3/8 been using my dads but he's 15 miles from my house and IT'd be easier to have my own and not have to drive.

**CraigKapo** · 03-22-2012, 11:05 PM

They are pretty nice welders for the price. I used to have one as my portable, since it was 120v and thats usually easier to find. Have you looked at Eastwood at all? They make prof. grade stuff, and are usually pretty reasonable. Might be worth a look. WWW.EASTWOOD.COM

Also you may concider one capable of running fluxcore (gasless) as well as running as a MIG. You would be able to run it on gas most of the time, but if you ever had to take it somewhere, switch out the spool for some flux cored wire and leave the tank at home.

**taterjuice** · 03-22-2012, 11:30 PM

Prolly will run flux core I've used.before and its ok most my welding will be done outside

**CraigKapo** · 03-23-2012, 02:37 AM

Originally Posted by taterjuice

Prolly will run flux core I've used.before and its ok most my welding will be done outside

I was taught on a mig when I went to school to get certified. We were really quite spoiled when it came to the equipment we had to use. Mainly all Millers, a few very large Hobart Arcs (were talking the size of a honda crx) and 1 ESAB.
After graduating, it was hard to cope with not having the access to such amaizing machines. Often, flux core welders were the only things I could get my hands on when borrowing from freinds.
Compared to MIG, I personally think it takes alot more practice to master. Maybe because the lack of adjustments on the cheaper machines, or possibly just the lack of sheilding gas I was so used to. But like everything else, practice makes perfect.

If fluxcore is what you think will be the primary welding you will be doing, there are pleanty of great options out there as far as welders. I would just highly recomend picking a flux welder with a place to hook on a bottle if you ever wanted to use it as a mig. It really doesnt cost much more for one with the hook-ups, and if ever a project comes along that you want all nice clean looking welds, you can swap over to mig and get the beautiful welds your looking for.

**Rio** · 03-23-2012, 02:43 PM

We have a 175 in the shop, it runs out great. Has a miller gun on it.

**taterjuice** · 03-24-2012, 12:50 AM

How thick will that weld.in single pass ?

**gustavus** · 03-24-2012, 06:55 AM

Which ever Mig you get make sure it comes with the new style Euro connection on the whip. This way your not boxing yourself into a corner when you want to upgrade by having to purchase proprietary equipment.

Any Euro will interchange with any machine made to accept Euro no matter of brand, its universal.

I use the Binzel gun and found that the whip is the most flexible one I've ever used and would never go back to using a bulky proprietary unit. Try one you'll love it.

.

**taterjuice** · 03-25-2012, 12:20 AM

Thanks evryone for your feedback

**Rio** · 03-25-2012, 07:42 PM

mine will do 1/4 in a single pass.

**gustavus** · 03-25-2012, 07:55 PM

With me it's not how thick of metal you can weld but how light, my Mig is 225 amp and it has some cool features.

For instance when welding light material ie: body and panel work there's a setting that interrupts the weld to allow cooling of the weld zone. It all happens so fast you never see the intermittent arc.

On another setting for this long welds once set when you pull the trigger once on the gun the wire feeds continuous until you toggle the trigger switch again. Great for doing build up work on cat sprockets and rollers.

The MIg is still reasonably new to me and I'm still learning about all the features.

**CraigKapo** · 03-25-2012, 10:31 PM

Originally Posted by Rio

mine will do 1/4 in a single pass.

But on how thick of metal? You could buy a 90 amp noname welder and lay a 1/4" bead on 1/4" thick metal. Its not going to hold the pieces together, but it can lay a bead on top... Its all about the penetration. Without it, all youve done is added a metal worm where you need your pieces to be joined.

Please dont take this as me being a jerk. Its just important to know the limits of metal thickness a welder can handle. Its not about the bulge on top. Its how deep into the pieces the bead goes that will determine the strength of the weld.