• Welcome to The Truck Stop! We see you haven't REGISTERED yet.

    Your truck knowledge is missing!
    • Registration is FREE , all we need is your birthday and email. (We don't share ANY data with ANYONE)
    • We have tons of knowledge here for your diesel truck!
    • Post your own topics and reply to existing threads to help others out!
    • NO ADS! The site is fully functional and ad free!
    CLICK HERE TO REGISTER!

    Problems registering? Click here to contact us!

    Already registered, but need a PASSWORD RESET? CLICK HERE TO RESET YOUR PASSWORD!

which welding machine should i buy

J

jackh

New Member
Messages
250
Reaction score
0
Location
Lone Star State
its a noob question i know. i learned how to weld on my uncles mig a couple yrs ago and i really want my own machine now. i want to go with mig b/c it seems like itd be the easiest for me to use and deal with. plus, im not gonna be doin any really serious stuff. just like a BBQ pit or other small stuff of that sort. ive heard from many ppl i should go miller, but idk which model. any help? thanks
 
Miller Millermatic 252. Its a little pricey ($1980) but well worth it.

If you set it up with .030 wire you can weld sheet metal, swithc the spool to .35 and you can weld up to 1/4" plate and switch it to .045 flux core wire and you can burn 1" plate.

also it has the smoothest arc out of any welder I have ever ran
 
What about the 210?? I think the new number is 212 or 215 though. You can use it as 100 or 220. And it can weld some fairly heavy stuff. its still a big frame big spool welder too.

IMO the Millermatic 252 will be the last welder you ever buy. You simply wont need to get anything better bigger or smaller.

As for little pocket welders I dont really know what to suggest. Lincolns are good too.
 
I just looked at the 180 and it looks like a nice product. And you can add a cheap Spoolmate 100 for welding aluminum.

up to you and your pocket book really.
 
ya the 180 is what im leanin towards, i really dont have the money for the 252 or id get it. now i gotta get a quote for droppin a line in my garage lol
 
Get the biggest/best machine you can afford. You don't want to find out later that you don't have enough machine as your skills and projects get bigger.
 
cant tell you how many times ive heard that. its jut that i cant spend a grand on a machine. im lookin for one around $700 bc ill probably lookin at almost another grand in metal working tools since i dont really have any
 
I like a miller as much as the next guy. Have a Syncrowave 250 and a MM210 (and would say as others have that if you can come up with the $$ get one) but...

I also have a Hobart 175 (would be 180 now i think) that I have had for at least 5 years now and have run A LOT of wire thru that thing. I have even run aluminum thru the main gun (no spool gun) with success. BTW you can get a spool gun for it if you are gonna do a lot of aluminum. I used it as my primary machine when I was just getting started for a while before I bought my syncrowave and MM210. Now it sees a lot of "abusive" work on tractors, my loader etc. More of the dirty work if you will :) I hope I'm not jynxing it but it has held up well. It's not as versitle as the miller when it comes to infinite voltage and wire speed control, but it does have enough flexibility to do most light to med duty jobs. You can pick them up in your price range new and get good service out of them. IMO Hobart is a good machine for non-production use and is priced a little better then some.
 
I would suggest the 252 over the 210 though. If you have 220v and dont need to be able to run 110v through the welder spend the extra on the 252.
 
omfg i just found out my buddy knows the owner of a huge welding supply company here in houston and he thinks i could get hooked up with a machine at cost price..... i told him to look into the mm180 as and the 252 :):):)
 
Its good to have hookups. My unlce used to work for miller.

My neighbor has his own fab shop and got me an Ellis saw at cost.
 
The best thing anout the millers is how easy they are to juice up. The shop you buy from should be able to crank her up a bit for you. I own a Bobcat 250G engine dribe a 251 Miller matic and a 140 autoset all are great units, and are good at there intened purpose. It all depends on what you want to melt together really.
 
well with the 252 wont i be able to do almost anything? im not gonna be fabin stuff up all the time but ill have some project here and there. things like large BBQ pits maybe a headache rack for my truck things like that and maybe more when i think of them. everyone just keeps tellin me get as much as you can afford and i think ill be able to afford the 252 at cost :)
 
I suggest like everyone else has! Get the 252 never had any trouble with the ones I have use!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top