welders

Well, I'm going to need a Mig welder to do some work on the Maverick. Any suggestions on a quality model that won't bankrupt me?

 

I have a relatively new Hobart MIG welder and I love it. It wasn't too expensive and it's great-- I had to deal with a Harbor Freight POS for a month until I got fed up with it. Don't buy a Harbor Freight welder, EVER. It did stand up pretty well when I ran it over, though. You can use flux-core wire if you don't want to drop the cash on a shielding gas rig, and if you ever want to you can set it up in the future, and flux-core welds aren't too terrible.

 

Buy the best machine you can afford, and something built by a welding equipment company. Lincoln, Miller, Hobart..etc...

Here's mine, it's a Lincoln 140C

 

this may help
http://mmb.maverick.to/showthread.php?t=84324

 

Mine is a Lincoln Handy Mig which sits on a Harbor Freight welding cart. I was never a welder but I can weld with this machine with no problems

 

Ditto Boss...I got mine at Home Deepeeo on the no intrest deal a few years ago sits outside and welds better than I do.

 

When I bought a Harbor Freight welding cart and plopped a welder on it, it flexed and bent and almost tipped over-- it had to be welded together, ironically enough.

 

I do that with my Harbor Junk stuff when I assemble it. I learned that lesson.

 

Can't go wrong with a Miller of at Least 130 amps.......And i think Hobart is made by Miller

 

You are right! They are owned by the same company named ITW.

 

I use a Lincoln Weld Pac 140. Great machine.

 

Exact same setup as mine, Handy Mig on a HF cart. If you tighten the bolts on the cart it won't collapse. LOL

Got my welder on evilBay for $280 shipped and a 10 lb spool of flux cored wire for $32 shipped. It's rated to weld up to 1/8" steel but I've done 1/4" ok with a double pass. Anything thicker I break out my 230 amp stick welder. Not all flux wire is created equal. The Lincoln stuff that came with the welder was pretty crappy. A pro welder suggested I use Hobart FabShield 21B. It runs much smoother with less splatter.

 

Miller 175 (MIG) here. Don't fool yourself into thinking the flux-core wire is any good, buy or rent the bottle and use gas (C25) and solid wire.

 

My wife bought me a Miller 130 for Christmas some years ago. I had never really done any welding...........so bought a video tape and watch'd it over and over. Starting welding on a frame table when I made my Model A Hot Rod..........................did most of the fab on the frame, Z'd it, box'd it, put in an X member.......etc. I used mixture of Argon/CO2 and hardly any smoke and no splatter. I had a friend who is a welder look at the welds and he gave me the OK. Had the brake/motor mounts/steering mounts TIG'd.

 

I use a little 80 amp Campbell Hausfeld gasless mig welder. Works fine for sheet metal and body panels on my mavs. Not a big and clunky unit neither to lug around. They might set you back $80-$100.

I whip out our arc welder for heavy steel or frame work.