Hobart Welder Quality?

[islandguydon]

I weld in the field in my profession every day, We use a Miller Mig and a Lincoln Mig, The Hobart is the Cadillac of the three. I would go with a Miller mig since even a hardware store has the tips and wire available even on a Sunday when the welding shop is closed.

 

[unaffiliated]

I have a Hobart and it is one bad arse machine.

 

[135gmc]

I've used Miller, Lincoln, and Hobart - they are all just about the same. If you will want to sell it down the road, a Miller would probably hold its resale better. You probably want to stay clear of oddball Chinese stuff - new contact tips might be impossible to track down, and their manuals are usually pretty grim, not to mention service.... - plus resale might be nearly impossible.

If you buy American, you got American.

 

[Lothar]

Sheilding gas with flux core? Not shure about that one.....

Dual shield is deep penetrating. Most heavy structural and heavy piping that are MIG welded are done with this process.

 

[135gmc]

That old Lincoln IdealArc is built like a brick phone booth - lots and lots of copper. The newer machines are designed a lot cheaper to save on copper. An old Lincoln like that one will outlive all of us. If you really want to see a welder designed for a 1000 year life, track down an old Lincoln MG machine - they started at about 200 amps, and went up from there -we had 5 or 6 of them, including one that could run 5/16 7018 low hy rods - it was used by a crane manufacturer before we wound up with it.

Also, I've run shielding gas with flux core, but I was welding 16" I Beam. We werre using a Hobart motor-generator machine and I think about 0.062 wire as I recall. That was about 20 years ago, but that welder is probably still running.

 

[BIG_RED]

I'd say these machines fit into the "240 volt more-serious-hobbyist" range:

Lincoln:
"Easymig 180"(plastic drive - cheaper)/"180 HD"(plastic drive - cheaper)
"PowerMig 180t"(metal drive - better, more exensive)
"PowerMig 180c" (metal drive & continuous voltage control - more expensive)

Miller 180

Hobart 190 or 210

I'm in the market for one of these myself, so I've been doing lots of research lately.

You have to be careful with the Lincolns, the ones sold in home depot, etc. have plastic drive rolls. This is inferior to metal drive rolls. If you use it a lot (which anyone who's going to drop a few hundred dollars on something probably will) the metal ones will last longer and give more consistent wire feeding. Lincoln 180s with plastic drive rolls and 5-tap power adjustments can be had for $650 on sale here, regular $800ish. More like $900 if you want metal drive rolls. Even more if you want continuously variable power output (like a volume knob instead of 5 selector notches - some sheet-metal guys REALLY like that feature. I don't find it a big deal.)

I've heard from first hand users that the Hobart 190 has noticeably more power for welding 1/4" steel than the Lincoln. 1/4" seems to be a stretch for the Lincoln 180, whereas the Hobart seems to be able to do it without trouble. Also, the Hobart 190 can be had for $700ish at tractor supply, and has 7 power settings instead of 5 like the cheaper Lincoln. It seems to be the way to go for me, I think I'll be planning a trip to Grand Forks Tractor Supply to pick one up later this year.

The Miller has a few features that would be nice if you were going to use the welder all day every day (as I'm sure some of you professional welders must do) but for me, they do not even come close to justifying the cost difference from the Hobart, which can do everything the Miller can - just a little slower or not quite as pretty (kinda like myself ).

Good luck!

 

[Toolmakers Deuce]

I would pick the Iron Man 230 or 250. I own a 250 and just love it.