Welder opinions wanted.

[customcattle]

I was just informed that my wife is planning to get me a new welder for Christmas and she wanted to try to buy one on a Black Friday sale so I was supposed to start looking. I looked at northern tool and with a $2000 budget was looking at the following welder generators.
Lincoln Bulldog 5500
Lincoln outback 145
Hobart champion 145

Do y'all have any experience or recommendations for any of these? I am also open to other welders if you have any recommendations.

 

[JMJ Farms]

I've got an older Miller. But I don't have anything bad to say should Lincoln or Hobart. IMO, if you were buying a $300-400 welder it might matter but I imagine that when you get into the $2k price range any of them will be good quality. The three big names have all been around for a while.

 

[jedstivers]

Stick with Lincoln or Miller.
Actually you might rather buy a used one, it will be better.
I've had Lincoln for years and love them but I'm changing to Miller now because they are eaiser to get parts.
Lot of them on eBay from a place that recond's them.
And old Hobert's are fine. Not new ones though.

 

[callmefence]

Hobart 145 has been a good machine for me. Ive used them for years. And sometimes run it 8 hours a day for days on end.
There was a few years there approx around 2007 when they had a problem breaking pushrods. Also the gas tank was to small.
The brand new one I think is the best yet. It is a little heavier than the earlier ones.

 

[hurleyjd]

I would put about another $1000 with it and buy this one. A Lincoln Ranger 225. Build a trailer for it to haul everything else you might need. You will want acetylene oxygen cutting torch. Easy to hook to the atv, utv, or tractor. Keeps the pickup clean for pickup uses. Some of the new welders have a feature that will not let you stick a rod when starting to weld. Mine does not but I need one that is like that. I bought a miller 225 several years ago for $2000 all the welding leads which are costly for the length they were. Had an old Lincoln a man give me not much wrong with it. The long bolt that held the generator to the engine had backed out. One cylinder Briggs . Only problem the flashing diode failed. This was a better welding machine than the Miller I bought. Old but good.

 

[callmefence]

What I like about the little machines is they take up very little room on the truck.
Can also be carried in fel or utv.

 

[hurleyjd]

What works for fence works for fence. He is all over the country building fence. Looks like he has a truck dedicated to it. The welder on the trailer works for me as it is only used on my property and is ready to go when every I need it. Also only one pickup here. Drop one pin and take off to repair or build corrals and such. I was not suggesting in any way what a another person needs are. My trailer has an electric powered air compressor on board that is used when an impact wrench or air is needed. Sometimes my welding requirements require more than an 1/8 rod.

 

[True Grit Farms]

Why not get just a good size generator and run your welder off of that? This has been a good thread for me because I've been shopping for a backup generator for the house and barn. And I need my own portable welder for different odd jobs, because it always seems like one of the UT company trucks are never around when I need to use a welder.

 

[hurleyjd]

Why not get just a good size generator and run your welder off of that? This has been a good thread for me because I've been shopping for a backup generator for the house and barn. And I need my own portable welder for different odd jobs, because it always seems like one of the UT company trucks are never around when I need to use a welder.

Several in my family had diaries and we bought one of the winpower PTO generators for use in case of a power failure. Mounted on a trailer with a cover over it. We used a Lincoln cracker box welder. Worked pretty good but dangerous. I was welding some steel for a building and was standing on top of the trailer and trailer backed against a steel post. Leaned over and grabbed the steel to be able to balance myself. I did not think I would ever get loose from the current until I fell off of the trailer. No bones broke but very shook up by the current.

 

[customcattle]

What works for fence works for fence. He is all over the country building fence. Looks like he has a truck dedicated to it. The welder on the trailer works for me as it is only used on my property and is ready to go when every I need it. Also only one pickup here. Drop one pin and take off to repair or build corrals and such. I was not suggesting in any way what a another person needs are. My trailer has an electric powered air compressor on board that is used when an impact wrench or air is needed. Sometimes my welding requirements require more than an 1/8 rod.

My folks have a welder on a trailer, and it works good, but a little squirrelly on the highway. I have hired out to some feedlots in the area and to a fence builder and have had to use rented welders in the past. I have gone up to 60 miles welding for other people so I feel having my rig set up on a pickup would be best. I have a flatbed pickup I would devote mostly to that.

Thanks for all the replies keep them coming.

 

[Atimm693]

Why not get just a good size generator and run your welder off of that? This has been a good thread for me because I've been shopping for a backup generator for the house and barn. And I need my own portable welder for different odd jobs, because it always seems like one of the UT company trucks are never around when I need to use a welder.

You need a lot of generator to run a welder.

We have an old Craftsman 5500 watt unit. It will run a small MIG, but not at full power.

We rented a much bigger 8500 watt unit, it would burn 3/32 rods with a Lincoln tombstone, but no more than that. A separate generator also doubles the footprint.

Eventually we upgraded to a Lincoln Ranger 225. Best thing we ever did. The generator did quit producing power once, but it was repaired under warranty.

We also have it in a small trailer, which is nice at times. I would really like to have a dedicated service truck though, especially one with air. Our trailer has no room for a compressor.

 

[customcattle]

Has anybody had any experience with the Klutch welders? I have read some reviews and they claim they weld good and are well built. 6000 watt generator, 170 Amp welding capabilities, 30% duty cycle at 140 amps. Performance wise it says it should outperform the welders previously mentioned in my budget.

 

[saltbranch]

Ditto on the Hobart 145. Best dollar I have spent for the ranch was this little machine. I cant say enough good about it, simple,cheap and works great.

 

[wbvs58]

An inverter type welder will run very well off a generator.

Ken

 

[bird dog]

Welders are like tractors, stay away from the off brands even though they will probably work fine. A Lincoln, Miller or Hobart will retain most of its value just like a John Deere.

 

[skyhightree1]

miller and Hobart are basically the same thing and if not mistaken Miller owns Hobart uses mostly same components just Hobart is made a lil cheaper in some components. That being said I have both and I got a 120v Lincoln hd weld box that's pretty handy and can be used anywhere.

 

[customcattle]

Well on our way home from Thanksgiving today we stopped at northern tool in St. Cloud Minnesota (long ways from home) and they had one Hobart 145 and happened to be on clearance for 1100 so we pulled the trigger on that deal. Spent all day driving so haven't had a chance to fire it up yet, but am pretty excited.

 

[wbvs58]

Well on our way home from Thanksgiving today we stopped at northern tool in St. Cloud Minnesota (long ways from home) and they had one Hobart 145 and happened to be on clearance for 1100 so we pulled the trigger on that deal. Spent all day driving so haven't had a chance to fire it up yet, but am pretty excited.

Sounds like your on a winner, good onya.

Ken

 

[MudHog]

It will be a good little machine. Little meaning don't expect to weld much thick material. The biggest thing on a small machine like that is to follow the duty cycle or risk damaging the internals. Duty cycle is measured in 10 minutes and the Hobart 145 has a 30% Duty Cycle. This means that if you weld continuous for 3 minutes, you have to let is rest for 7 minutes before doing another 3 minute cycle. 3 minutes might sound like you'd never weld that, but you have to figure welding multiple times within a 3 minutes window. Say building a fence and you have the middle bars fitted up and will start welding them. If you weld one bar in a minute and jump immediately to the next one, you can only do 2 more per the duty cycle recommendation. The risk is burning up electrical components due to them overheating. Only machines that have a 100% duty cycle are made to weld continuously without stopping for hours.