Welders

[Hook]

Nothing stopping you from buying it and freighting it here. :mrgreen:
I wouldn't mind a stand alone genny welder unit myself if the price was right

 

[chrisy]

going of piste….my Mum was good at welding, I remember her taking over form my Dad on a repair to his car. She used to make Spitfires in the war. I remember it being a stick welder she used but she could spot weld as well.

 

[Lazy K]

We have two welder generators, one that is on our feedlot maintenance truck and one that we carry usually on my flatbed during harvest, planting, haying. One is a bobcat 250 and the other an old Lincoln pipeliner.. On wire welders I agree with miller.. I like wire welders on light stuff and fab work in the shop.. Real heavy repairs I prefer the stick welder.. We have a lincoln tombstone in the shop and miller 252 wire welder.. Wire welder is easier to learn on, but I like the stick for real heavy iron and building feedlot fence.

 

[dieselbeef]

wow..yall are rich folk

 

[wacocowboy]

If you are just learning just go to an estate sale or a pawn shop pick up a good lil stick welder and start burning rods. Hobart, Miller, and Lincoln are the brands I would recommend.

 

[backhoeboogie]

You guys must be rich. I couldn't in good conscience recommen a 1600.00 welder to someone that just wants to learn. Much less a stand alone jenny unit.
For about 690 bucks you can get a hobart or Lincoln 190 amp 80% duty cycle 220v mig welder. Brand new. Or, watch craigslist for a 220v mig. I don't like stick welders, mainly because I couldn't get the hang of them. But a mig ain't bad to get used to and is more versatile. Just my .02

Nobody said he had to go buy it brand new. Estate sales, auctions and such, you can get a used one.

I think people who don't have a really good welder are the ones who must be rich.

Heard that same story just the other day from a dude who bought a new pick-up. Came to my house to do some weld repairs. SMH

Wire welding is only good for light metal welding. If you know what you are doing, you can weld light gage metal with a stick rod. It might take a while for anyone to learn this.

Dun that 50 pounds of rod doesn't last long around these parts. 7018 is my favorite anyway.

I went to an after hours welding program with Brown and Root back in '78 and in '79. I certified stick and was working towards my heliarc certs. Never finished. Learned a lot. Began working as a journeyman instrument hand. Got in to engineering in '85 and learned a whole lot more from attending ASME B31-1. All those old wives tales about welding aint true. I saw some of my own work under magnification. Good welds have indications (cracking). An overlay consumes the cracks.

My advice to anyone in the farming industry would be to get a good portable gas welding machine. Take good care of it. You'll never regret it. You'll earn extra income from it. It will always have value. That new pick-up is a losing proposition.

One more thing, there is no such thing as "junk" iron. It is all good. If not it can be made into something good.

 

[backhoeboogie]

I am not a metallurgical engineer. Don't want to give anyone that impression. I have two of them that work for me in my day job if I ever have a need to know something.

 

[dieselbeef]

so mig welder are only good for light metals huh..hmmmm. thats interesting

 

[Jogeephus]

I think people who don't have a really good welder are the ones who must be rich

Feel same way. Have to rebuild some equipment annually. Shop will charge $3000 for the job. I can do it myself in a day. Don't like doing it and would rather someone else do it but I don't have the money to spare.

 

[lavacarancher]

Mel, I used to be called a dauber when it came to welding. I had an old Lincoln tombstone 220v unit for years and it was a good machine - even to the day I threw it away in favor of a Miller wire feed machine. I think most folks here are right about the input voltage. I think you're wasting your time and money if you buy a 120v unit. If you are welding mild steel I would start with a 6011 rod. It is a eutectic rod and will do a pretty good job at vertical and overhead welding. It doesn't leave a pretty weld like say a 6013 would but it's a good place to start. The 70 series rods (7018) are for high strength welds (70xx = 70,000 lb tensile).

I love my Miller wire machine. It was easy to learn and makes a decent welder out of almost anyone, even me, the dauber.

I would think you ought to be able to find a used Lincoln cracker box for practically nothing. Like I said, I threw mine away - literally. Then run 220V to your workshop provided its not over a couple hundred feet away from the breaker box.

Clean the rust off what ever you're welding, start with a 5/32" rod or maybe a 1/8" and have fun.

 

[1982vett]

Mel, I used to be called a dauber when it came to welding. I had an old Lincoln tombstone 220v unit for years and it was a good machine - even to the day I threw it away in favor of a Miller wire feed machine. I think most folks here are right about the input voltage. I think you're wasting your time and money if you buy a 120v unit. If you are welding mild steel I would start with a 6011 rod. It is a eutectic rod and will do a pretty good job at vertical and overhead welding. It doesn't leave a pretty weld like say a 6013 would but it's a good place to start. The 70 series rods (7018) are for high strength welds (70xx = 70,000 lb tensile).

I love my Miller wire machine. It was easy to learn and makes a decent welder out of almost anyone, even me, the dauber.

I would think you ought to be able to find a used Lincoln cracker box for practically nothing. Like I said, I threw mine away - literally. Then run 220V to your workshop provided its not over a couple hundred feet away from the breaker box.

Clean the rust off what ever you're welding, start with a 5/32" rod or maybe a 1/8" and have fun.

And keep your feet dry.... ;-)

 

[red angus 2010]

I am curious. I want to learn how to weld, and I think I am going to start with a stick welder. Any suggestions? I currently only have 110 to the barn, so I think I will need to stay there for the time being.

I'm sure you could find a unit that will work for what you want to do. My suggestion would be to start out by taking a class at a local junior college as it is important to know what is required of the metal you are trying to weld (correct settings, rod, prep, etc.) nothing can be more frustrating when learning than trying and just not being able to start a weld, splatters etc. Know what you are doing and why makes the learning curve much easier and is actually really interesting. Not saying you want to end by becoming certified but a little information to begin with makes for a whole lot less cursing during the process.

 

[dieselbeef]

 

[dieselbeef]

 

[skyhightree1]

DB looks good

Melking I forgot I still had my very first welder I started out with I will take a pic of it and post it. However, Here is a link to what it looks like. I welded several things with it and it held and welds looked really good but its just slow. or maybe it was me.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Lincoln-Elec ... /100031840

 

[Nesikep]

I have a 110V chinese suitcase wirefeed, it actually works allright, I burn gas not fluxcore, and it's pretty easy to make a nice weld, it'll work up to 1/4" plate. The bigger a wirefeed welder you have the bigger a wire you can burn, and you can get good penetration on big stuff with them too. they are also much better for vertical welding, etc. That being said I think if you want strength, you are better off with stick. My go-to rod is the Arctec 220XC.. burns beautiful, extremely versatile (can handle some cast), and it's an 85,000 lb tensile strength rod. Only downside of it is it's fussy to restrike an arc. If I'm going to have to do a lot of short welds with stick, I like a 7014, it restrikes perfectly every time. We have a big old Miller Dialarc 30-250 amp... hardly ever turn it up to it's 'high' range.

I would recommend a good 200 amp wirefeed for people starting out.. it's versatile, makes acceptable welds without being an expert welder, just have to learn the symptoms of the wrong adjustments and how to set it, after that it's grind, point, and click.

 

[jedstivers]

Backhoe we weld some pretty serious stuff with a wire machine. Thermal ark 250 I believe it is. Anyway we do lots of 1/2 and 3/4" stuff. Then hook to 250 hp tractors. It will hold.
Also have a very old Lincoln tombstone and a even older Hobart Brothers 300 amp. It's one really bad boy, I have to get new leads for it.
AC also has a Lincoln, I think Ranger. It's very nice and does all the outside stuff.

 

[melking]

WOW! Thanks to each and everyone of you. I feel like I have already learned a lot. Dun, Sky, thanks for the pm's I really appreciate the help. Ken, It was great to hear from you, it has been a long time.

 

[backhoeboogie]

so mig welder are only good for light metals huh..hmmmm. thats interesting

You're Not running those beads with a $299 wire feed.

 

[ohiosteve]

One thing I've learned that has drastically improved my welding over the years is to have a really good helmet with the proper shade and a clean cover lens. Once you can see your weld puddle clearly and really pay attention to it things will just click and your welding will improve drastically no matter what welder you're using. Don't skimp on the helmet is my advice. I really like the Speedglas by 3M.