Which portable welder?

[Atimm693]

The oldest Lincoln you can find ( they have the best windings) and a good gen set.

Yup, my dad has a Lincoln graveyard at the house that he robs parts from to keep his old machine going. He says he likes the Miller Bobcats for their size, the generator, etc and for odds and ends it's fine. He says when you start welding these separators and real structural type stuff nothing welds like that Lincoln.

I'll agree with that , but add that the newer Lincoln ranger series is a hunk of junk. Mine spent more time in the shop than on the job and i don't think I've heard anyone brag on them........kinda like John Deere....

Got a new Ranger 225 in 2012. Stopped generating in 2013, fixed under warranty. Been fine since, other than that, haven't had a lick of trouble from it.

I think it's got ~1500 hours now.

 

[Silver]

About all you see on the pipelines around here are Lincoln Classic 300D's. My son has one on his rig up and I'd have to say it does weld like a dream.

 

[Nesikep]

My buddy has an older Ranger 225, it's been a good machine to him and has lots of hours
I have a Miller Trailblazer 302, not the greatest machine quality wise, Kohler engines are junk.. also with it's computerization it's prone to expensive repairs.. like mine, it needs a control board... 11KW generator power though.. Pretty much everything I have is Miller.. I had a Dialarc 250 which was a great AC/DC buzz box, upgraded to a Syncrowave 250 because I wanted to do TIG welding.. I"m not the greatest at it but it's so nice to be able to weld thin material.. I got it specifically for aluminum pipe repair.

 

[wbvs58]

I have a Lincoln Weldnpower. I got it very cheap about 12 years ago. I built all my yards with it, very nice to weld with but it stopped welding a few years ago. I think it is the capacitor but could not get the capacitor that it required. Puts out only about half the voltage it should. I just put it to the side. I might have another look at it and see if I can get some genuine parts for it.

Ken

 

[callmefence]

My buddy has an older Ranger 225, it's been a good machine to him and has lots of hours
I have a Miller Trailblazer 302, not the greatest machine quality wise, Kohler engines are junk.. also with it's computerization it's prone to expensive repairs.. like mine, it needs a control board... 11KW generator power though.. Pretty much everything I have is Miller.. I had a Dialarc 250 which was a great AC/DC buzz box, upgraded to a Syncrowave 250 because I wanted to do TIG welding.. I"m not the greatest at it but it's so nice to be able to weld thin material.. I got it specifically for aluminum pipe repair.

Does your 302 have the air compressor and jumpstart features.??

 

[Nesikep]

My buddy has an older Ranger 225, it's been a good machine to him and has lots of hours
I have a Miller Trailblazer 302, not the greatest machine quality wise, Kohler engines are junk.. also with it's computerization it's prone to expensive repairs.. like mine, it needs a control board... 11KW generator power though.. Pretty much everything I have is Miller.. I had a Dialarc 250 which was a great AC/DC buzz box, upgraded to a Syncrowave 250 because I wanted to do TIG welding.. I"m not the greatest at it but it's so nice to be able to weld thin material.. I got it specifically for aluminum pipe repair.

Does your 302 have the air compressor and jumpstart features.??

no.. My buddy has a newer 302 with the fuel injected engine and that thing has been nothing but a problem.. I think his has the airpack, or he has another welder with it... I got mine as a project, had a broken crank (how does that happen?) was cheap enough it was worth getting and fixing