I bought the Handler 187 last weekend and tried it out tonight. Very very nice machine. I was "frying bacon" and putting thin mild steel tubing together nicely on the first weld out of the box (C25 gas, .030 -6 wire, 3rd amp setting, wire speed 50, these settings right off the panel chart and it was welding great!!)
The wire rollers are METAL, not plastic, and again, the thing really welds nicely.
Check out
www.hobartwelders.com/mboard and search for either machine.
I really like the 187. Wish I had one a lot sooner, but I believe they are new machines. Something like $649 at Northern Tools and free shipping if there is not a store near you.
As previously posted, any MIG is going to weld aluminum better with a spool gun. (The aluminum wire is soft and kinks when the machine pushes it through the liner. Spool gun pulls it off a small spool right there at the weld.) On Al I believe you use 100% Argon rather than 75% with 25% CO2.
I don't think you can go wrong if you pick between the Miller and the Hobart. I believe either would be a good choice, but with the money you save, what can you buy? I know I spent over $300 today on a pair of nice Tillman TIG deerskin gloves, 3 spools of solid wire, a new bottle of C25, and a re-fill on Argon.
--It may be a while before I get my TIG machine out of the tool room!
