The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Welder shopping

Gents, some advice, Please:

Peggy has authorized a purchase order for a new welder (old welder's get up and go just ain't enough anymore). I not only need a stick welder for old truck projects, but around the farm as well. I saw the Hobart Champ 1435 in the Northern Tools catalog so I went to the Hobart web site and was pretty interested -- a portable welder that's also a generator -- man, that would be really handy (I don't have a generator). As a welder, it gives 140 amps with a 30 percent duty cycle. As a generator, it puts out 3500 watts (off a 9 HP Honda motor.) Any thoughts? Is there a different portable welder in the light category I should be considering, too? I only know how to stick weld -- I don't know any of that fancy MIG/TIG stuff (Heck, I thought Mig's were the bad guys)

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
John
Do I have a cool wife or what???

John, if you must have portability, you will do well with the Hobart unit. My brother has one on each of his boats (he runs a tender service between Seattle / Ketchakan / Kodiak and points between) Even after constant exposure to sea spray they still work when called upon for repairs.

If you are primarily going to use it for repairs and you don't have a time constraint on the welding that needs to be done the 30% duty cycle is fine.

We just bought a Millermatic 225 for work. 230V single phase feed - 165 cu ft bottle of gas, light sensitive welding hood (thrown in for free) an extra spool of wire .035 double shield . . . out the door for under $1700.00!

If you can find what you want at a local welding supply place - make a friend, strike a deal and you will have a lot better support down the road.

John
We have one made by lincoln. its not really portable. We pick it up with either a squeeze or versatile tractor. But it has the generator as well as the welder. It will do stick and with the up grades it will do mig. i not sure on continuous amps but the local guys in town borrowed it to build a saw mill, and they said it was the best they ever used. If you neeed more info on it let me know and i will get model number from my brother on the farm.. happy holidays Big Al

Make sure you get something that will cover many types of work.If you get just what you need, you will be in close to the same boat you are in now.
Kind of like buying a 1-ton jack and wishing you had a 3-ton!

Thanks for the input, everybody! I took Ken's advice and went to my local welding supply (Three Mules Welding Supply in Lexington Park, MD) Had a great time talking to Witt and Doc and learned a whole bunch about welders, helmets, people and life in general. Ended up with a heck of a deal on a Hobart Champ 2060 which is about twice the welder/generator I was looking for at about the same price. Left with knowledge, new friends, auto darkening helmet and a new slag chipper (and a bunch of new rods). Unloaded it at home tonight, fired it up and WELDED!!! yee haw -- it's so nice working with quality tools. I am so pleased. WAA HOO!!!!!

Too bad my beads still look like junk....

Thanks again for the excellent advice!
John

Wanted to make sure we saw the post(Inever double them up either :o )

As for the weldinglike a drunken mud dauber, practice,practice,practice,,,,,but you already knew that