The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop welders......

Any of you guys out there have any recommendations on a wire feed welder. Is the Millermatic worth the cash? I have done arc welding in the past, Brazing and stuff. Do you think the lincoln's are as good. I am buying for the long haul, so I don't want to make a hasty decision! Help.......

I had a FarmHand from Tractor Supply, it's the same as and is made by Hobart. STAY AWAY FROM THEM!!!!! The one I had FELL apart.

I now have a Lincoln, and the differece is so big it's astounding. It works so much better, the welds look a lot better. And I've had no problems with it at all.

Frank

I have the millermatic 140 w/autoset and love it. Just dial in the metal gauge and it set s the rest. Of course you can set it yourself also if you like but I have found that the auto set works just fine for most welding.

I have to agree i've had the Millermatic's there a great machine . Mark

Although I am a fan of Miller welders I saw something on the Lincon that made me stop for a second look at them. Put the Miller and Lincon side by side and take a good look at the cases on both The Lincon has a heavier case than Miller so if that is any indacation what the rest of the machine is built like I would buy the Lincon. To me it seems that the Lincon is made for industrial use compared to the Miller lighter construction. Just my observation.
62Blue
Don

For years when I had an equipment and fabrication business I had a shop full of Millers. Never had any problems at all and they saw a lot of hard use. I was never a Lincoln guy but when it comes to welders always buy larger capacity than you think you will need. They will just last longer and be troublefree. Personally I run a Millermatic 200 here at home. If I would ever need to weld 3/8+ I would have to get someone to help me lift the parts at my age anyway.

Figure $1500 for a decent MIG and you'll love it. Or buy a power source if you want TIG, MIG, etc. Don't buy a flux-core wire machine.

I have Hobart 140 which I recently purchased at $485 it can weld like dream without any trouble, I use Argon/Co2. Stay away from Flux core pls.

Ganesh

Hobart and Miller are owned by the same company (ITW) and both are quality machines. Millers are a notch above, but for me as a hobbyist, I am very happy with my Hobart 187, and I have read from some folks that the Handler 220v machines are a notch above comparable Millers.

I have not heard that Tractor Supply branded machines have anything to do with Hobart.

I personally have had serious customer service issues with Lincoln, although your results may be different, that one experience left a bad tast in my mouth about red machines. The case is only one part of the machine. My very expensive high-quality high-zoot built-in-Japan TIG machine has a plastic case.

If you can afford the Miller, it is pretty much the best you can get. I think you can save some $$$ by going with the Hobart if you don't weld every day for 8 hours a day.

All just my opinion, I don't make my living welding.

Maybe I should clarify something here as I was looking at the small portable migs and not the production machines seen in Fab. shops accross the country. I have used both the Miller and Lincon in the production of food grade equipment and I will lean toward the Miller for that porpose. But in all fairness here I have never used either Miller,Lincon or Horbart small portable migs just the bigger machaines for Tig,Mig and Arc Welding. We have used the bottles of C-02 and Tri Mix. If I was to buy a small welder I would make sure that it had Gas bottle capablity.
62Blue
Don

For someone like me who had absolutely no prior welding experience the Millermatic 140 has pleased me very much. All I did was watch the Video & read the instructions & practice trial & error. It has never let me down & is a pleasure to use. I would have no reason to look for anything better.

has anybody ever used a stitch welder from eastwood or something similar? it hooks up to an arc welder.

We have all Miller at the shop, but if I bring one of my old jalopies to the shop, it disrupts everything. I have a 50A plug at the box at home, but it is sure a lot of work packing a Millermatic 200 or larger with a large bottle home. I bought a Hobart 140 that I keep at the house. Most of what I do at the house is patch panels, the thickest being floor panels which are 18 gauge. I run .023 wire and I just don't worry about burning holes. I use the small CO2 bottles for convenience. I am told that the mix which we use on our larger machines is better, but I just can't imagine it getting better. I got my best deal on the Hobart 140 on Amazon.com. If I need to weld anything bigger, we have a miller Trailblazer 440 on a trailer. My advice is don't expect one machine to do it all. Buy a machine suited to what you are going to do. And then practice by welding junk similar to what you are going to weld to get the heat and wire speed right.