I need recommendations for where I should buy and which type/brand mig welder specifically I should buy. Does Sears have a good one ?
Thanks for any suggestions. :rolleyes:

This will give you an idea of the prices and kinds of welders available. Welder's Direct (http://www.welders-direct.com/merchant2/merchant.mv)

I found the best price to be a Lowes - I got the Lincoln 135. The shipping made ordering online cost too much to be an option.

Tractor Supply sells the Hobart Handler 135 for about the same price as the Lincoln. Both come with regulators, but you'll have to buy a bottle from a welding supply store. Most welding supply store can fix you up with a Miller for a little more. The Miller is the better machine and well worth the extra money.

Originally posted by BobMcC:
This will give you an idea of the prices and kinds of welders available. Welder's Direct (http://www.welders-direct.com/merchant2/merchant.mv) That's where I bought my Hobart 175. Great Deal!
And I believe Hobart IS Miller. My Hobart came BN out of the box with a Miller gun.

Originally posted by GarageTime:
The shipping made ordering online cost too much to be an option. At Welder's Direct, shipping is free and you pay no sales tax.

John,
I know the urge to get the best price is high but....I would go to a local welding supply house. You will probably have to buy the gas from them anyway and they can be a wealth of information. It will make it a bit easier for them to spend time with you if they know you have bought the welder from them. The price will probably not be that much more.
Just my opinion,

I'm with Bill on this one. I bought my mig from a catalog. I wish I'd bought it at a local welding supply house.

Even if it had cost me $100 more, it would have been worth it for the quality and customer service.

As it stands, it took me a while to establish a working relationship with the local welding supply houses. I had to buy several bottles of gas and many supplies before I became a "regular" at their establishments.

They're there to help, and it pays to "help" them a little in the beginning.

120v or 220 that is the question. Any regrets either way.. I like the portability of a 120v unit but does the 220 volt make up for this in with its duty cycle and greater welding capacity?? gas or gas-less. any thought or suggestions on this? thanxs david

Lincoln uses the amp rating as the part number. The Lincoln SP135-Plus is a fully variable heat and speed unit and 120V power. It's the only fully variable 120V unit I have seen so far. To use it at full power you do need a 20A receptacle. The SP175-Plus is the next unit and it's 220V. The 175 has about 2X the duty cycle rating.

Ask yourself what you want to weld. If it's mostly lighter steel and bodywork a welder like the 135 would work just fine. If you want to do a lot of heavier steel or frame work a welder like the 175 may be a better choice. As an example, a welder the size of a 135 would do a decent job welding a Chevelle frame but it wouldn't work on a pick-up frame.

Peter

Originally posted by BillK:
John,
I know the urge to get the best price is high but....I would go to a local welding supply house. You will probably have to buy the gas from them anyway and they can be a wealth of information. It will make it a bit easier for them to spend time with you if they know you have bought the welder from them. The price will probably not be that much more.
Just my opinion, I agree with Bill, I bought mine at my local Kirk Welding
shop. I get the 175 Hobart which is made by miller for 575. They thru in 2 extra rolls of
wire, a welding helmet, jar of nozzle dip, can of splatter
spray for the 575. They are great people to deal with and will
be getting my business from now on.
I also purchased a bottle and a few other things
seperatly that day. Oh yah they gave me 3 extra
tips also.

By the way mine did not have the cart but it
did come with all the other accessories. My first
project was a welding cart for it. I have a whopping
24 dollars in the cart.

Originally posted by BillK:
John,
I know the urge to get the best price is high but....I would go to a local welding supply house. I agree with you up to a point. First a lot of folks don't have a local welding supply house, and oftentimes if they do, that house is the opposite of what you are saying. It depends upon the situation. In my opinion, the last place I would purchase anything from is Sears. If Sears is his only local choice, then I would highly recommend Welder's Direct instead. At least they have a 1-800 help line and they have welders who'll answer your questions, unlike Sears.

Just my opinion but id stay away from Lincoln, I just dont care for them. We have a Lincoln SP200 at work and its the biggest piece of crap. The thing is very erratic one minute its laying down some nice welds the next its welds like crap. Everytime Ive used Lincoln welders I get results that am not proud of.

My personal favorite would be Miller, which is what I have at home and just love. As for the 120 vs 220, like mentioned before you plan on welding frames together or backhalving a car? If not then a 120 will do just fine. Not very often to I come close to cycle duty time on my 120v miller. Miller does make Hobart which is also a sweet little machine...Eric

I've been looking more and the Millermatic 135 compares very similarily to the Lincoln SP135-Plus. The Miller has a little higher duty cycle when welding at lower currents. The Lincoln does say it will feed 0.035" wire while the Miller will feed 0.030" wire but then maybe the 135 rated units can't really produce enough heat to properly weld with 0.035" wire? I'd be curious to hear it anyone knows. That's about the only differences spec wise I saw.

I've just been doing some web browsing so far but I'm thinking my shopping will focus on the Miller or Hobart units first.

One thing I do know is I'm not buying a unit with a 4 or 5 position heat selector on it. I want it to be fully variable.

Peter

I forgot, the Hobart 135 and 175 only have 4 heat settings. None of the Hobart mig welders have a fully adjustable voltage.

Peter

I have a 175 Hobart of my own at home and use a
Miller 135 at work. The Miller is fine for metal
thinner than 1/4" but not worth a durn on 1/4" or
thicker. It just does not have very much penitration.
The 175 welds just as nice on thinner metal, will
do 1/4" like butter and not everyone who comes over
wanting to "borrow" your new welder will be able to
because not everyone has 220 in their garage/shop.
I also would recomend .023" diameter wire for
bodywork and such, it will do alot nicer job with
less heat than 30 or 35 thou wire on body panels.

Update :cool:

I bought a Lincoln SP-135 at Lowes yesterday and have watched the video and read the entire users guide. I am convinced that with all of the research and input from all of you that I have made the right choice and got the best deal ;) . I will be welding in additional floor patches, bucket seat brackets and a tranny hump, so the long term relationship with a local welding supply company is not really necessary at this point. I will be going with the .035 FCAW as opposed to using gas for now. I am also going to start welding up a cart for my new welder tonight which will give me some great practice and hopefully a nice cart when finished. What settings do you guys suggest for welding a lap for floor pan patch ? (wire speed and power)....

Anyone need a new Clarke stick welder for $75 ?? graemlins/thumbsup.gif

Thanks again everybody graemlins/waving.gif

Don't expect to be able to weld in your floor pans with .035" flux core wire...all you'll do is blow holes and make a nasty spattery mess.

If you gonna do the job, di it right and use .023" solid wire with 75/25 gas mix...you'll have much better control over penetration and much less spatter/cleanup.