deal or no deal

[opsranch]

Hey,

Do yourself a favor and buy the Hobart, Miller, or Lincoln, preferably from a local store (even Home Depot for the Lincoln). I have the Lincoln HD3200 and an old Miller 135. Great machines! I'm sure the Hobart is just as good. No issues with repairs etc. and probably made in America. Plus they will all work and you can get comsumables everywhere. We have to stop giving away the ranch to off- shore manufacturers. I'm getting off my soap box now.

Bob

[Craig in Denver]

Hey,

Do yourself a favor and buy the Hobart, Miller, or Lincoln, preferably from a local store (even Home Depot for the Lincoln). No issues with repairs etc. and probably made in America. Plus they will all work and you can get comsumables everywhere. We have to stop giving away the ranch to off- shore manufacturers. I'm getting off my soap box now.

Bob

The red is a VERY big deal. If everyone buys overseas stuff; who's going to buy what YOU make.

[BamaBob]

Hi, I've been lurking and reading in preparation to spring for a welder for my personal use, and think that the advice here to go with Hobart or Miller is great advice. I also think that if you're only planning on having one, you want to be in the 200A range just because the heat range is so much better.

I'm not a welder myself, I'm a mechanical engineer who has designed and overseen much critical welding for many years, most of which has gone up in space and is performing as it should. It just makes sense that even if you're not making hardware for space, you don't want anything you weld to break and potentially cause injury or death. You want to have reliability, consistency, and a range of adjustments that allows you to develop weld schedules for any application that you anticipate (and maybe some that you don't currently anticipate).

Even the industrial grade machines require the development of skill and even artistry to master. So why would you want to make that even harder than it is already by using suspect equipment? And after seeing years of so much manufacturing going to other countries, I too am firmly in the "buy American" mode for this kind of important machinery. Yes you can get a cheap import buzz box, but like others say, where will your support be if you have a problem with it?

Personally, I'm leaning heavily towards the HH210; I can live with its duty cycle, but feel that, at the end of the day, it will give me the heat for the thickest welds that I foresee on my personal project list. The MM 180 with spool gun seems like a great deal too, but I'm thinking that having the extra heat on the high end is more important for the welder; if I want to add a spool gun later I can for a few more $$.

My $0.02 worth; and I'm not qualified to give it by experience, only by what I feel is some reason, logic and, maybe, common sense!

[crawler]

Hi, I've been lurking and reading in preparation to spring for a welder for my personal use, and think that the advice here to go with Hobart or Miller is great advice. I also think that if you're only planning on having one, you want to be in the 200A range just because the heat range is so much better.

I'm not a welder myself, I'm a mechanical engineer who has designed and overseen much critical welding for many years, most of which has gone up in space and is performing as it should. It just makes sense that even if you're not making hardware for space, you don't want anything you weld to break and potentially cause injury or death. You want to have reliability, consistency, and a range of adjustments that allows you to develop weld schedules for any application that you anticipate (and maybe some that you don't currently anticipate).

Even the industrial grade machines require the development of skill and even artistry to master. So why would you want to make that even harder than it is already by using suspect equipment? And after seeing years of so much manufacturing going to other countries, I too am firmly in the "buy American" mode for this kind of important machinery. Yes you can get a cheap import buzz box, but like others say, where will your support be if you have a problem with it?

Personally, I'm leaning heavily towards the HH210; I can live with its duty cycle, but feel that, at the end of the day, it will give me the heat for the thickest welds that I foresee on my personal project list. The MM 180 with spool gun seems like a great deal too, but I'm thinking that having the extra heat on the high end is more important for the welder; if I want to add a spool gun later I can for a few more $$.

My $0.02 worth; and I'm not qualified to give it by experience, only by what I feel is some reason, logic and, maybe, common sense!

Nice post Bob! Welcome to the forum....
HH210 is a great choice of welder. Plenty of power in a small/portable pkg and a very nice arc too.

The cheap imported chinese made welders will have virtually no resale value. Most will discover this after purchasing one and trying to resell it when they want to upgrade.

[fun4now]

good solid advice. welcome to the site.