# Let's talk welders.



## Colby

I need to get me a engine driven welder for fixing stuff around the ranch. I was looking at the Lincoln/Miller 225 welders but they've gone up so much the past few years and I won't use it but maybe 50 hours a year. So I have been looking at the Lincoln/Miller 185 welders. They're a lot smaller, the size of a generator. I just need it for general upkeep. Keep stuff fixed at the cow pens, weld h braces and other odd jobs that I can't mig weld in the shop. 
Just wondering if these welders will hold up for what I need. Like I said I'll use it probably around 50 hours a year and I can't justify a Lincoln 225 Ranger for that. 
Thanks.


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## Bonfire

I've got a Bobcat 250 that I use all the time but kinda like the Ranger you mentioned. Hobart is another one to look at. My dad has a small Hobart in a roll cage and it has welded up a lot of cow pens. Your not gonna go wrong with either a Lincoln, Miller or Hobart. I would just make sure it's an AC/DC machine with a 120 AC receptacle.


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## Lewis Ranch

Check on Craigslist I sold a Hobart with 50hrs on it this spring for 2k and there are better deals than that to be had.


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## Vol

Lewis Ranch said:


> Check on Craigslist I sold a Hobart with 50hrs on it this spring for 2k and there are better deals than that to be had.


Lewis is right....especially towards the end of January when there are a bunch of broke folks from gift spending with major bills coming due.

Regards, Mike


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## dubltrubl

Lots of folks around here use the Miller Bobcats and they weld and hold up great. I almost bought one but they were just a tad too rich for me. Like you, I really need one, but not but for many hours at a time. I ended up buying a Hobart Elite. It's the exact same machine except it only welds DC. As a matter of fact, the warranty service center near here is the same shop as the Miller. It was about $800 cheaper too. Works for me since I almost never need AC welding and I have MIG anyway that can do that if needed. One thing that's nice is the 10KW generator capacity if needed to power the house.

Regards,

Steve


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## Mike120

I prefer to try and drag everything back to the shop where I can get out of the wind, prep properly, align, and use MIG to fix stuff right. When I need to go out in a field and weld something, I've got a little Miller Thunderbolt (AC/DC) stick welder and a generator that i stick on a pallet and haul out . I also have a little 120V Lincoln Weld-Pak 100 with flux-core wire that I can carry around. I'd love to have a Ranger or Bobcat but I'd rarely use it and can't justify the cost. I use the generator to power the barn well when we have power outages.


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## Colby

Vol said:


> Lewis is right....especially towards the end of January when there are a bunch of broke folks from gift spending with major bills coming due.
> 
> Regards, Mike


That's what I have been doing. Especially since the oil market is crap I figured there would be rigs everywhere but no luck


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## Colby

Bonfire said:


> I've got a Bobcat 250 that I use all the time but kinda like the Ranger you mentioned. Hobart is another one to look at. My dad has a small Hobart in a roll cage and it has welded up a lot of cow pens. Your not gonna go wrong with either a Lincoln, Miller or Hobart. I would just make sure it's an AC/DC machine with a 120 AC receptacle.


What is the purpose of making sure it is AC/DC?


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## Bonfire

Colby said:


> What is the purpose of making sure it is AC/DC?


Depends on what kind of rod you use. If you get an AC only machine, you'll be limited to rod selection. A 6011 or 7018 rod comes to mind that would work on AC. If you can run on DC, you'll have more options for rod use. A DC only machine would work. I very rarely use AC. I think if you get a machine capable of DC, it'll have AC as well. A flip of a switch. If you want to change from electrode positive to electrode negative, you may have to flip the leads at the machine but usually that's a switch as well. For example in one switch you'll have the choices of AC, DC EP or DC EN.

I deal mostly with rusted material and I use 6011 rods. I use DC EP for that.


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## Colby

Okay I see. All I will be welding is sucker rod and drill stem pipe and I've only ever used 6011's or 7018's


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## Tim/South

My neighbor friend has the Miller BobCat. It is a nice wielder.

I lucked across an old Lincoln SA200 Pipeline wielder with 100 foot leads. It makes my stick wielding look like I know what I am doing.


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## Growing pains

You can't hardly compare a new welder to a SA200. I had the pleasure of running a couple of the old Lincolns and I wish I could justify needing one. It has to be one of the smoothest running welders out there. If you stumble across one for a decent price that may be a better option than going newer and smaller.


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## azmike

Try to go diesel when possible. We have had several Bobcat's nothing wrong there but a used diesel machine will be around the same price as a new gas rig. We are running a Multiquip powered with a 3 cylinder Kubota. Our main rig is a Cat powered Miller Pro 300. The differences are things like paper air filters (bobcat) Verses two stage tractor styles in the diesel units.When we got the Pro we didn't think it was idling up..but it was! We use our machines quite a bit welding and generator.

To run 5/32 rod hot and smooth is awful nice!


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## cornshucker

Got a Miller Bobcat 250 with the Onan engine like it all though parts seems to be a little pricey for the Onan. Also got a Miller MM 250 wire welder that has took a crap. All of my troubleshooting seems to point toward a rectifier. We have had it 20 years so time to replace if have to spend much money on it. Looking at a Lincoln 256 or a Miller 252 wondering if any of you have used both of these for a comparison. I am going to take it to a welder repair man and if I can get it fixed reasonably I will keep using if not replace it. everything works as far as wire feed just will not arc. Have continuity between wire feed and gun tip and have good continuity on the ground clamp just will not arc. The Lincoln power Mig 256 weighs about 40 more pounds than the Miller MM 252, is that heavier components of just a heavier case? Best stick welder I have ever used was a Lincoln 400 powered by a Perkins AD3-152 diesel engine that a friend of mine had and I could have bought for a song just screwed around to late.


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## Farmineer95

We have a Miller Bobcat 225 and welds pretty well. Gets used as generator too. I made an adapter cord to power the mig but never had to use it thankfully. The unit doesn't get more than 10 hours a year prolly. Why'd I buy it then? For when the zombies come. And it was used, think 1300 hrs on the onan engine.


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## Mike120

cornshucker said:


> Got a Miller Bobcat 250 with the Onan engine like it all though parts seems to be a little pricey for the Onan. Also got a Miller MM 250 wire welder that has took a crap. All of my troubleshooting seems to point toward a rectifier. We have had it 20 years so time to replace if have to spend much money on it. *Looking at a Lincoln 256 or a Miller 252 wondering if any of you have used both of these for a comparison.* I am going to take it to a welder repair man and if I can get it fixed reasonably I will keep using if not replace it. everything works as far as wire feed just will not arc. Have continuity between wire feed and gun tip and have good continuity on the ground clamp just will not arc. The Lincoln power Mig 256 weighs about 40 more pounds than the Miller MM 252, is that heavier components of just a heavier case? Best stick welder I have ever used was a Lincoln 400 powered by a Perkins AD3-152 diesel engine that a friend of mine had and I could have bought for a song just screwed around to late.


I've got a Lincoln 256 and I love it. Before I bought it almost all the reviews I read said they were pretty much equal. Reality is that both Lincoln and Miller make excellent products and you can't go wrong with either. All of mine are red with the exception of the Thunderbolt. It replaced a very old AC 225 tombstone and I got the Miller because I got a better deal on it than I could get on a AC/DC 225. I just put a red rag over it so the color doesn't clash.....


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## mlappin

Mike120 said:


> I prefer to try and drag everything back to the shop where I can get out of the wind, prep properly, align, and use MIG to fix stuff right. When I need to go out in a field and weld something, I've got a little Miller Thunderbolt (AC/DC) stick welder and a generator that i stick on a pallet and haul out . I also have a little 120V Lincoln Weld-Pak 100 with flux-core wire that I can carry around. I'd love to have a Ranger or Bobcat but I'd rarely use it and can't justify the cost. I use the generator to power the barn well when we have power outages.


Right, rarely have I not been able to get something back to the shop for repairs. If absolutely impossible I have friends that always seem to owe me a favor and they have portable welders.

A DC machine is also good for stainless as well or other metals other than common mild steel.


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## cornshucker

Mike120 said:


> I've got a Lincoln 256 and I love it. Before I bought it almost all the reviews I read said they were pretty much equal. Reality is that both Lincoln and Miller make excellent products and you can't go wrong with either. All of mine are red with the exception of the Thunderbolt. It replaced a very old AC 225 tombstone and I got the Miller because I got a better deal on it than I could get on a AC/DC 225. I just put a red rag over it so the color doesn't clash.....


Mike I too have read some of the reviews and pretty much come to the same conclusion both good just a matter of preference. Dealer I use sell's both.


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## slowzuki

We tend to plug the welder into the generator, its not the most convenient but works. Other option that works for once in a while welding is buying 3 big 12v batteries and set them up in series. Make sure its a well ventilated area and sealed/gel batteries are preferred.


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## azmike

Drill stem and sucker rod for pens and such are different than repairs on heavy draft equipment. We won't wire feed repairs where lots of dirt contact or lifting occurs, these will be big stick welded for maximum penetration.


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## glasswrongsize

slowzuki said:


> We tend to plug the welder into the generator, its not the most convenient but works. Other option that works for once in a while welding is buying 3 big 12v batteries and set them up in series. Make sure its a well ventilated area and sealed/gel batteries are preferred.


If OP is searching for a cheaper way out, that is the way to go. I have a 6500 watt winpower gen head for which I built a pto drive that I can drive with the tractor at about 1/2 throttle (450 pto rpm to 3600 gen rpm) . It put it on a cart with the Miller buzz box ac/dc welder, leads, torch, etc. I also use it to power the farm in event of power outage. Lil diesel tractor at lower RPMs just sips the fuel. Plus, and it's one less engine to maintain and keep batteries charged etc.

73, Mark


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## bluefarmer

How do you figure, to make sure generator is big enough to run welder. I know on a electric motor they say volts x watts= minimum kw


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## glasswrongsize

Amps x volts (required for welder as per its book) equals watts needed by generator. 220v x 30a = 6600 watts
73, Mark


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## slowzuki

You can cheat a bit running the welder on lower settings, for example burning 1/8" rods at 75 or 90 amps on ac on our buzz box only pulls about 15 amps so can run on a 5000 watt generator no trouble.

You don't need a big surge capacity like a motor.



glasswrongsize said:


> Amps x volts (required for welder as per its book) equals watts needed by generator. 220v x 30a = 6600 watts
> 73, Mark


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## panhandle9400

I have miller trailblazer 250 it runs on LP only , it had 83 hours on it when I bought it off ebay for a delivered price of 1700.00. I have it mounted on a service truck , I like the fact it is LP and trouble free .


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## azmike

On a side note, we are building our new cattle facility- working pens, feeders etc. Kinda rough and tumble work, so I picked up a couple of Metal Man welding hoods from Tractor Supply for Pat and I. They are quite adequate for the job. At $35 versus $250 for a Miller they are OK and can have one on every rig.


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