deal or no deal

[2tay530]

i was looking at buying this northern industrial mig welder could any one tell wether its a good one or bad one? Maby some feed back from someone who has one?

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/w...0&N=114+765791

[tnjind]

Don't know about the Northern brand but I have a Hobart Handler 135, great machine for the size.
I would rather spend a little more for a Miller or Hobart than a "house" brand welder.

[dabar39]

2tay530, One of my smaller migs is a Lincoln HD3200 and going by the pictures shown, that is the same welder as mine, just different colors. It has the same exterior case, drive assembly, hose, regulator, etc... it's all the same. Either Lincoln makes them for other people or other people make them for Lincoln, don't know which. I can't speak for the one pictured but, mine is great for sheet metal and light gauge materials. Dave

[2tay530]

thanks a bunch I'll deffinately look into all three of those. Hope I find one soon I want to get started.

[Craig in Denver]

Cheap tools

It's $130 cheaper than their Hobart for a reason.

Don't buy cheap tools. You'll get to cuss them for the rest of your life.

Find a way to get yourself a Miller, Lincoln, or Hobart. And get one that you can add a bottle to later. Buy from your local weld shop, you want those guys on your side.

For what it's worth: dabar39 welds race cars, I weld brackets.

[84ZMike]

They are cheap copies of lincoln's....they even say right on the front panel made in China.....I know of a guy that got the plasma....after the second one he returned it for a refund..... never got them to work at all.

[2tay530]

I can't find the hobart 350 or the Lincoln 3200 on the companies sights.
Can you help?

[fun4now]

get quality the first time.

if you are looking for a 120V MIG. do your self a favor and spring for a hobart 140, its set up for gas. if you have 240V and a little more $$ the 187 or the HH210. all have gotten great reviews. spending a little more now will be well worth it in the end. this is a welder you will have for many years trouble free. i granite it will pay for its self even if you just use it to fix stuff around the house. don't mess with a bargain basement deal that will give you trouble and be a pain looking for service. i have had my MM135 for about 7 or 8 years now. got it back when they were only $450.oo ish . never had a single problem with it. run several 100 lbs of wire threw it. flux and solid core. all i have ever had to replace was tips. cant even Begin to tell you how much stuff i have used it on. my first thought was grab a cheap clark, boy am i glad i came to and sprang for a miller.

save your self the hassle, just get a good one now. it will be used for many years. seems like there is always some thing to use it on, even if its just for fun. 7+ years later i still love pulling the trigger. you wont regret getting quality, no one ever dose.

[AnotherDano]

I can't find the hobart 350 or the Lincoln 3200 on the companies sights.
Can you help?

It's a Lincoln HD 3200 - as in Home Depot.

I have one and it does just fine for me.

[dabar39]

2tay530, found some HD 3200's when I was looking around on ebay, here's the listing for one of them. http://pics.ebaystatic.com/aw/pics/s.gif

[opsranch]

What to buy

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]

BamaBob

good solid advice. welcome to the site.