Find me a MIG

My birthday is coming up and i decided to gift myself a MIG welding unit. My price cap is pretty solid at $300. Must run on house current so no 220V systems. Must be a true MIG unit with gas setup...no flux core. Lastly no cheapo Harbor Freight units.

What units would you advise.

Annnnndddd go.

http://wio.ru/korea/mig15.jpg

Sorry, couldn't resist.

BoostedBrandon wrote: http://wio.ru/korea/mig15.jpg Sorry, couldn't resist.

They always say when it comes to MiGs, buy the best you can afford or you'll end up regretting it.

I'd still be careful with a MiG, no matter how new it is. One wrong move, and

because welding with fire

I use a cheapo CH unit from Lowes. It gets the job done. It came with the regulator and hoses for gas, but I have never used them. Flux wire does everything I need it to. It was $280, but that was ten years ago.

CarKid said: Find me a MIG.

http://www.controller.com/listingsdetail/aircraft-for-sale/MIKOYAN-MIG-21-UM/1967-MIKOYAN-MIG-21-UM/1163877.htm

That was tooo easy, what else ya got?

Eastwood 135

In reply to slantvaliant:

That Eastwood is probably the best you'll find new for anywhere close to $300. I'm not 100% sold on them yet. I did a lot of reading on them after someone mentioned them in one of the other recent welder threads.

Tractor Supply has the Hobart 125 for $350, but you're stuck with only 4 voltage settings with it.

For another $140 you can get a reconditioned Hobart 140 from Toolking Pretty much the best deal you're going to find "new," and well worth it in my opinion.

• Lee

Is you're $300 budget including bottle, hood, tools, etc.? Or just for the welder? If you want it all for less than $300 then you're stuck with the cheapest of the cheap chi-com HF units or the Craig's List score of the decade.

• Lee

bigdaddylee82 wrote: Is you're $300 budget including bottle, hood, tools, etc.? Or just for the welder? If you want it all for less than $300 then you're stuck with the cheapest of the cheap chi-com HF units or the Craig's List score of the decade. - Lee

That's like welding with a coat hanger, jumper cables, and a car battery. I bought a Horrible Freight 220v MIG when I was a broke kolledge student, and its their typical chicom garbage. My welds look 100x nicer with my friends 120v Lincoln and it doesn't spit and sputter before it creates an arc.

YaNi wrote: That's like welding with a coat hanger, jumper cables, and a car battery. I bought a Horrible Freight 220v MIG when I was a broke kolledge student, and its their typical chicom garbage. My welds look 100x nicer with my friends 120v Lincoln and it doesn't spit and sputter before it creates an arc.

I was/am in no way recommending a HF or any other cheap POS "welder." OP stated he didn't want one, I was letting him know he is likely to have no other choice with such a limited budget.

• Lee

The refurb Hobart is my suggestion. Good quality, parts available, good price.

bigdaddylee82 wrote: Tractor Supply has the Hobart 125 for $350, but you're stuck with only 4 voltage settings with it. For another $140 you can get a reconditioned Hobart 140 from [Toolking](http://www.toolking.com/hobart-500500a-factory-reconditioned-handler-140-mig-flux-cored-welder-a-stock) Pretty much the best deal you're going to find "new," and well worth it in my opinion. - Lee

Ill look at both of those. Seem like good deals

cwh wrote: The refurb Hobart is my suggestion. Good quality, parts available, good price.

That Hobart unit looks nice but its $450 which wil have to be ok.

BUT for $450 what else can i buy. Same guidelines but now a 450$ price cap

Personally I would wait for a used Lincoln 140C on craigslist.

+1 I love my lincoln.

I don't think your going to find anything as "new" as that Hobart for that kind of money.

Craigslist/fleabay are pretty much your only other options.

One of my at least bi-weekly Craig's List searches is a Miller 211. That's what I've got my sites on, but used it's still $700+ I haven't found that smoking deal yet.

I'd guess used you MIGHT get a Miller 180, Lincoln 180C, Hobart 185/187 for that kind of money. You could for sure get a used Lincoln 140C or Hobart 140 for that or less, maybe even a Miller 140.

It's been said a hundred times before, just pick you're favorite color.

• Lee

I dream of the day that I find a Millermatic 211 for $400

It would make a fantastic complement to my $450 Maxstar 150 STL

Glad I found this! Looking for one myself, had a CH one, loaned it out to 2 different people, not sure which one it really crapped out on, never really got the chance to play with it Looking for a replacement to start learning with, was about to go to HF this weekend, glad now I looked at this. Saw the Hobart 125 & the 140 on Tractor Supply, they have the 140 new for $499, figure it's worth the $10 extra over the refurb price. The 140 only has 4 voltage settings per the TS website, that was mentioned as a downside for the 125. I never expect to be a master welder, but I would like to be able to go out to the shop, fix my trailer/tractor/go nuts & weld crap together, so is that a serious drawback, or just for the guys who weld daily?

I haven't found the fixed voltage settings to be a limitation, FWIW.

I don't think they're a limitation if you are an experienced welder (that can adjust speed, and wire feed to compensate for "middle settings"). For less experienced welders I think it is nice to have a more "exact setting" to give you the best chance for a good weld.

I think this is one of the reasons I think TIG is easier than mig for the inexperienced welder. Much more control, much slower, fewer fireworks.

Could be. FWIW, 95% of the time all I do is set the machine to what the chart shows, and then hit the trigger. It's rare that I ever touch the knobs beyond that.

Second recommendation for Eastwood 135

The 4 settings for heat shouldn't stop you from welding anything. But infinite adjustability makes for a better welding experience.