MIG Welders - what’s good??

Happy Thanksgiving! I broke my “disposable” multi-process welder tonight.

I never expected it to last, just to get me through a few projects - which it did valiantly, but its time has come.

I want to replace it with something decent and that is where I could use any suggestions.

My requirements and wishes are:
- Spend approx $500 or less.
- It should do one thing really well rather than a bunch of things half-assed.
- Fluxcore MIG is by far my predominant use case.
- If it can do gas MIG too that is fine.
- Must run on household voltage (but a 120/240 switchable unit would be fine of course).
- Extra points for wider range on both the thin and thick side.
- A big “must” - cannot use the commonly implemented plastic wire feeder (this is what failed on the welder I’ve got).

I’ve got my eye on three units -
- the Lincoln 125A “Weld-Pack 125”. Doesn’t do gas, on paper it can handle 18ga to 5/16” material, metal feeder, 125A max output, Lincoln name a plus, single voltage.

- the Eastwood “180 Amp MIG Welder”. Does do gas, and handles 24ga to 5/16” (probably requires gas at the low end), metal feeder, 180A max (130A practical max on house current), solid brand, dual voltage, supports a spool gun which I’ve never used but could be handy someday.

- the Harbor Freight “Titanium MIG 170”. Does do gas MIG, handles 24ga to 3/8” stated (probably requires gas on the low end and 240v on the high end), metal feeder, 170A max on 240v, supports a spool gun.

Really leaning towards the Eastwood. The Titanium is interesting, but unfamiliar and I wonder about the long term quality for $500. Really want to like the Lincoln, though it may actually be a little too plain-Jane.

Anyone have experience with the Eastwood? What about the Titanium? Are there any other great options out there that I should be looking at?

 

Bite the bullet and invest in a Miller Electric- Miller Matic 211. Operates on 110/220 power supply. Can run 25/30/35 thousands wire. Set the thickness of the metal on the dial, turn on the gas and go to work. Capable of running a spool gun for aluminum. There are some used ones available for sale if you keep looking. I’ve used my friends Eastwood wire welder and almost fried it. I’m used to production welding and didn’t allow enough time for cooldown and exceeded the recommended duty cycle. Good luck in your search.

 

The 211 comes up over and over again on various forums and writeups. Since posting my original, I’ve learned that the Eastwood uses proprietary tips (maybe other parts too) - that’s a real turnoff.

I searched a bit on Craigslist for a Miller unit - no hits, but I think I’ll keep hunting. Something is bound to come up eventually … or I’ll get impatient and just pony up for one.

 

I believe the harbor freight welders use proprietary tips as well, no? I know the cheap titanium does. I just bought a cheapo multiprocess like you did that’s holding together. If it ever does crap out then I’ll probably get a miller. I keep my eyes peeled for a suitcase style but they very rarely hit the market. Good luck with your search and post up what you end up getting

 

I would recommend finding a unit that can use gas. I had a Hobart Handler 120 or some such years ago. It worked great for a few little projects and they had a gas upgrade kit for it but discontinued the kit when I felt the need to upgrade. Go figure. So I sold it on CL for $250 and purchased a Hobart 210 MVP, which allows me to run on 120 or 240 without having to reconfigure it. It also runs gas, so my welds are SOOOO much better looking than when I used flux core. I still keep a roll of flux core around but I literally haven't touched it since I set up the new welder four or five years ago. At that time, it could be found for a little over $700 on sale, but now that I'm looking at it online, I'm seeing $1100. Ooof.

BTW, Lincoln and Hobart are like Chevy and GMC now; same parent company, different name plate. They usually come with almost identical features and specs, but pricing can vary between the two. The Miller 211 is an awesome welder, but pricey. However, I find it hard to spend a fair amount of coin on a tool that I'm probably not going to be happy with or that will only meet some of my needs, when I can spend a little more and get a tool that I really like and will meet all my foreseeable needs. I say that having spent plenty of money on tools that I knew I was going to eventually upgrade. Sometimes you only have the budget for that halfway tool, and that's ok, too. Make it work.