Trap Mods--welder selection

[sRc]

What type(s) & brand(s) of welders are recommended for most trap mod work?

[kyboy]

You can get by just fine with a good 110V mig like hobart handler or a Lincoln pro-mig....

[greyscat]

that's a good question. i use a hobart 140 mig welder. it runs on 110v and does everything i need to perk traps. it will weld thin metal without blowing holes in it or weld small links shut or weld base plates on and get good penetration. of course there are wire feed settings for the speed of the wire being feed out and settings for the voltage for penetration. i bought it a year ago and gave 450.00 at tractor supply. if you don't have a welding helmet yet buy one of those solar operated ones that lets you look through as you strike an ark, then it will go dark on you...their real good

[Stanley]

There has been a few threads on this subject. I went looking for them but couldn't find them. I only went back 47 pages. RK660 had some good advice about welders, and a few others. It was a good thread, I'll try to look later.

[robertw]

I use a Hobart 125 handler.

I roll my welding table out in the driveway and weld most evening all summer long. Since I'm outside I use core flux wire.

[sRc]

Do any of these mentioned use a "shielding gas"? (This is all new terminology to me--no experience.)

[robertw]

Yes, if you purchase them with a gas kit. Some come standard with one.

If your going to be welding inside then you want to use a gas shielded process. Core flex gives off to many fumes in an enclosed area.

Flux core wire has really increased in cost. Solid wire used with the a gas shield process is considerably cheaper.

[rk660]

for any production volume, you really want solid wire and sheilding gas, much cheaper in long run. You can save a few bucks on gas by running co-2 instead of c-25 gas, and run gas out of a cheaper fountain cola bottle if you can get your hands on one. leased or rented bottles from welding supply house are pricey any more.

auto helmit is about manditory for me once youve used one. I'll remortgage the house, sell first born, whatever it takes, if i needed another and couldnt afford it at moment. I havent been happy with the import $49-ish auto helmits. Hobart has a line that runs from 89-200. Spend at least $89 on a helmit. Had a buddy that was still using one of the shields on a stick you hold in one hand. I let him try my old auto helmit after i upgraded it. He thought he died and went to heaven, LOL.
Even if hobby welding, hobart and miller, prolly lincoln too, have 110 volt welders in the 160-180 amp range. I think i'd spend 100-150 more, and get the increased amperage welder. You'll find the 120 amp range a little lacking if needing to weld 1/4" or more thickness on any size of plate that sucks up your heat. Then you can weld about anything around home/farm even if you have to multi-pass weld it. (much easyer with sheilded gas setup as no slag to chip like flux core). If wanting to weld outside with gas, just put up a tarp windbreak, and give it 10 lbs more gas pressure.

Another note: the 170-180 amp usually have a little heavyer duty cycle, and wont trip out from reaching heat level shut off, if your going to be welding much volume. 20% duty cycle means you can weld 20% of 1 hour before tripping out, depending on heat setting. I usually will kick out any welder with a 20% duty cycle in about a 1/2 hr-45 min, then wait 10 minutes to cool down. 30-35% duty cycle is darn tough to trip out unless welding 20 ft beads on battleships.

If you got a harbor freight store around close, theyve got .035 wire on sale till May 1 for $15 a 10 lb spool right now. welding supply even on commercial account running $29 for 10 lbs. Bought my shopping cart full last week

[kyboy]

I used lincoln pro migs (135&140) on the outside small jobs at the USP. Used a miller bobcat on the pipe welding and big jobs outside. Miller 251's in the shop(super sweet machine)..I honestly cant say enough about those little lincolns. Ive used them many a day for hours on end building gates and such. With .030 flux they run plenty hot and will weld some pretty big stuff if you know what your doing. It was always a move and go operation when using them so duty cycle was never a problem. Now those 251's are a miracle machine. We ran them for 16 hours a day,6-7 days a week for over a year. They still get used 6-8 hours a day, 5 days a week.Never a shutdown or a problem of any kind. Nice buying with a govt credit card

[mean1]

Miller and Hobart are owned by the same company now, I own a Hobart 140 and really like it. Goodluck


mean1

[rk660]

Next welder i by will be a Miller, those new EX series, some super duper sign wave technology deals are the smoothest burning welder Ive ever ran. Miller and Hobart are owned by same company, but still pretty much two different welders. Miller is pro line and Hobart is hobby/farm line. Hobart not bad, but not a Miller thats for sure. I dont think you can really go wrong between Hobart, Miller and Lincolns, just more bells and whistels for given amount of greenbacks, but all prettty good and dependable. The Clarks, Chicago tool and other imports are what youll run into more trouble with. One thing I dont like about Hobarts is their plastic housing wire feed, you have to dink with them alot to keep wire feeding at times. That would be one of the first things I'd look at when buying a new welder. Most new Miller and Lincolns have an alum housing, and are now angled down slightly so they dont bend the wire so much, and feed better. Ive got to put a new liner in my Hobart every 6 months or so to keep wire feeding smooth, but then I do burn a few pounds of wire I guess, on 3rd 10 lb spool in a weeks time just today.

[bill1306 (Phil)]

rk660 is giving you very good advise. I use a Miller 180 that I really like. I also use a Miller auto helmet and it really allows you to see what you are welding, by searching online you can find some really good deals on welders and auto helmets and they normally have free shipping.

[walkercoonhunter(Aaron L.)]

RK covers it all in his post....listen to him..you will not get better advice....

[Freak( Jim V.)]

Got a Hobart Ironman 210 that Rich suggested , and for the money it is a machine. seen that new miller bobcat all in one generator , mig /tig and stick. heck of a good price at $3200 I got offered to me for one at a new welding shop opening up.
The helmet is boo coo important in my limited opinion. Like a good scope , dont skimp on it.

[Freak( Jim V.)]

And sorry Rich , a little too late , I think he is already too far gone on them stinking coyotes. I barely got the question out my mouth about the contest and he said Im in. then thought to ask when and where. LOL
heck I had to drag him off the 2 tracks to chase cats and then I caught him wandering back up with a 1/16th snare in hand, mumbling something about cutting the coyotes off from the cats sets.

[kyboy]

We often changed the liners out in our welders because we welded a lot of aluminum with them. We put teflon liners in them, talk about smooth. Miller makes a fine TIG too. We had a 180 and huge liquid cooled unit. We used the 180 about 90% of the time. A note about that miller BOBCAt, we ran a 251 millermatic 220V welder off from it many times. I cant say enough about that generator. I welded a lot of 12" water pipe with it too. It has a very smooth output that really helps when arc welding.