dasbulliwagen Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 I finnally scraped enough scrap metal money together to buy the welder I want. I'm looking at the Hobart handler 140 at Tractor supply, and the Lincoln equivqlent at Lowes. They are within $25 of each other on price with the Lincoln being more expensive. These are 115 Volt welders that can do either gas or non gas wire welding. Have any of yous guys had any experience with these models? I'm ready to pull the trigger real soon, so any help would be appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camjeep3 Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 either one of those brands are good. I don't think you could go wrong either way. I have a lincoln from lowes and love it. Its a smaller one, but I was still able to weld spring perches for my SOA as well as build my winch bumper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mnkyboy Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 I think either will be fine, we have a 135 and and 140 amp Lincoln at the shop for small stuff and they work great for what they are for. Our bigger welders are Hobarts we have a 250 MIG and 165 TIG,the 250 is one of the nicest welders I've ever used. We haven't had any issues with either brand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Backdraft Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 I have the Hobart handler 140 and used it on my floor/firewall welding, it performed great. And just as a side note, Hobart is made by Miller. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abyx Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 From a purely commercial P.O.V., after 3 years of regular use; the Homedepot/Lowes brand Lincoln welders burn out.. hence their 3 year warranty. Company that I used to work for had two of them do this. Granted, we used them weekly at maximum settings in less than ideal conditions, but this is just an option to consider. Having used both; I like the Hobart much better, the welds seem to come out nicer with the settings it has; however both will burn just as deep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeep_freek88 Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 flux core is nice if your welding outside. I'm looking into getting a flux core wire feed mig. being in montana there is wind all the time. miller is very nice lincoln is also very nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danbyrambler Posted July 28, 2012 Share Posted July 28, 2012 Consider this if you decide to buy a Lincoln: The Home Depot also sells Lincoln welders - THD & Lowes have/share a common history & a rivalry that pales the Martins/McCoys feud - - -THD expands upon this a little in that they really don't like any competition period. Anyway, THD has a price match policy plus they'll beat the competitions price by 10% minimum - Lowes sometimes does the same - Price match always-discount maybe - Both will probably ask for proof to make sure it's same model/manufacturer - local ad - phone verification & such - don't know how much money the lincoln goes for but if THD normally stocks it & they're out they will upgrade free with a $50 max - BTW all of this is for in store sales only - - One more thing that can save a few bucks - Both THD & Lowes just about wet their pants if you get one of their credit cards - No tricks or strings attached & they will offer a discount to get you to sign up, then you can use it or toss it - they don't care, they're just always under a lot of pressure to push CC sign ups - - - They also have monthly sales quotas for each department - at THD the pro desk is the place to visit - Most of the time the pro desk supervisor will give additional % off just for running the sale through his dedicated register - Lowes is probably the same - - You can always save money at either place just by knowing/asking - - - After I was happily retired my wife came up with the idea that "just for appearance sake " maybe I should have a job until our daughter finished Elementary&High School & I fell for it - Ran a THD tool rental dept for 7 years-So what I've said about saving money in these places I know to be true. Hope this helps. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xjrev10 Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 I have used the Hobart 140 and the Miller equivilent in industry for a few year with both machines. Both ran flawless. The hobart lived on a barge, wet, hot, cold life! Now Ive had a lincoln 110 in my garage for the last few years. Used maybe twice a month. It just took a dump the other day. Will not feed. Gun is fine, must be something internal...... more food for thought! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dasbulliwagen Posted August 3, 2012 Author Share Posted August 3, 2012 I think Ive setled on The Hobart. Ill making the trip to tractor supply this weekend. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KYMJ Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 I made the trip to Tractor Supply as well. Mine came with the wire feeder door hinges(plastic) broken. Hobart is sending me new ones. The machine works good, too bad my skills are not up to par. I've never welded, I'll be spending time and money learning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abyx Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 Now Ive had a lincoln 110 in my garage for the last few years. Used maybe twice a month. It just took a dump the other day. Will not feed. Gun is fine, must be something internal...... That's basically what happened with one of ours....I "fixed" the problem by replacing the feeder sleeve(Real PITA if you don't know what you're doing, which I didn't.) and lubing up the part where the coil of wire spins on - with WD40. Worked for a little while then the welder basically died. They just eventually stop burning with any sort of penetration anymore. The machine works good, too bad my skills are not up to par. I've never welded, I'll be spending time and money learning. http://www.weldingtipsandtricks.com/mig ... icles.html Here's everything you need to know about NON-structural/life bearing welding. Read it as many times as you need for the info to soak in; MIG welding is as simple as it gets. My two tips - 1. Wear long sleeves 2. Don't buy wire from a super hardware store; go to tractor supply and buy the Hobart wire. It's 10x better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KYMJ Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 Thanks for the link. I blew my measly budget on the welder, no gas yet, so I'm trying flux core first. I don't even have the basics down yet, I keep winding up with 6 inches of wire sticking out. :hmm: Yeah, I'm pitiful. Quite frankly, thought it would be a breeze and I thought I could do just about anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xjrev10 Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 I think Ive setled on The Hobart. Ill making the trip to tractor supply this weekend. Thanks! You will not be disappointed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dasbulliwagen Posted August 8, 2012 Author Share Posted August 8, 2012 Got it home today. I can't wait to start playing! Still need to get the accessories first, like a helmet. That helmet thread came just in time! Ill show later what I needed it for. thanks for the input! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cody4359 Posted August 8, 2012 Share Posted August 8, 2012 Thanks for the link. I blew my measly budget on the welder, no gas yet, so I'm trying flux core first. I don't even have the basics down yet, I keep winding up with 6 inches of wire sticking out. :hmm: Yeah, I'm pitiful. Quite frankly, thought it would be a breeze and I thought I could do just about anything. prep the metal to be welded very good, get off all paint/grease etc and make sure your ground is on a clean spot, keeps gaps to a minimum. i personally hate flux core, went from flux to .030 wire and it was a nice change. currently doing floors in the mj and was having problems with burning thru so i switched to some .023 wire, what a difference. lays a bead much smoother and controlled without burning thru nearly as bad and i can now turn the wire speed up. just picked up some .023 (easy grind) wire, twice the price as the reg stuff but my boss swears by it for doing autobody. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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