Which welder to choose?

reilig

My Arc welder is on its last legs after about 18 years of service and I'm thinking about buying a new one. There seems to be a lot of talk about mig welders these days and I was just wondering if anyone can fill me in on them?

I am a pretty good welder with the arc welder - would I easily pick up the mig welding?

I don't want to pay €1k for a mig welder, so the gasless mig welders seem to be the only ones in my range. Are they any good. What amp mig welder would I need to be buying to meet agricultural needs?? ie. I make the odd creep feeder, gate, pen etc and I do some light repairs to farm machinery but I never weld anything thicker than 10mm and 99% of the steel that I weld is thinner than 5mm.

What would be the advantage of a mig welder over an arc welder for me??
Would it give neater/more accurate/stronger welds?????

Any advice appreciated!!!!

JohnBoy

Mig welders are great.

but unless you've got 500+ to spend on a second hand machine, or closer to a grand new then for what you're looking for you're gonna be out of luck.

cheaper mig machines are really just for sheetmetal and light box type materials, anything heavier requires current and the smaller cheaper mig's just dont have it.

for farm work a simple arc welder is ideal, simple and effictive, capable of welding heavier stuff and more tolerant of poor prep which is often a fact of life in running repairs.

I have a 260A arc (the standard upright machine sold under a million brands) and a 130A mig for the best of both worlds, a far cheaper combo than one big mig.

thetangler

I would recomend an inverter welder. I have one for 5-6 years now easy to carry around to do mantinence jobs very practical. I gave around €500 but i would say they are a lot cheaper now.

CJhaughey

I agree a good inverter is now pretty reasonable and easy to carry around, If you do use a Gas mig it doesn't work on windy days! I have never used one of those Gasless migs but they seem to be more of a car body repair type item rather than for Trailers and the like.
This crowd has fairly cheap welders, Not Miller quality but not Miller price either.
http://www.tooled-up.com/SubCategory.asp?CID=11&SCID=75

levallat

Definatly go for the inverter, I have the gasless mig but only use it for tin work and car bodies also everything has to be very clean to get a good weld which is difficult if your doing repairs.

reilig

What advantage would the Inverter welder have over an arc welder??

thetangler

reilig wrote: »

What advantage would the Inverter welder have over an arc welder??

My Opinion (and I am no expert)

Adv
> Dosent need as high a current to run (can run on ext leads no tripping power).

>Lighter for moving around.

>You can bring the welder to the job instead of the job to the welder.

>Neater for storing in the workshop.

Disadv

> More expensive to buy.

Indubitable

Sounds like a Kestra welder would be perfect for you

Dking

I bought an 200 amp arc welder last year for €400 it is very handy for running repairs and requires little power and works on extension leads,, although mig welders are easier and possibly cheaper to run you need good esb for them and with the gas it could be a problom to maintain,,

reilig

Thanks for all the helpful information guy's. Looks like I might buy an inverter welder.