OK. Thanks to all you guys and some internet study - and a hugely helpful guy at Hobart that took the time to educate me about helmets and eye safety, I'm ready to buy a welder.

I've got two decisions to make. One, is there a good reason to buy a Lincoln or Miller instead of a Hobart? Assuming there is not, should I buy the Hobart Handler 187 or the Handler 210? Tractor Supply has the 187 for $599 and $799 for the 210.

My only reason to choose Hobart is some guy there wrote me a long and intelligent answer to a question I had about auto-darkening helmet safety. I'm loyal...but I can't afford to buy the wrong thing, either.

 

Those are the best companies to buy from. As far as which one the biggest you can afford is the one to buy,It just give s you more options when the time comes to weld thicker metal or somthing important.g/l

 

i vote miller because i have one. lincoln is good too, id rather buy a brand name one like miller or lincoln because brand does matter with welders, its not like a t shirt where you pay for the sticker on it. and with a brand name one you have parts everywhere for them or consumables for whatever you buy from that brand. x2 with the guy who mentioned welding bigger stuff too, buy one alot more powerful than you think you need

i bought a plasma cutter planning to cut 1/4 and thankfully i bought one that will cut 3/4 but now i need one that will cut 1 inch or more. point is...

THERE IS NEVER ENOUGH POWER WHEN IT COMES TO TOOLS

 

Hobart is made my Miller right? Like their residential line....so I would say you are good to go with that bad boy. Get the biggest one you can afford. You'll never say 'Man, I wish this welder couldn't weld such thick stuff'.......whereas the opposite might be true some day.

 

yes, Hobart is made by Miller. I'd go with a Miller product. my dad sells welding equipment and Miller has proven to have the best customer service when there are problems. Lincoln does make a good product, but its nice to have the added benefit of customer service should something go wrong.

 

I went with the hobart 210 and I've been happy. I went with hobart because I dont do alot of welding and Tractor Supply conveniently carries most of the accesories.

 

Just an FYI...Hobart has been around as long - if not longer - than Miller or Lincoln. It is a 100 year old company. Miller bought Hobart welders - but not there other product lines - not too long ago. Many people think that Miller will shut Hobart down to lesson competition but it won't be because the product is lesser quality.

I'm looking for a genuine reason to buy one or the other...something substantive...but so far I can't see the difference between $599 at Home Depot for a Lincoln and $599 at TSC for a Hobart. I don't see anyone selling Millers - don't knwo where you buy them.

 

You sound like you can't make your own decision, sorry to sound mean maybe let your wife pick one they are all the same the tech to make a welder they both know how to make great welders its just now personal perferance bud it's not that hard sorry to sound mean but come on it like buying a jeep alot of differant ones yet you got what one you picked.So if you got any **** thought at me p/m me.

 

you buy them at welding supply shops, like Praxair, Air gas, etc... find out where the nearest one is, go there and talk to them and they should be able to recommend one for you. or you can even buy them online for cheaper.

 

Or just get a Lioncoln 124HD. About $425.00. Welds up to 1/4" and can use gas and/or aluminium(with the right attachments). Which you can purchase later on. That way you can still get an auto-darkening helmet with the welder for a grand total of $525.00+ tax.

 

I asked for useful comments, not smart-aleck remarks. If you don't have something useful to say, take the cute comments elsewhere.

 

At least you can type a comlpete sentence.

 

Well I can see you really dont need a welder.I'm sure you will burn your self, every one answered your ? here if your not smart enough then take it to a shop.

 

AS if you two can.lol

 

I saw TSC has the 187 for $600 and the 210 for $800. Is the extra 25 amps worth the $200?

TSC also has a comment in the write-up that says the 210 delivers a penetration profile like a "large frame" welder. This I don't get - I thought, for example, if you were running at 130 amps it would behave exactly the same whether you used a 180 amp machine or 300 amp machine. Amps is amps, ain't they?