Sandy Hook, MB | Bartman - 3/2/2015 06:23 I am considering purchasing a mig welder for my farm shop. It would be used for general fabricating and repair work. I Have an AC/DC welder and use 7018 rods for most of the welding I do, but would like to add a mig to the operation. Keeping in mind price and capacities, what size of welder do you feel would be adequate? Would 180A or 216A be suitable? Are there any brands you would avoid? I am a novice at the Mig game and would value any responses. Thanks, Bart.
Hello Bartman
I was thinking the same way that you are right now when I was going to purchase a MIG machine. I welded for 20 years with my 250 AC/DC stick machine & figured that a 200 amp MIG would be good enough for me. If I had any heavy metal to weld, I could always go back to my stick machine. I mentioned that to the salesman after he asked me questions about what I planned on welding with my MIG. He suggested buying a 250 amp MIG. He said that he saw this happen all the time, guys buying a small machine & figure that they'll just be welding some light material with it. Once they get used to using that machine & see how much easier it is to weld with, they start using it on some heavier material. That's when they start running into problems & then come back & buy a 250 amp machine.
It's all about "duty cycle". Think of it this way, which machine do you think will last longer? A 200 amp machine running at 100% capacity all the time or a 250 amp machine running at 80%? You get what you pay for, buy either Blue [Blue is better (I'm partial to Blue as that's what I have)] or Red. They are both good North American built machines. Stay away from the off shore brands. If you need a part 20 years from now, will they still be in business? |
Size of mig welder for farm shop
