Looking to buy a portable stick welder. Ive got a generator to power it to make it portable to bring to equipment. Wanting a stick welder to repair and pad my bucket on a 27 tn excavator for normal wear and tear, adding wear bars and hard facing etc. Or would an engine driven machine be a better choice although they're quite pricey. Tim Modine Excavating
A tombstone welder takes a 10kw to start the arc so with out knowing the size of your generator I would recommend going engine driven. I bought an older Miller Lightening for $1000 and sold my generator.
Unless your generator is in the 15kw class, you will be much better off to go with a GOOD engine drive welder. Stay away from the Bobcats and Lincoln Rangers, and watch for a good MillerTrailblazer or Lincoln 305.
Now RZ your Mack service truck has a bobcat.
The Bobcat was standard equipment. I upgraded to the Trailblazer 325.
Ah-it's still there. Twice even.
What’s wrong with a bobcat?
Engine drive is pretty much the only option for portable can be had for around 1000 used
I've never had much for problems with the older Onan powered bobcat or trailblazer ( pretty near the same machine) and they can be had fairly cheap now. The newer Trailblazers with the EFI engine have let me down, would not start in cold -25c weather. Had to warm it up with a tarp and heater. They are nicer than the older when running but I would prefer less electronic junk, plastic, and fancy lights.
I repair these units from time to time. One thing when looking at used, DO NOT BUY the V-twin OHV "Onan" engine. Which is really a Subaru Robin. Subaru exited the US market a couple of years ago and the parts were like hens teeth, I had to get them on ebay from different places. Plus it was never a very good engine anyway. (I did discover the valve stem seals were the same as a Subaru car so those were available aftermarket.) The flat head engine which is a real Onan design was better but still getting long in the tooth. I think they made some with a Kohler v-twin, those are a very robust engine.
ESAB looks like a nice machine. But no engine drive. I’m looking to buy used as it’s only going to be working a few times a year. Saw a bobcat 300 pro on craigslist for $1500 with a trailer an 3300 hrs. Seems like a good deal
Nothing really, the newer ones aren't bad. I used to do a lot of piping work and preferred the Trailblazers because they used rectified 3 phase over the Bobcats single phase. The Trailblazer also uses 2 generators (one to weld and one for aux power) meaning your helper can grind his azz off and not disrupt the arc. The 3 phase makes for a much smoother arc when you are welding pipe in strange positions.
If you really need welding power. Caterpillar/Lincoln 600 amp Twin Arc. You can weld with two stingers at once. Getting a new trailer under it.
My brother in-law had one of those, worked great with air arc. What a burner she was.
I have had all of the small gas lawnmower engine welders. Lincoln, Miller, and a couple of others. Good machines for getting by and they will weld. I used them for years. I got a Lincoln Vantage 300 a few years ago. It makes me a much better weldor. I would like to try a Trailblazer 325. I still have a couple of the of the lawnmower engine welders for at home, for the most part they will do anything you need to do. Get real gas and run in them. They don’t like sitting with this modern gas.
I’m in Australia so I don’t know if they would br available to go but I run a Unimig 180 amp invertor stick welder off a 7.5 kva generator. Works well jobs of about an hour or so. If you are welding for any longer I would go to a dedicated engine driven machine. I really like my Miller 250 for bigger jobs. It’s never let me down but we don’t get as cold as you guys haha.
Thats a beast ! Years ago i had a 400 Lincoln with a 2-71 on my welding truck,trouble was it would vibrate any work you were doing off the deck. It poured 3/32 wire and gouged like a hot dam that 600 would be even better . Seems now when i talk about 3/32 wire no one knows what it is. Especially something like ns3m gasless .
Heres an old antique i keep for small jobs because it fits in my pickup with my toolbox and fuel tank. I cant say im a huge fan of Wisconson enginges but it works ok