Need to buy a welder????
 

I have my garage ready for a welder now. I need to know what welder is the best for restoration type work. I will be restoring a Ford 9N tractor and a 1973-1987 GMC/Chevy truck one of these days. Any suggestions or help would be appreciated.

It Depends On What Are You Doing To The Tractor? It Might Need An Arc (rod) Welder The Pick-up Will More Than Likely Require A Mig For Everything You Do To It. I Might Be Wrong But A Tractor And Pick-up Welding Repairs Are To Diffrent Lines Of Work.

i just got an email from the eastwood company - all their welders on are sale this month :metal:

get a 220volt 175 amp or so. it should do it all, thick and thin. make sure it uses gas too. here's a good welder http://www.weldingmart.com/Qstore/p000029.htm

that hobart 180 on the eastwood site looks pretty nice. i've never used a hobart but my hood is made by them.
EDIT i just got the same email a minute ago :lol: "welder blowout" the mik pak 15 looks like the best deal. :metal:

Lincoln, Miller or Hobart..one of those will do you fine..then pick your range of power....for the 175 class I'd say Lincoln 175sp+ then Miller MM 175 then Hobart 180..in that order are considered the best by many on the Miller message boards. The Hobart 180 has had some good deals lately...as low as $585 USD shipped with cart and autodark hood...missed that deal but it wasn't available in Canada anyway.
http://www.millermotorsports.com/mbo...isplay.php?f=3
web message board...ask their or they have a search feature also...that question gets asked about weekly which one to get. For a little bigger model the MM210 is hard to beat if you have a shop for it with 30 amp service 240 volt plug. Thats what most everyone recommends there. The 175-180 class need 240 volt also. All have 50 amp plugs by the way in this range...even though a 30 amp breaker will do for supply.
Hobart has message boards also.
http://www.hobartwelders.com/mboard/...isplay.php?f=3

another favorite of mine is http://shopfloortalk.com/forums/index.php?

that a keep you busy and informed.

ebays not a bad place to check things out in the USA. Order from a seller like BR welding and they will drop ship it from a local place to you....one tax and warranty most likely. Prices hard to beat compared to what the locals can do...but you can mention price from ebay at your local supply hpuse and maybe cut the same deal..and be on a little more friendly terms when it comes to gases and such.
Rod

There is a thread in the paint and body forum:

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s....php3?t=146163

I bought a 110 volt Lincoln. I got the biggest 110 they had. I wanted to be able to run it anywhere, and I did not have 220 in my garage at the time. I chose a Lincoln because I have a Lowes 5 minutes from my house and a Home Depot 10 minutes away. They both carry Lincoln, and have all of the supplies I need that are specific to the welder. It was a matter of convenience as much as anything.

Slonaker