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Best Mig welder around 1000

MTChevy

MTChevy

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Hey guys, I've been looking for a mig welder. my budget is around 1000 dollars, less is better. One that has caught my eye is the thermal arc 181i. It has provisions for tig welding later on if I wanted to learn.

I have 220 in my shop, I think 1/4 inch would be common for me to weld up possibly more.

What are your suggestions?
 
love my Miller 180, it's been flawless for about 5 yrs now.. they can be had for about 800 or so..
 
Hobart machines are good pieces. I was interested by the mig/tig/stick combo machine thermal arc offers but I already have a nice compact little stick welder. I plan on going with Hobart's second machine they make in 220 volt. Can't remember if its a 190 or 210. My 140 has been flawless for 5 years. Only now is the hot solenoid starting to stick on it.
 
I had considered a 187 Handler... only issue with the Hobart's is the stepped voltage...
 
A couple weeks ago I bought an Eastwood MIG175 for $500 shipped. It's my first machine and seems decent enough for me to get started back up welding. No problems with it yet while I've been playing with it, even comes with an spool gun too so I can try aluminum eventually. I'm actually welding in the ORD frame patch with it today.
 
What's the next step up from a miller 180? Something with a little more a$$ to do like 1/2".
 
NorCal69 said:
I really dig the miller 211 that I have. 110-220 option with just changing out the plug on the end that comes with it.

Nice to have the ability to weld the thicker stuff if needed with the 220.

$1070 looks to the the best online price.

http://store.cyberweld.com/mi211migwewi.html
Click to expand...
thats what i was going to suggest. i know a few guys on here have them and love the nuts off them. that will be my next jump when i upgrade
 
I have a Miller 211 and love it :bow: I bought it brand new a little over a year ago and have honestly run close to 50 pounds of wire through it already :eek1: (11 lb spools). It is small enough (same size as a miller 180) to be portable if needed but powerful enough to do 3/8"s pretty well. I used to use a Miller 251 quite a bit at our shop, but unless I'm doing something really heavy or a whole lot of long welds I use my 211 now.
Like already stated the MVP (multi voltage plug) setup is sweet, takes only a minute to change and is nice if you need to take the machine to say a buddies place and he doesn't have 220-230v . Although I don't use it much the auto set feature works well, wire changes are very quick and easy, the only somewhat negative thing I can even say is the cart that comes with it (I bought the welder/cart combo) is pretty cheesy, wheels are too small, it doesn't have a handle and is basically of low quality.
I paid right around $1000 and I highly recommend it !!!
 
I'm in the same boat looking for a bigger machine. My 140 has served me good but I find myself welding thicker stuff lately. Have you checked any of the local stores to see what they have or recommend?
 
Another vote for the Miller 211. I've had mine for about 5 years now and love it. I think I picked mine up for ~$900 from Cyberweld. Looks like they've gone up a bit since then.

I went with Miller because they seem to run a little hotter than Lincoln to me. Whatever you get make sure it has variable settings so you can fine tune it.
 
I have a Miller 211 as well and it works great. I use the multi-voltage plug more than I thought I would and really appreciate the flexibility.
My first project with the welder was a good cart - skip the Miller cart.
 
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