Hobart 210 or millermatic 211

[doonjumper]

I have been reading alot of posts on the subject of this brand or that brand. I understand that Hobart is made by Miller. It has been said many times that the difference between Hobart and Miller is internal parts. Does anyone know what that means? Does the "difference" in internal parts = longer duty cycle or does it = longevity of the unit? I can get a Hobart 210 for $885 or a millermatic 211 for $970 with a free cart. Im leaning miller because of name and free cart. I guess I'm just at a point where my brain hurts from reading all the posts and need a second opinion. Again I know there are similar posts but none of them say what the difference the internal parts will make.

 

[fishinnutt]

I would get the Miller. I bought the Miller 252 and love it. Another good welder to look into is the new Lincoln welders with the diamond core technology, my gas guy can't get over how much he likes them. My gas guy cleared his entire Miller show room for the new Lincoln stuff and they sold more Miller welders than any other store in their company.

 

[Fabrimacator21]

Miller makes hobart..... Gm makes daewoo.


Go with the miller. Better machine all the way around.

 

[79BRUISER]

With that little of a price difference and a free cart, the Miller seems like a no brainer to me. Of course I'm partial, all I use is Miller.

 

[jt512]

Miller 211 all the way, the 211 has the option of using either 115v or 230v which is very nice and adds alot of flexibiltiy as to where you can use it. I personally use a older Miller 140 and also a 251, I love both of them.

211

 

[Stomis]

I love my 140 hobart just for a plug for the hobart brand. I believe that the difference in the two names is the longevity of the machine.

 

[Dr. Morgenstern]

I have the HH210 and it is a great welder. Although at less than a $100 price difference, I'd probably go with the MM211

 

[Zeus33rd]

I would get the Miller. I bought the Miller 252 and love it. Another good welder to look into is the new Lincoln welders with the diamond core technology, my gas guy can't get over how much he likes them. My gas guy cleared his entire Miller show room for the new Lincoln stuff and they sold more Miller welders than any other store in their company.

+1 on the Lincolns.

I've used every brand welder that exists. As far as mig welders go, I ended up with a Lincoln Powermig 215 for my personal machine. There is nothing wrong with Millers, or Hobarts, they will all perform the same job equally well. The biggest reason I got the Lincoln over the others was the way it welded. A much softer, more controllable arc, which leads to a more easily controlled puddle. When you first hit the trigger on a mig welder to start the arc, the wire is cold. With the miller, the arc start was messy and spattery, took a second for the popping and farting to stop and a nice smooth arc to present itself. With the Lincoln, he arc start seemed "hotter" with no popping/farting, just an instantly smooth and stable arc. The difference, to me, between the Miller and the Lincoln was night and day. Also, in my experience, consumables for the Lincoln machines are cheaper. Tips, liners, etc.

But money is a consideration of course. The Lincoln cost slightly more than the Miller at the time. It all depends on what kinda deals you can find.

 

[Fabrimacator21]

The millers with hot start are nice.... I also like the hot start ESAB units.

 

[fishinnutt]

I am not sure if my Miller 252 has a hot start setting, I should look into that.

 

[WOOS1]

I vote for the Miller. We rand approximately 30 welders at my old place of employment. Had the best luck and service from Miller. Our welders ran 8 hours of arc time a day (one ten hour shift).

 

[Fabrimacator21]

I vote for the Miller. We rand approximately 30 welders at my old place of employment. Had the best luck and service from Miller. Our welders ran 8 hours of arc time a day (one ten hour shift).

x2... however rene has a point about the pop and spit start (we only had 1 hot start machine).

 

[sixb]

I have both, a hobart 150 handler that is about 14 years old and never a problem but have only ran about 20-30 lbs of wire through it. My miller 251 has only finished up a used 10lb spool of wire plus some on the new spool but it's much larger so it's hard to tell how much. The new miller is about 2 years old and is amazing compared to the hobart but that's not really fair to compare a 150 to a 251 though. my miller did experience some flat lines on the display once upon power up but went away after messing with it some and hasan't done it since. I think they are both great so far. I kept the old hobart and set it up for a smaller wire like .022 and my miller runs a .035 someday I would like to put the flux core in .035 on the hobart for those windy days outside and get ahold of a miller 180 to run the .022 with.