Focusing on the other brands: Thermal Arc & Hobart

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looking to buy a few set ups... mig, tig, ac/dc stick would like to be a new machine and was checking them out.. miller and lincoln's are pretty expensive and i just wanted to ask, is it worth it to spend the extra money on the miller or lincoln? or would it be better to buy a used miller or lincoln compared to a new thermal arc or hobart... just asking for some opinions before i go and spend a lot of money. anyones opinion welcome. thank you.
Reply:I have the hobart 210 and a stickmate and they have been outstanding welders. I had a problem with the 210 but Hobart fixed it no questions asked.Not sure if you no that Miller and Hobart are owned by the same parent company (Illinois tool works).Millers are sold at welding supply stores and Hobarts are sold at box stores. The Hobart stickmate is the same as the Miller thunderbolt, just a different color. The Miller wire feeders have infinite wire speed and Hobarts have tap setting. I have welded with both and no difference for me. Why pay more for a Miller when you really aren't getting anything more than autoset and I don't need that.I am completely satisfied with my Hobarts and their customer service.Just my 2 cents,
Reply:Originally Posted by kctgbI have the hobart 210 and a stickmate and they have been outstanding welders. I had a problem with the 210 but Hobart fixed it no questions asked.Not sure if you no that Miller and Hobart are owned by the same parent company (Illinois tool works).Millers are sold at welding supply stores and Hobarts are sold at box stores. The Hobart stickmate is the same as the Miller thunderbolt, just a different color. The Miller wire feeders have infinite wire speed and Hobarts have tap setting. I have welded with both and no difference for me. Why pay more for a Miller when you really aren't getting anything more than autoset and I don't need that.I am completely satisfied with my Hobarts and their customer service.Just my 2 cents,
Reply:I've never had an issue with Thermal Arc.  My tigs have been and are the Japanese made older type FWIW.  The stick welders were made in China, but to TA's standards.  You won't find much bad written about TA welders.  They are a great value. People love the 186 after the pedal fix with the only consistent complaint being the always on loud fan.
Reply:I love my fabricator 211i. On a straight up 120 mig comparison,  I liked the arc on my mm140 a little better but that's splitting hair. I think TA and Hobart are definitely worth a look. Sent from my SPH-L900 using TapatalkMultimatic 200Ellis 1800Haberle S225 9" cold sawMM 300;  Spoolmate 30A w/ WC-24TB 302GDynasty 280 DX Tigrunner
Reply:I think the only question for you is whether you are buying for hobby or for work.  I'm guessing you are wanting to learn and have a welder for hobby and around the house / farm / ranch.  If that's the case, Hobart and TA because you'll save some $$$ and I would bet dollars to donuts that neither you nor I could tell the difference between them and Red or Blue machines in the same power class.I had a HH 140 that I sold to fund a 210.  The 140 is a great wire welder and I probably should have kept both, but i was afriad the wife would worry she was seeing double and go to the eye doctor (they look identical, only the 210 weighs more).I used to have a Lincoln Idealarc 250 AC/DC stick welder but sold it to fund a TA 161stl to learn tig and which also has DC stick (I suck at tig and am a mediocre beginner welder in general).  The stick side of the TA is weird to me compared to the Lincoln, but that's probably because it's inverter based. Once again I probably should have kept the Lincoln and just sucked it up and bought the TA... in fact, I sort of did when I found a Lincoln 225/150 smaller unit for $100 on CList and bought it.  Having a transformer welder makes me feel safe and cozy.Still the Idealarc with PFC was like butter... sorry, I'm having a wistful love moment... Back to reality.  TA is a great little unit and I don't think you can wear out a Hobart.  My only concern about any inverter is the PC board but I'm a luddite and obviously got over that problem.
Reply:Hobart's Handler 190, Handler 210 MVP, and Ironman 230 are all very good units.ESAB Migmaster 250 Hobart Ironman 230Multimatic 215TWECO Fabricator 181i & 211iHH125EZ - nice little fluxcore only unitMaxstar 150 STH - very nice
Reply:Originally Posted by RodJI think the only question for you is whether you are buying for hobby or for work.  I'm guessing you are wanting to learn and have a welder for hobby and around the house / farm / ranch.  If that's the case, Hobart and TA because you'll save some $$$ and I would bet dollars to donuts that neither you nor I could tell the difference between them and Red or Blue machines in the same power class.I had a HH 140 that I sold to fund a 210.  The 140 is a great wire welder and I probably should have kept both, but i was afriad the wife would worry she was seeing double and go to the eye doctor (they look identical, only the 210 weighs more).I used to have a Lincoln Idealarc 250 AC/DC stick welder but sold it to fund a TA 161stl to learn tig and which also has DC stick (I suck at tig and am a mediocre beginner welder in general).  The stick side of the TA is weird to me compared to the Lincoln, but that's probably because it's inverter based. Once again I probably should have kept the Lincoln and just sucked it up and bought the TA... in fact, I sort of did when I found a Lincoln 225/150 smaller unit for $100 on CList and bought it.  Having a transformer welder makes me feel safe and cozy.Still the Idealarc with PFC was like butter... sorry, I'm having a wistful love moment... Back to reality.  TA is a great little unit and I don't think you can wear out a Hobart.  My only concern about any inverter is the PC board but I'm a luddite and obviously got over that problem.
Reply:Originally Posted by kctgbI'm happy your not worried about circuit boards because I am. I had a dynasty that was three months past warranty and the circuit board fried it self. $1800 dollars for the board plus labor to fix it. No more $3000 inverters for me. I have a 1959 Lincoln transformer stick welder that works perfectly and I bought an old miller stick welder off craigslist for $50.00 for scratch tig and it has an arc almost as smooth as the dynasty. I wonder how many inverters will last as long as my two old trany welders.Trany welders make me all warm and fuzzy inside, when I turn on an inverter I wonder if something is going to go wrong and how much will it cost to fix it.No more expensive inverters for me.
Reply:Originally Posted by kctgbI'm happy your not worried about circuit boards because I am. I had a dynasty that was three months past warranty and the circuit board fried it self. $1800 dollars for the board plus labor to fix it. No more $3000 inverters for me. I have a 1959 Lincoln transformer stick welder that works perfectly and I bought an old miller stick welder off craigslist for $50.00 for scratch tig and it has an arc almost as smooth as the dynasty. I wonder how many inverters will last as long as my two old trany welders.Trany welders make me all warm and fuzzy inside, when I turn on an inverter I wonder if something is going to go wrong and how much will it cost to fix it.No more expensive inverters for me.