Gas Drive Welders

admin

Hey y'all. I'm looking at buying a gas drive machine in early summer. I was just looking for recommendations on the best bang for my buck so to speak. I will be doing heavy equipment repair using 6011 and 7018 mostly, along with air arc and some surfacing work. I'm looking for an AC/DC machine that will work great for quite a while with minimal downtime. Looking to stay in the 3-$5000 range plus leads and everything else. Any experience with buying any Miller or Lincoln machines recently would be really appreciated. Thanks to everyone for looking.
Reply:i bought a used ranger 8 for notalot ofmoney.. it will weld 6010 and 7018 all day realnice..cantspeak about the airarc part..less than $1k with new leads..
Reply:I got a miller trailblazer 302g and love it.I think it's the best welder in that price class.I love the digital display.It has a couple different settings to control the arc. Can adjust from a soft 7018 to a digging 6010.It welds like you would expect a piece of equipment to do. No games, set it and forget it. Honestly don't know how it'll do gouging though. I've not had to use it yet on that.If your going used?You can probably get into a Lincoln Vantage for your upper price point.You might even find a diesel in your pricepoint which routinely run 10,000+ hours without incident.Just have to do some looking.You might easily spend $800 on leads depending on the length, and gauge your looking at.They are expensive as hell. Try to find them with the machine If you buy used. You essentially get them for free many times.You'll have to clarify the "everything else"Also, is there any particular reason you need an ac/dc machine instead on a DC machine?You could pick up an SA 200 and weld all day, gouge a little, and have leads, trailer, box, torches, etc.. For your 5k mark if you shop smartly.Last edited by jsm11; 03-05-2011 at 10:04 AM.1981 Lincoln SA 200Miller Trailblazer 302gMiller 211 Mig Welder w/ AutosetI'm learning to stick metal together
Reply:I have a friend that bought a Miller Trailblazer 302, 50' of lead and ground, victor torch and 50' of hose, and a couple of other little things and a miller cover for the machine, for $5700.00, from our local welding supply. He purchased this yesterday.
Reply:I would look for something that has a min of 400 amps and run by diesel. On ebay there has been some Miller 300's in your upper price range. Gouging is hard on a machine so the more amps you have the less your pushing it. They are low rpm diesels so there reasonbly quiet especially compared to gas. Don't know why you need AC though?