Welder for the tractor

makoman

Member
Need to weld a few things and the list is getting longer. Tractor bumper, back blade, trailer rail, tractor rim... Should I get a stick, or flux core/mig. 110 ore 220? Maybe 5-10 jobs per year.
Thanks
 
Get a "stick welder", like one of these.
It will last you a life time, and you can use any welding electrode made.
a213158.jpg
 
For welding outdoors a stick will suit you better. Flux core, and especially gas shield, don't do well with the wind blowing.
 
A mig is great for thin metal and for sticking pieces together before welding with a stick. My buzz box of 44 years packed up this year so I bought a Miller AC/DC. It will never be switched off DC. What a difference. The only down side is short leads so I just made a long extension cord to take the welder to the work.
Dave
 
Forget the flux core they are not worth it. Both a stick and 220v mig are good choices. The mig is more
money and needs to be used out of significant wind, but is much easier to use. The mig will do most farm
welding jobs on steel. They cannot do cast and a few other things, but do have the capability to do
aluminum if that is a possible need. I would guess that 90+% of all the repair work I do for farmers and
contractors is done with mig. But stick is sometimes neccessary too so I have both. The one thing that
applies to both types is the more you spend the better they work and the easier they are to use.
 
I have both an AC-DC stick welder and a small MIG that can run either flux core or solid core with gas. If you are welding large pieces and especially if they are rusted a bit, I'd suggest you get the AC-DC welder although I used an AC only for years. When it is time to weld thin material outside, the MIG with the flux core comes out. I don't make a pretty weld with that like I might if I used solid core wire and gas but it doesn't help when its windy.

I also bought a plasma cutter. When my tank lease was up I returned the oxygen and acetylene tanks as I don't need them much anymore. Occasionally I wish I had the oxy-acetylene torch just for heating steel for bending.
 
I have several welders. For what you have listed I would do most of it with 7018 sticks. I use a lot of flux core in my home shop. I mainly use flux core wire for thinner metal. Several thin wall conduit gates.
 
Been using a Lincoln 225 AC since 1977. It does about anything I have ever had to do on the farm.
Wish I had a penny for every rod that thing has burned.
Richard in NW SC
 
I'm FAR from a welding expert - but how I think about it is that a mig welder's good up to 1/4" thickness, and definitely what you want for sheet metal.

Anything 1/4 or over I use stick.

It doesn't HAVE to be that way, but that's what I do.

You didn't mention sheet metal, but I'd say if you see yourself having that need, it's hard to beat a good, even low power mig welder for that job. (a real one with gas -
not flux core - flux core burns hotter making the job more difficult)

But - if money's a factor, and you don't see yourself welding body panels, etc. it's hard to beat a basic old tombstone. Search craigslist in your area and you're sure to
find a few cheap ones.

So cheap that you won't mind spending more money on something more refined later, once you live with it for a while and figure out its weaknesses in the way you work.
 
Stick welder! 1/8" 6011 and 7018 rod will do 95 % of all you need to do. A red Lincoln 'Tombstone' AC/DC is about as good as
there is. FORGET a 110 machine. About all they are good for is 'welding' beer cans.
 
The 1/4" thickness statement is not an accurate statement. I rutinely weld all thicknesses of steel with mig, but mine is a $1500.00 welder. Mine will weld 1/2" plate in one pass in the highest setting. There are newer models that will weld that for a thousand dollars or so now.
 
I guess I wasn't clear enough about that - I wasn't saying you CAN'T do thicker metal with the mig, not at all. I was saying *I* don't. I just prefer stick for heavier metal. Not for any technical reason, I just like to use a thicker welding rod instead of wire, it just feels better to me.

My main point was that for the needs he listed - a cheap ac tombstone is perfectly appropriate, if he doesn't want to spend a lot of money. It's the biggest bang-for buck in my opinion, especially a used one.

But if welding sheet metal's important, then he'll regret having saved his money if he can't do it.

Way back when I bought my lincoln tombstone, I think I paid $100. At that time, it didn't make sense for me to buy a $1000 welder. I just didn't have enough need, plus I have professional welder friends. But, the cheap lincoln served my purposes nicely - I could stop bugging my friends for welds.

Over time I found there were more and more moments where I could really use something better for patching sheet metal, and that's when the Hobart 140 came in - a relatively inexpensive 110 mig, that too has served my purposes nicely since the lincoln had me covered for heavier duty.

Of course if money isn't a big concern, go with the biggest baddest mig welder with all the bells and whistles - there's absolutely no argument against that other than money.
 
makoman,
First do the math, price per pound, stick vs wire. I have both stick and wire. Only use wire on new
rust free metal thin guage metals, body work. My wire is 220v and has a gas bottle, no flux wire.
It's very easy to change heat settings, wire size and the 6011 rod is perfect for people welding on
old rusty farm equipment.

As for me, the Lincoln 220v buzz box does everything I need. I think I got my welder about 5 years
ago from Lowes around Christmas for a little over $200. I've seen people on craigslist trying to
sell my welder for almost the same price. Check out craigslist, see what's in your area.
 

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