I am looking to upgrade to a larger welder. Locally available are Hobart welders. I am thinking of buying either the Handler 187 or 210 which are rated at 5/16 and 3/8 respectively. My question is, what are these things capable of in the real world based on your actual ownership of one of these welders or another of comparable claimed ratings. If anyone has pictures of welds produced using these welders I'd sure like to see them.

Thanks, Jason

Edited April 12, 200917 yr by Splinter Forge
Added amp to title

Unfortunately Hobart is just a division of Miller these days, and a cheaper version at that. That being said, I would not limit myself to just what is available localy when making a large purchase of capital equipment. If, however, you decide to buy one of those two machines, there is no doubt that you will be happier with the larger one in the long run. As far as capacity goes, the thickness rating indicates what can be welded in a single pass...with multiple passes either machine can weld thicker metal. My personal preference is 250 amps single phase, with which one can weld in spray transfer mode, and or run a spool on gun for high quality aluminum. As far as brand preference, Esab can not be beaten by anything Red, Blue or Orange, Black and White. You get what you pay for.

Unfortunately Hobart is just a division of Miller these days,.

Actually ITW owns both brands, they compete against each other. I have a MM185 which prob would compare to a new Miller MM210 or so and mine is also rated for 3/8" plate but on small parts you can fudge that a little. Here are a few pics of 1" plate welded to 3/8" plate with Dual shield gas fluxcore and CO2. I wouldn't want to do it all day but a few parts won't hurt...Bob

Thanks guys. I'm definitely gonna aim high. In my welding for income days we used 300 amp Millers which worked great. We used 98/2 for good spray transfer and little to no spatter. I hate using 75/25 but it is all that's available in the little tank I have for my 105 amp welder. Tri gas or stargon works good. Anything with a little oxygen.

I run 100% CO2 for everything but car-body thickness. Saves a ton of money on gas and tank leases.

Interesting. I had never heard of that. I just read about it on the Miller site. Do you get a lot of spatter?

I have a bottle of CO2 and a bottle of 75/25 and i went back to the CO2 for 90% of my welding. One reason is i can "waste" some of the cheaper CO2 outside in the wind because i turn it up a little. But the 75/25 is better for thin stuff. Depends what the steel is for splatter. HRS leaves more splatter then smooth CRS type steels prob because of the scale...Bob

My biggest question is what would you be welding the most? I would go with a machine that is rated for what you want to do. I have a Hobart 180, the predecessor to the 187 and 210. I don't regret ever buying it, has served me well. They have a thermal overload that shuts them down if they get too hot, and I have only had it shut down once in 5 years, let it cool and go again. I have used Millers and Esab at work, but different animal, welding two 8 hour shifts per day is different than the weekend stuff in my shop. As far as a Hobart being a "cheaper" version of a Miller, paint isn't all that makes a welder. Clarke and the other "mig welders" are actually cheap versions of "mig welders". They have their place, for occasional use, and to have a welder until you can afford a real welder. If you are going to open a full time shop, buy the Miller, you will feel better about it in the long run, but for a hobbyist like me, Hobart is fine. All this is my opinion, based on my experience, your results may vary.

I have the older 150 Handler 220v. I run it with C25 mix and generally .030 wire, and it does about anything I need. It will run 1/4" fillets on 1/4" - 5/16" with ease. If I need to weld anything bigger (and I have) for example 3/8" to 1/2" plate; I pre-heat the steel a little; 150

Interesting. I had never heard of that. I just read about it on the Miller site. Do you get a lot of spatter?

Yes you get a lot more spatter than with argon- co2 mixes. For railings and other finnish work, I use anti-spatter spray. For structural it does'nt matter. Note that structural steel is welded with CO2 exclusively due to the better penetration caused by the CO2.

Thanks Unkle Spike, Dodge. There is no doubt you get what you pay for. My current welder is a Century. I've owned it since 93 and have never had a problem. The main reason I am upgrading it to be able to weld 1/4" without any preheating. It won't be used for production work so to say. I've always wanted to get a bigger welder and my recent score of a bunch of 1/4" square and rectangle tube for free has really got me wanting one. So much I haven't thought of enough things to build yet. O the troubles I have :)

I'm about 7/10ths of the way to buying my next welder. Just have to sell my 105 amp now. I'm seriously looking at the Miller 211. Does anyone have this model? Second question. I am thinking of purchasing this from Weldfabulous.com. My company bought me a hood from here and everything was good. They seem to have the best prices. How was you experience with them?

I'm about 7/10ths of the way to buying my next welder. Just have to sell my 105 amp now. I'm seriously looking at the Miller 211. Does anyone have this model? Second question. I am thinking of purchasing this from Weldfabulous.com. My company bought me a hood from here and everything was good. They seem to have the best prices. How was you experience with them?

Good luck! I don't have the 211, but I do have the 251. I went with it because it is rated for 1/2" at a single pass. I got it planning to use it for welding up my power hammer. It did a good job of it with dual-shield wire.

I'll vote for the Miller 251 as well. I had an older model 250 and upgraded to the 251 about 4 years ago. I build a lot of stuff around here. It has done really well. I'm pretty rough on the guns though, replaced two of those. Miller doesn't make the greatest mig guns. Tregaskiss makes a better one IMO.

In order to achive spray transfer there must be less than 18% co2. Spray transfer is characterized by high transfer rates, smooth weld appearance and low to no spatter. Globular transfer can be achived with co2 only but there will be higher spatter and a greater probability of weld roll over.

Spray transfer is a highly energetic process so if you wish to use this mode the welder that you choose must be capable of higher open circut voltages.

smaller welders that can use 0.030 wire must be rated at 150+ amps.

I weld structual steel profiles every day and we use 1/16in metal cored wire with 10%co2 and 90%ar mix. I mostly use spray transfer but some time need to use globular transfer we use one gas mix as it is not cost effective to change a can of gas each time I wish to change welding modes.


brad