My box store special Lincoln 110 has moved on to the great welding cart in the sky. It was a good welder but now its time for a replacement and upgrade. My short list is down to 2 choices.
The Hobart Handler 210 MVP
And the Millermatic 211
I spent some time yesterday playing with the Hobart at a friend's shop. Really nice machine and I think it would be a great addition to the garage. Seemed like a big bang for the buck. I don't know anyone with the Miller to try it out.
Have any of you guys personally welded with both? Is the Miller worth the extra $500ish? Why or why not? The biggest advantage I see to the Miller is the infinite adjustements as compared to the 7 choices on the Hobart, although Im not sure that is really a big deal for my general garage guy uses. The Miller is lighter but its not like I am hauling my welder all over the place.
Whatever I buy I want to be my "forever" machine. Im willing to spend the extra if its worth it but if it really isnt a huge difference for a casual user and the money can be spent on a nice new helmet and more clamps, Im cool doing that.
Thoughts?
Also super curious about this. I took a welding class and used the 211 and it was quite nice. I have never used the Hobart. I have had the same question and look forward to the input from here. I already have 220 in the garage and am looking for my own forever welder to do odd jobs and such.
I have had a Hobart Handler 180 for 10 years and am very satisfied. I really doubt you can go wrong with either. I would guess the inverter Machine will be quieter and is obviously lighter. Both are 115/220V machines and both weld MIG process. If infinate voltage adjustment and light weight are important to you go Miller. If you can deal with a bit extra weight and limited voltage settings the Hobart let's you buy $500 worth of other tools.
Both use USA available torches and support parts. Both you will be able to get parts and support from you Local Weld Shop. Again I don't think there is much difference between the two and you would be happy with either.
When my Hobart Handler 135 got stolen, I upgraded to the Millermatic 211. The Hobart was very good welder, but I definitely like the Miller 211 more. If budget is tight, the Hobart is an excellent choice. What I like better about the Miller is that the dial for the power setting is continuous (rather than fixed settings) and that it has the metal thicknesses printed around the power dial, so it's easy to know where to set it to. My favorite feature though is the automatic wire feed speed mode, so all you have to set is the power level.
I have a ~4 yr old 211 - case is a bit different (bigger) but not sure the machine itself is any different. I have never in my life used the AutoSet, so that's a big don't-care from me on the Miller (I assume the Hobart doesn't have it). However, I really like the infinitely-variable knobs. I'm pretty much always tweaking those by half-a-number when I'm welding to get it more to my liking (or my welding style/ability). I'm also in a somewhat unusual situation where instead of 220V I actually have 208V because the main-in is 3-phase. I called Miller when I first started using it in that space to check if that was cool and they said it was, but the settings on the table in the flip-up side is definitely more of a guide than a definitive answer. For stuff I weld regularly, I usually know my settings by heart, and they're never quite what the table says they should be.
One thing I DONT like about it, or didn't since I fixed it, is the spool holder (?) when using a 10-lb spool. It's a big plastic screw-on disc, and for a while when I first started buying 10-lb spools, my welding was all over the place. I could not figure out what was going on. Then one day I pulled the trigger with the case side open, and I noticed that the wire was not feeding at a steady rate. Turns out the disc thingy was binding the spool, causing the erratic feed rate. I took off the disc, took off the spool, drilled 2 opposing holes on the spindle, put the spool back on, and stuck a piece of copper wire through the holes. Been perfect for like 3 years like that.
I too have the older transformer style Miller 211, it's larger than the current inverter style logdog linked.
I use the heck out of the autoset feature on mine, it's been pretty spot on.
I use the 10 lb spools of Inefil ER70S-6 from Amazon and haven't had any feed issues with mine.
It's been a great welder, no complaints.
I really like my 211. If you want to keep it "forever" just buy the 211 so you have no feeling of buyer's remorse. You'll forget about the cost difference in no time and just be glad you bought the one you really wanted.
Thanks for the feedback everybody.
I need to make a decision by the end of the month. I gotta start my winter rust repair project and can't kick the can down the road too much.
Well.... It is done.... I brought home the Miller 211 from a local welding supply house last night. I still need to wire up some 220 or 221 to take full advantage but in playing with the 110 it is light years ahead of my previous welder. I actually like the auto settings, but I am a barely trained metal-stick-together-guy so I imagine that makes me the target audience.
grpb
Reader
11/19/20 8:58 a.m.
I'd throw this in there too, the HTP 200i. I bought my MIG from them more than 20 years ago and although it still works well I've been using a Miller inverter machine at work and the starts are just so much cleaner than my transformer machine (tuned up/checked drive system, grounding, etc).
They're a small place but I bought my MIG from them used (it was from a trade school so very used, and very ugly) as just a young buck, but they've always been helpful and responsive. As just a high shool kid they were happy to let me wander the shop and talk to me, the welder I bought wasn't even listed for sale, it was just sitting in a corner. I would expect that part of it hasn't changed and that's worth sending some money their way
https://usaweld.com/products/htp-america-mig-200i
