What stick welder

Small home shop here. I have single axle dump, loader, skid steer, 50 series excavator, and an old Cat dozer. Currently, I have a Hobart 180 MIG welder that works for most things I do. I'd like to add an affordable (used) stick welder for heavier repairs- welding on tooth shanks, bucket repair, and structural repairs. Single phase power here. What should I look for? Thanks.

One of these i seen them for sale around 200 bucks will run fine on a 50 amp breaker and will out last most people

Glad to see you mention that one, Tyler D4C. That was the model I had in mind, but wanted to see what others would say.

I had an older Lincoln welder similar to that. People refer to them as the tombstone welder. It was ac only and it worked great, just had to buy ac electrodes. I’ve seen some models are ac/dc.

I'm guessing the DC is a huge advantage?

HeavyMetalRepair said: I had an older Lincoln welder similar to that. People refer to them as the tombstone welder. It was ac only and it worked great, just had to buy ac electrodes. I’ve seen some models are ac/dc. Click to expand... The tomb stones where 175 amp and more home owner/farmacator grade these are the smallest they used in industry. Tho i heard people callomg the ones like i posted tomb stones too

Joel59 said: I'm guessing the DC is a huge advantage? Click to expand... Yeah most all your work will be dome with dc

To bad your not closer i have one i would like to get rid of.

Joel59 said: Small home shop here. I have single axle dump, loader, skid steer, 50 series excavator, and an old Cat dozer. Currently, I have a Hobart 180 MIG welder that works for most things I do. I'd like to add an affordable (used) stick welder for heavier repairs- welding on tooth shanks, bucket repair, and structural repairs. Single phase power here. What should I look for? Thanks. Click to expand... BIG is what you want. Then I qualify that comment asking how much input power can you give it? My favorite stick welder is a 1969 Lincoln Idealarc 300/300 . Mine outputs over 400 amps, 60% duty cycle at 300 amps. It pulls 105 amps input at 240 volts. I have never used 300 or 400 amps, but a big welder doesn't fluctuate all over the place when striking an arc. If you don't have much power to give it, or you want new, consider an inverter. Inverters give more output with less input. I'd look at duty cycle, warranty.

I bought my first electric welder in 1974 new. I bought a 295 amp, 100% duty cycle AC only. I built plenty of stuff with AC. At the time the DC option cost $100. to $125. I didn't buy it. 15 years later I acquired the DC version of my first welder. I haven't used AC since.

If you're going to do structural repairs, like to buckets and such, you should use a 7018 rod, that requires DC current. Have you considered a gas powered machine? That way you could take it out in the field to weld something that's broken or use it for AC power.

Thanks for the insight, guys. 150 amp single phase service is what I have to work with. It’s a new build,so I’ll be running a new wire to a new receptacle.

I like that welder Tyler posted up. Something that runs on 50 amps is pretty handy and having DC's extremely handy. I built a lot of stuff with an AC tombstone and it does leave some things on the table.

Haven't you been looking for a welder for years? The Lincoln Idealarc 250 AC/DC is one of the best single phase welders ever made. You want DC. It makes welding much easier and has deeper penetration. A Miller Dialarc 250 AC/DC is another very good single phase welder. Both these welders came in AC only versions so if you look at them make sure to get an AC/DC model. They will last a lifetime and then some. Should be able to find in the $500 range but a really nice one is still worth $750 especially if has decent length cable #1 size or better. I bought a Miller a year ago for $325cad. and sold it for $900 with 25' cables. The buyer was very happy with it.

I bought 2 small AC/DC welders cheap at auction. Sold one then a few years later i was at another auction and bought 2 Miller Dialarcs cheap . I set a buddy up with the smaller welder. I would like to get rid of one of the millers. I am not sure how much lead i have.

I used to have a small Miller buzz box @ 200-225 capacity. The day that I upgraded to the Lincoln V350 was a game changer. It's still single phase but does AC/DC, stick, tig, mig, etc. I got it used off of Ebay for a fair price. After used this welder, I would never purchase another buzz box if I could help it. The versatility and the quality of the welds do not compare. I especially like the longer duty cycle. A buzz box will get you by but if you do much welding, invest in what you can rationally afford. Nothing makes repairs easier than good, quality tooling.

I bought a tig welder i was able to try it out and it worked good but when i got it home it wont work . There is a surplus store close to were i work that has tig rod cheap. I am all stocked up . If i ever get time to mess with it maybe its something simple.

I may have asked the question, before... my apologies if I did. My ADHD kicks in at times and I tend to go from project to project. I am leaning towards an old lincoln Idealarc 250 AC/DC machine. Its about 90 miles from me with two new 50' #2 leads for $450.

Joel59 said: I may have asked the question, before... my apologies if I did. My ADHD kicks in at times and I tend to go from project to project. I am leaning towards an old lincoln Idealarc 250 AC/DC machine. Its about 90 miles from me with two new 50' #2 leads for $450. Click to expand... Do you have a good power source? It draws about 105 amps at 240 volt power supply.

That Lincoln Idealarc 250 is a great welder and will run on a 60 amp breaker, less if it has power factor correction capacitors but I'd still use a 60. Duty cycle comes into play when hooking up a welder. I ran a Lincoln Square Wave Tig 255 on a 60 amp breaker and it puts out up to 310 amps. Unless you're burning 3/16" rods steady one after the other you don't need more than a 60 amp breaker but using a larger breaker won't hurt anything. I used to have a smaller welder hooked up to the main 100 amp circuit breaker on the pole outside the house. The electrician said it's still protected from an overload.