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Probably more like 120 ish now. “Shopping carts” for pumpkin patch customers.

What is your price range? Something to keep in mind is that well known brands will retain their value much better, so the original purchase price can be offset by residual value upon resale when you determine that welding is no longer a retirement hobby that you can pursue any longer...

All are quite valid points. In my world, I consider it to be a compact little chore tractor that is perfect around the shop and works great to push or pull other objects in and out of a 10x10' door. But I fully recognize that may not be the case for a lot of folk's applications.

Another vote for looking into older larger tractors. I recently picked up a 1970 JD 4020 power shift tractor with front end loader and had new tires about a year old on it for $8k. It's somewhere around 90hp on the PTO, so something like that could handle a good sized mower on it to make quick...

I would like to expand on your point above… Higher amps generally means bigger motor and more weight. More weight can get fatiguing for extended operation. On the flip side of that, the larger motors in the higher amp draw tools can take much more heat when you push them hard, so they will...

I’ve got a couple Makita 4.5-5” units, and a couple of the German Metabo ones in the same size. They are both good brands and get frequent use in a farm fabrication and repair shop environment. Key is to not purchase the cheapest units any brand sells, but to look for the higher end units that...

DeWalt drill and impact purchased about 12 years ago. Used hard through numerous large construction projects and general DIY stuff. And not treated very nicely either, they bounce around in a compartment on my service truck in all weather conditions. Let the smoke out of the drill once 6-7 years...

Not always true, it depends on what you are doing, sometimes both ends need to have extra weight for different uses. I just took delivery of a new tractor a couple weeks back, I had both the front and rear tires filled with beet juice (at the cost of ~$4,000!). Reason for this is, when I have a...

Have a few manual guns that see minimal use, haven’t really had a problem with any of them. Nothing special, just whatever regular parts stores carry. But really, battery powered is the way to go these days unless you only grease a few fittings a couple times per year. I’ve currently got 2...

I’m in need of a good solution as well. Sometimes doubling up nuts on there doesn’t work, and the cam type are too large. Leaning towards picking up a Snap-on set.

I recently discovered mulching brush blades that mount on a string trimmer. Maybe not exactly what you are after, but man do these things make short work of blackberries, poison oak, buckthorn, and other prickly nasty brush. Works best on 1" or smaller diameter stuff. No additional cleanup...

Visit your local welding supply store and pick up some 3/32” rod?

Well, to update this thread, the welding store called me today and declared the Hobart a boat anchor due to unavailable parts. They recommended the 252 for my uses, but had neither that one or the 255 in stock and said it would be about a 5 week wait to get one in. So I called my regular welding...

Interesting to hear. I was getting the impression that the older Hobart machines like the one we have had much more overlap with the Miller machines than the current offerings do. But it sounds like this may be the wrong assumption… perhaps more research is in order on my end.

I’m fully open to being convinced otherwise, but my biggest concern is the LCD display. For a proper fab shop that uses their machines constantly and replace every 5-10 years I doubt there would be any issues. However I am looking for a 20-25 year lifespan, and how is that screen going to be...

Thanks for all the input! I'm leaning heavily towards a Miller 252 if the Hobart can't be repaired. We've got stick welders as a backup, but they almost never get used due to the convenience and weld quality of using Mig. I haven't ever needed to work with aluminum, so for now a spool gun is not...

Well that's quite a description of farm shops! Not true in my case, I've put a huge amount of work into the shop to make it functional and efficient for equipment repairs. While we do run a lot of older equipment, I've managed to get on top of most of it so that breakdowns are less common than...

Maybe I've been living under a rock, but I can't recall noticing the HTP name anywhere before. Some great things come out of Italy, but at least for farm equipment I have a heck of a time getting parts for stuff that is made there. I'm heavily leaning towards either a red or blue machine just...

Hey folks, was hoping for some input to steer me in some direction towards a replacement welder for the farm shop. Currently been running a Hobart Beta Mig 251 machine, and it has been in use for probably 25 years. Seems to do all the things we need it to do. However, I think I've probably...