Are these good welding m

[senna]

So I had a friend who sold me both of these welders for $100 total. I know nothing about welders but would like to learn.
The first one is a FarmHand 115. It appears in good shape and we fired it up and made a few (bad, because we don't know what we are doing) welds.

the second one is a Mighty Mig 101. It's pretty rough. Missing a side cover and the end will not accept a tip because it is bent. I have found a new gun and cable for about $50 on ebay. It appears to fit this model.

My questions are:
Are any of these good welders?
I like the FarmHand and would like to keep it if it is

Is the Mighty Mig worth putting $50 into and cleaning it up? If so, I would do this and give it to a friend to practice with.

Thank you very much!

 

[sberry]

Never ran one. Try it. TSC sold them and Hobart. Guy told me, 5% of the sales, 95% of their problems. Bean counters liked it because of the margins but they sold it and 1 roll of flux core and never seen the customer again. Sold a Hobart and roll after roll of wire.

 

[senna]

sberry, Thank you for the reply.
I guess I'm confused. If the guy said "5% of the sales, 95% of their problems"
but then says "never seen the customer again". Does that mean that the customer liked them?
We did try them and they seemed to be able to create a small weld. I just wasn't sure if they are worth taking up space in my garage or not.
Do you think the green Mighty Mg 101 is worth spending $50 for a new hose and gun? Or am I better off setting it to the curb? If it's not very good I hate to fix it up and give it to a friend. ut if it's decent I don't mind too.

Thanks!

 

[Bondo]

Ayuh,..... It appears you've got a pair of cheap chinese welders, probably 'bout 100 amp machines,....

Use the 1 that works,.... It'll weld 1/8" steel all day long,....
Useless for heavier/ thicker base metal,....

The parts machine is just that,.... not worth puttin' anymore money into,....
They're worth maybe $100. brand new,.....

 

[thejimmy]

Start learning with the one that works and put aside the other, or sell/give it away

 

[rsanter]

Both are cheap low end units.
With that said, get some scrap metal and start practicing.
Use both see which you like better.
Sell or give away the one you don’t like as much.

Later if you want or need you can buy an actual good welder

 

[MarkG]

Most people have a hard enough time learning to weld properly on a GOOD machine, not to mention trying to learn on a bad one! I wouldn't advise anyone to buy a cheap, low-quality machine for ANY reason but especially to 'learn on'.

I would have put that money, plus another $380 towards a brand spankin' new Hobart 140. Then not only would you have a new welder, you'd have a much better welder.

 

[sberry]

My cousin is lucky like this, maybe patient but bought a new 140,,, guy had ran 1/2 of a 2# spool thru it, for 150$ with a 80cf bottle and a bunch of other stuff. I don't need it but would have got it for that. I will agree that the machines in this thread are good if a guy wants to start off his welding career a hard way. So unpredictable.

 

[senna]

Thanks guys. Yea I think we will just try and learn with the Farmhand and probably put to the curb the Mighty Mig. We just want to learn how to weld so it sounds like maybe a year or so practicing with the FarmHand just to learn is the way to go. Yea It might not be the best but atleast it is getting us to try and understand the different temps and wire speed and who knows maybe we can add argon to the mix.
Thanks!

 

[Todd.Brock]

I have a Craftsman Professional 110v welder I got for 75 bucks. I lucked into a 125cf tank for 40 bucks. It has stuck some metal together. I have more fun running beads and making small projects. I’m not earning a living doing it thankfully, so for the price, you aren’t going to start welding any cheaper


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[NUTTSGT]

Peddle the the Mighty Mig and keep the FarmHand. While it may not be the best to learn on, you'll get the idea of what to do.


Keep in mind like another member mentioned about trying to learn to weld on a cheap machine.

I doubt it but but will the FarmHand accept gas ?

 

[sberry]

The original question was,,,, is this a good welder? Ha

 

[The Cobbler]

you may be able to buy individual pcs for the gun rather than replacing the entire set. If its a tweco style gun, all sort of individual parts are available on ebay.
I bought a new mig welder marked way down as it was missing some pcs on the gun. $10 in parts got me a decent machine

 

[ob355]

Any ‘working’ welder is a goog one. Might not be able to join thick material but you can use it and learn. Take a class, there are things you can learn in classes that you would never learn with even fifteen years of welding experience.

 

[c39er]

Learning on a poor quality machine is a poor way to start off.

 

[jd_1138]

Most people have a hard enough time learning to weld properly on a GOOD machine, not to mention trying to learn on a bad one! I wouldn't advise anyone to buy a cheap, low-quality machine for ANY reason but especially to 'learn on'.

I would have put that money, plus another $380 towards a brand spankin' new Hobart 140. Then not only would you have a new welder, you'd have a much better welder.

I agree. It's like handing a new guitarist a piece of **** First Act $49 acoustic from Wal-Mart that is super hard to tune, keep in tune, sounds bad, etc..

A new Hobart 140 can pay for itself with 3 or 4 repairs (if not having to pay a shop to do it), and then every other job and project it does in the future is gravy.