Input on Large Harbor Freight Welding Cart???

[avayan]

Thinking about upgrading to one of these:

https://www.harborfreight.com/Heavy...=mEmail_s1011_1118a&sfid=amlxQGF2YXlhbi5jb20=

Has anybody obtained one of these guys and care to comment on pros and cons?Thanks!

 

[paranoid56]

I have it, love it. just remember its big. but its built well.

 

[rq375]

I bought one a couple of weeks ago, I think it is a good value and the cons are easily fixed. I used to have all three machines on separate carts and a wall cabinet with all of the supplies, this cart gets it all together and mobile.

pros: built heavy, more solid that the 44" box. Holds two gas cylinders for tig and mig. Casters/wheels are decent and standard size for replacement. Top drawer has dividers for mig and plasma consumables. The top platform is sized good, I have a Lincoln mig, tig, and Linde plasma and they have 1-2" space between them. The stickers are vinyl type and remove easily.

Cons: the drawers have a push in latch that is very stiff, needs modified or defeated. The hood compartment is kind of awkward at the very bottom. The back stationary wheels are attached to a plate that then attaches to the cabinet with six screws, I assembled with Locktite but eventually I'll probably run a couple of beads to secure the plate. The tig rod holder only has four spots, I did not use it> There are not enough chord hooks for all three machines, I bent up two extra out of 3/4x1/8 flat and attached where the tig rod holder goes. The platform where the gas cylinders sit does not have any vertical lip so the cylinders could kick out at the bottom, I drilled two holes and ran a small bungee chord around the bottom of the cylinders. My mig had to be spaced up about 3/4" for the spool compartment door to open. The lock only secures the cabinet side, not the drawers or hood compartment.

 

[Bob P1]

Not a real fan of anything HF, why not fab up a custom one? Even if it costs more and takes longer the fact you can make it to you specific needs would be a plus!

 

[Hammer1963]

They are great. The cost is hard to beat and you can add your own customization as them as needed.

 

[Fallon]

They are great. The cost is hard to beat and you can add your own customization as them as needed.

My medium sized cart fits that description... I wish it was bigger, but it's good quality for HF. Cheaper than I could maske (discounting the fact it was a birthday present). I've eyed the big cart.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

 

[jarhead]

After having this a few months how do you like having all your welders on it?

I need one for a MIG and TIG but am not sure if i would like 2 separate carts or a single cart.

Thanks

I have it, love it. just remember its big. but its built well.

 

[Lonnies Performance]

I was rather impressed with the quality of this cart. Rolls nice even with 3 machines & 2 large cylinders on it. For the price, I think it is a good deal.

 

[jarhead]

I was rather impressed with the quality of this cart. Rolls nice even with 3 machines & 2 large cylinders on it. For the price, I think it is a good deal.

Thanks!

Are there any CON's to having all the machines together?

I do allot of welding on my old car's, just wondering if that would make it harder since the thing is so big?

I am out of room in my shop so I was thinking I'd consolidate and get rid of two other carts and possibly a bench.

 

[RV8guy]

I have one. Just have my tig welder on it with it's water cooler. The biggest con is that there is space for one more welder. As for upgrades, I added a ZT Fab tig rod storage tube holder on the back.

 

[Lonnies Performance]

It works well for me. You can definitely feel the weight when you roll it... it's stable & movable with 1 hand, but when you get 5-600lb moving you notice the effort to required to stop it. Personally I would rather have something big & stable.

I also built a long extension cord as i always seem to be too far from the wall when I need it...

I had 2 smaller carts, but hoods, consumables etc, always seemed to be in the other cart when I needed them... now it's all in 1 place.

You should be able to easily add a piece of steel plate on the top to use as a small welding bench if you only have 1 machine on it.

 

[joe_padavano]

I'll be the dissenting opinion. Why do you want to drag around two machines and associated tanks you aren't using just to have the one you are using? Do you ever need the TIG, MIG, and plasma all at the same time in the same place? I have smaller HF carts for each of my machines, and this works much better, especially given the limited space in my shop.

 

[ftb]

Totally agree with the above. Unless you weld like once a year, get separate carts for MIG, TIG and plasma. Maybe combine the plasma with MIG.

 

[Fallon]

I have the old open frame & newer enclosed single unit HF carts. The newer enclosed one is pretty nice. I like my gear not getting covered in dust & it totes my Miller Maxstar 200 (DC TIG & stick) just fine. All things considered I find the storage to be just a bit lacking. I need a bit more room to store all my ****. I'd look at the bigger cart to put the Maxstar & my plasma cutter on if I didnt already have 2 carts. That's even considering I have to navigate a cart over a step between my shop & barn.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

 

[rpcraft]

I wanted one but then I realized they put the tanks on the wrong end if you have a MIG welder on there. No way to flip open the welder and change wire or anything like that without taking something off the cart and re positioning things. Right now I have a single welder cart and if I am using the MIG I will toss it on there with a tank and roll with that, but I have a rack on the side of the garage that I leave the TIG and Plasma cutter on and I just rotate what I am using between the two carts. It's more mobile and I can just keep the rest of the stuff not being used tucked out of the way and not have to manhandle a huge cart.

 

[Shadowdog500]

I wanted one but then I realized they put the tanks on the wrong end if you have a MIG welder on there. No way to flip open the welder and change wire or anything like that without taking something off the cart and re positioning things. Right now I have a single welder cart and if I am using the MIG I will toss it on there with a tank and roll with that, but I have a rack on the side of the garage that I leave the TIG and Plasma cutter on and I just rotate what I am using between the two carts. It's more mobile and I can just keep the rest of the stuff not being used tucked out of the way and not have to manhandle a huge cart.

I said the same exact thing on my review after I bought my Vulcan cart. Then I saw that the Lincoln MIG welders open on the right side. Funny that that the Vulcan cart drove me away from buying the Vulcan MIG welder and towards the Lincoln instead

Other than that I have to say that I really like the cart!

Chris

 

[rpcraft]

Stranger yet that my Lincoln opens on the left side, LOL.

 

[bullnerd]

I had the one from Northern and really liked it.

I like the drawers in front.

Helmet fits in bottom drawer.

One machine per cart. just my opinion.

 

[Shadowdog500]

Stranger yet that my Lincoln opens on the left side, LOL.

You have an old one? The ones They sell now open on the right side. https://www.lincolnelectric.com/en-us/equipment/mig-Welders/Pages/mig-welders.aspx

 

[jarhead]

thanks for all the replies folks!

 

[Shadowdog500]

thanks for all the replies folks!

What did you decide? You getting the big cart or two smaller carts? I have one area dedicated to welding, so the cart will mostly stay in one place. Chris

 

[jarhead]

What did you decide? You getting the big cart or two smaller carts? I have one area dedicated to welding, so the cart will mostly stay in one place. Chris

Chris,
I think i am going for the single cart with drawers. I have been to HF 3 times now trying to decide. I cleaned the heck out of my small shop the other day and eliminated some extra junk. It appears having two carts will suit the space better. I have the cheap blue cart for the MIG right now.

I have a 68 Torino on a rotisserie that takes allot of room, and a 48 Ford 8N tractor blown apart.

I don't get to open the TIG until Christmas, lol. I hear a rumor it is a HTP 221, AC/DC.

Since i need a refill for my MIG and i only have a 60 CF bottle i will need to get two bottles of gas (argon for TIG) which is not going to be cheap. Thinking about getting the 125CF bottles.

Joe

EDIT: and for the reason you stated, I will need to be able to put wire in my MIG, doesn't look like fun with the bigger cart. lol

 

[Shadowdog500]

Sounds like a plan!

 

[rpcraft]

I think it's made by another company for Lincoln and they sell it at Lowes or something. If I could get my money back for it at this point I would trade it off and get something that has separate voltage and line speed control. This thing has 2 flip switches for the heat range but the wire speed control also seems to bump up the amperage at the same time so you can't simply adjust the heat... I did not realize it wasn't really a non lincoln made unit until I saw this thread and just happened to stumble across an exact duplicate of the Lincoln unit somewhere else.

 

[Shadowdog500]

I think it's made by another company for Lincoln and they sell it at Lowes or something. If I could get my money back for it at this point I would trade it off and get something that has separate voltage and line speed control. This thing has 2 flip switches for the heat range but the wire speed control also seems to bump up the amperage at the same time so you can't simply adjust the heat... I did not realize it wasn't really a non lincoln made unit until I saw this thread and just happened to stumble across an exact duplicate of the Lincoln unit somewhere else.

From your description is sounds like you have the Lincoln Handy MiG that Lowe’s sold. It was a rebadged century 80 GL welder. Chris

 

[Fallon]

Chris,
I think i am going for the single cart with drawers. I have been to HF 3 times now trying to decide. I cleaned the heck out of my small shop the other day and eliminated some extra junk. It appears having two carts will suit the space better. I have the cheap blue cart for the MIG right now.

I have a 68 Torino on a rotisserie that takes allot of room, and a 48 Ford 8N tractor blown apart.

I don't get to open the TIG until Christmas, lol. I hear a rumor it is a HTP 221, AC/DC.

Since i need a refill for my MIG and i only have a 60 CF bottle i will need to get two bottles of gas (argon for TIG) which is not going to be cheap. Thinking about getting the 125CF bottles.

Joe

EDIT: and for the reason you stated, I will need to be able to put wire in my MIG, doesn't look like fun with the bigger cart. lol

My local welding shop will happily trade out a small customer owned bottle for a bigger one by paying the difference. They are just swapping bottles rather than actually refilling anyway. Moving from the same cheap blue open HF cart to the enclosed single unit cart partially prompted me to do that upgrade. Sturdier cart with more ballast to steady the bigger tank. The cheap blue one carts my plasma cutter around just fine still though.

Likely a similar policy to switch gas types as the tanks are the same unless you are talking about acetylene tanks or something. Not sure if there is a price difference with Oxygen tanks due to the increased contamination issues to deal with.

 

[rpcraft]

From your description is sounds like you have the Lincoln Handy MiG that Lowe’s sold. It was a rebadged century 80 GL welder. Chris

Yep that is it. I know guys that love it but to me it is utter garbage. I could not remember the manufacturer name. I have a TIG that I've just started using anyways so I am probably better off overall but it would be nice to have a reliable box that is easy to dial in and run hot when you want to. I got that unit when i was working out of my apartment garage and all I had access to was a 15 amp 120 volt line.

I'm probably going to pick up a hobart 240 unit in the not too distant future. My projects are moving into the 1/2 or greater arena and I don't want to be sweating welds.

 

[rpcraft]

Yep that is it. I know guys that love it but to me it is utter garbage. I could not remember the manufacturer name. I have a TIG that I've just started using anyways so I am probably better off overall but it would be nice to have a reliable box that is easy to dial in and run hot when you want to. I got that unit when i was working out of my apartment garage and all I had access to was a 15 amp 120 volt line.

I'm probably going to pick up a hobart 240 unit in the not too distant future. My projects are moving into the 1/2 or greater arena and I don't want to be sweating welds.

Nice to see I paid about 120 bucks too much on that for buying a "Lincoln"

 

[paranoid56]

After having this a few months how do you like having all your welders on it?

I need one for a MIG and TIG but am not sure if i would like 2 separate carts or a single cart.

Thanks

still love it, i had separate carts before and never liked it. now its all in one spot, rolls easy, never have to think where stuff is as its in the drawer.
the only downside i have is its wide. so in a 2 car garage its tight getting it around a car to the driveway.

would buy again.

 

[Shadowdog500]

Nice to see I paid about 120 bucks too much on that for buying a "Lincoln"

Those Lincoln stickers are expensive!

I got burnt like that about 10 years ago on a bbq grill at Home Depot. They had a stainless Ducane grill for half a grand. Ducane was a great name at the time so I bought it. The thing never really performed to my expectation but I kept it. Fast foward a year or two and the thing breaks. I couldn’t get parts anywhere because it was a special model that was made for Home Depot and was only sold for one season. Lesson learned and I try to research everything I buy to make sure I don’t wind up with a Lowes or Home Depot special.

Chris

 

[bullnerd]

You could go for the Caddy...https://www.all-a-cart.com/

 

[ez-duzit]

You could go for the Caddy...https://www.all-a-cart.com/

Those are way cool!

 

[willbird]

I wanted one but then I realized they put the tanks on the wrong end if you have a MIG welder on there. No way to flip open the welder and change wire or anything like that without taking something off the cart and re positioning things. Right now I have a single welder cart and if I am using the MIG I will toss it on there with a tank and roll with that, but I have a rack on the side of the garage that I leave the TIG and Plasma cutter on and I just rotate what I am using between the two carts. It's more mobile and I can just keep the rest of the stuff not being used tucked out of the way and not have to manhandle a huge cart.

I just got one and had not noticed the deal with the tanks on the wrong side, planning on swapping that to the other side, does not seem too bad of a rework to do that ??

Bill

 

[rpcraft]

Not that you should have to do this but it seems like if you really needed to you could move the bottom part around to where the tank and casters are switched. Might just needs some rivnuts or some thicker steel tabs to be moved or welded into the base. It's not the most perfect solution but could still redeem it. The price seems like a lot of money to have that issue. Seems if you were going to have that issue and for less you could find 2 file cabinets on marketplace and then a little angle iron and steel plate along with some dolley wheels and a little tubing and fabricate your own version and copy it but make it better.

 

[willbird]

Not that you should have to do this but it seems like if you really needed to you could move the bottom part around to where the tank and casters are switched. Might just needs some rivnuts or some thicker steel tabs to be moved or welded into the base. It's not the most perfect solution but could still redeem it. The price seems like a lot of money to have that issue. Seems if you were going to have that issue and for less you could find 2 file cabinets on marketplace and then a little angle iron and steel plate along with some dolley wheels and a little tubing and fabricate your own version and copy it but make it better.

Well other than that deal I am happy with it overall. Part of my job is fabricating stuff when I need to so no big deal really. I am thinking to just make some plates to fit inside and drill and tap the plates, will end up stiffer than rivnuts. I knew if I searched for mods I would find a thread here. Prompted me to finally register. They have plates welded inside for the casters on that end.

Bill

 

[no704]

I just got one and had not noticed the deal with the tanks on the wrong side, planning on swapping that to the other side, does not seem too bad of a rework to do that ??

Bill

Can’t you just have the welder face the other side?

 

[pbon]

It takes a little work but you can reverse direction of the cart. I think I drilled out some spot welds and used bolts and had to fiddle with the wheel and axles. Accessory holes are mostly there, and you can drill a couple more if needed.

 

[zimman]

Looks like a great cart. I bought a HF side cabinet and built my own. Never painted it but it's been great and works well.
Zim

 

[willbird]

I got it swapped around, did not take anything special really, I just used 1/4-20 bolts, nuts, and washers. I did consider facing the welders the other way but decided to just make it exactly as I want it. I had already ordered a couple bottle clamps so will use those up top and their chain setup down lower. My bottles may last years so having them clamped up is OK, it might really honk off a person that needs to swap a bottle every day. Kinda thinking I may make some T handle threaded devices to use instead of the SHCS they include. These have an M8 thread. Might make 5/16-18 female threaded parts, that portion of the project can maybe wait though. I am going to make 1/4" steel plates to go on inside for the bottle retention stuff. Picturing a bottle with the valve broken off carrying the whole cart over into the next state airborne makes me wary of anything "less than" when it comes to securing the bottles.

https://a.co/d/2vVmpuH

 

[willbird]

I like the side cart idea too. My stuff sits until I need it then it sits again, kinda planning on finding a drop clothe to cover the whole deal with when it is not being used to keep it clean.