Farmall450
Well-known member
Get the Ironman. For the same $ as the Miller it has a lot more ***. I love my Ironman (had almost a year now). Goes toe to toe with a MM200 (old, 250A model).
Miller vs Hobart
- Thread starter southernfriedcj
- Start date
sweetk30
Well-known member
i can say i have used a lot of red/white/blue top 3 brand .
i have red in my shop and its just cause i got deals on them . i did get a white unit this last year cause it was my late farmer friends unit he had me get for him .
i use the red and white 110 units a lot but tend to find my self going white a bit more for light work . but i think thats also cause i run .025 in white / .035 in red and / .045 in BIG red 220 unit .
as long as its a name brand unit and taken care of i like them all .
i have red in my shop and its just cause i got deals on them . i did get a white unit this last year cause it was my late farmer friends unit he had me get for him .
i use the red and white 110 units a lot but tend to find my self going white a bit more for light work . but i think thats also cause i run .025 in white / .035 in red and / .045 in BIG red 220 unit .
as long as its a name brand unit and taken care of i like them all .
Aaron_W
Well-known member
If you are not in a rush watch for rebates from Miller. They have offered some very good ones in the past, when I was shopping they had $300 off of the Miller 211 which at the time was $1400, so the rebate got it pretty close to the regular price of a Hobart 210. The other thing to watch is Hobart has a factory reconditioned store, which can knock 20-30% off the price when they have a machine you want. Since they are reconditioned machines availability is entirely based on what is coming back to them.
They do have some 210s available at the moment for $865, almost $200 off the normal retail price and $1000 less than a Miller 211.
www.hobartweldshop.com
As a general purpose MIG welder I'd think either would make most casual welders happy. Is the light weight and greater ability to fine tune the settings worth $1000 to you?
I'm very happy with my Miller multi-process 220, but at the current prices for Miller, if I were shopping Hobart would be looking pretty good to me.
They do have some 210s available at the moment for $865, almost $200 off the normal retail price and $1000 less than a Miller 211.
Reconditioned Welders & Plasma Cutters - Hobart Welding Products
www.hobartweldshop.com
As a general purpose MIG welder I'd think either would make most casual welders happy. Is the light weight and greater ability to fine tune the settings worth $1000 to you?
I'm very happy with my Miller multi-process 220, but at the current prices for Miller, if I were shopping Hobart would be looking pretty good to me.
CGT80
Well-known member
I just finished posting about how much I love my miller 211 inverter and how it compares to my brother's miller 220 and miller 252. The OP was considering the hobart 210mvp which is the cheap version of the miller 211.
I forgot about the fan on demand feature, but I love it. It is so great that I wired my Miller 330abp 460 amp tig with relays, contactors, and a timer so the fan and pump are on a timer and it switches off my swamp cooler when I press the pedal to start the fan and pump. It times out and shuts of the fan and pump and turns the swamp cooler back on.
I bought my 211 in 2015 also and it had a nicer arc than the 252's transformer, both using the same roll of LA-75 wire for corten steel on the same parts. The arc from the 220 is very loud when mig welding. My brother and I both noticed it vs. my machine or the 252. To have portable ac tig and the ability to change the waveform would be great and the screen with actual speed and voltage is great, but I like how light the 211 is. The auto set is perfect and I don't care about memorizing settings and like just moving the knob......often times to a hotter setting for steel mig so I can run faster. Autoset works great for aluminum and stainless as well and fluxcore. I kept the roll of 0.024" wire from my miller 135 but never use it. 0.030" is fine down to 20ga and most of my work is 18ga or heavier. 3/8" steel is no sweat for short runs.
The 211 inverter and spoolgun is one of my favorite purchases out of many tools I own. The 15' gun is a must and a 25' 4ga work cable matches the spoolgun. It was certainly worth paying for the nicest machine and I have used all of the features and potential of it. There is no way I would buy a hobart instead of the miller, even at current prices. I do too much welding and too much variety of materials, projects, and locations to not have this machine. My brother owned a 252 but bought the 220 after using my 211 on job sites. It depends on what you like and need.
My other post with more about the same topic:
www.garagejournal.com
I forgot about the fan on demand feature, but I love it. It is so great that I wired my Miller 330abp 460 amp tig with relays, contactors, and a timer so the fan and pump are on a timer and it switches off my swamp cooler when I press the pedal to start the fan and pump. It times out and shuts of the fan and pump and turns the swamp cooler back on.
I bought my 211 in 2015 also and it had a nicer arc than the 252's transformer, both using the same roll of LA-75 wire for corten steel on the same parts. The arc from the 220 is very loud when mig welding. My brother and I both noticed it vs. my machine or the 252. To have portable ac tig and the ability to change the waveform would be great and the screen with actual speed and voltage is great, but I like how light the 211 is. The auto set is perfect and I don't care about memorizing settings and like just moving the knob......often times to a hotter setting for steel mig so I can run faster. Autoset works great for aluminum and stainless as well and fluxcore. I kept the roll of 0.024" wire from my miller 135 but never use it. 0.030" is fine down to 20ga and most of my work is 18ga or heavier. 3/8" steel is no sweat for short runs.
The 211 inverter and spoolgun is one of my favorite purchases out of many tools I own. The 15' gun is a must and a 25' 4ga work cable matches the spoolgun. It was certainly worth paying for the nicest machine and I have used all of the features and potential of it. There is no way I would buy a hobart instead of the miller, even at current prices. I do too much welding and too much variety of materials, projects, and locations to not have this machine. My brother owned a 252 but bought the 220 after using my 211 on job sites. It depends on what you like and need.
My other post with more about the same topic:
Hobart 210hvp with spoolgun
Is anyone running a 210mvp with a spoolgun on aluminum? I have enough projects that maybe it time to skip the syncroweld and get a mig. I wouldn't mind a bigger mig but I have had several small jobs (steel) that I could have done if I had a 110v machine and the 210 can do both. A 250 amp...
www.garagejournal.com
IndyGarage
Well-known member
I have quite a bit of experience with the Hobart 180 - which was the predecessor of the 190 and a Miller 211 inverter model I bought about 3 years ago.
I understand the Hobart 180/190 is a totally different chassis than the 210 and the welding shop guys says it welds better. The one I used welded very nicely. I would be happy to own a 190 and it would probably do everything I want it to.
That said, I've gotten the smoothest, most consistent and best welds I've ever made out of my 211. The autoset works great and it runs pretty much the same on 110v vs 220v. I've actually made plenty of welds I'm not afraid to show to real welders. I can't say that about much that I welded prior to getting the machine. Is it worth double or triple the money? Well that's a tough call - if you are a pro or a heavy DIYer, I would say probably. If you only want to weld occasionally, I'd save the money and go with an HH190.
Now I have not used an Ironman 230 and I considered that when I bought the 211. A friend has a Miller 250 which is the larger size machine and he loves it, but I decided I liked the 110 capability and portability of the 211.
I understand the Hobart 180/190 is a totally different chassis than the 210 and the welding shop guys says it welds better. The one I used welded very nicely. I would be happy to own a 190 and it would probably do everything I want it to.
That said, I've gotten the smoothest, most consistent and best welds I've ever made out of my 211. The autoset works great and it runs pretty much the same on 110v vs 220v. I've actually made plenty of welds I'm not afraid to show to real welders. I can't say that about much that I welded prior to getting the machine. Is it worth double or triple the money? Well that's a tough call - if you are a pro or a heavy DIYer, I would say probably. If you only want to weld occasionally, I'd save the money and go with an HH190.
Now I have not used an Ironman 230 and I considered that when I bought the 211. A friend has a Miller 250 which is the larger size machine and he loves it, but I decided I liked the 110 capability and portability of the 211.
Retroman
Well-known member
Just a home gamer and new to welding so no major welding projects. Started off with the Hobart handler 140 and didn't feel like I could get enough penetration on the welds. Probably more my ability than the machine not being capable. Sold that and got the MM 211 and haven't looked back. Added a Optrel 2.0 helmet and my welding has really improved. Only drawback is the ground clamp for the money they charge they can do better and the 10' gun is a bit short at times.
JRPAviator
Well-known member
I have the now discontinued 212 Autoset. Always get the most capable you can afford. You will never regret it years down the road and I can weld everything I have encountered. I have had it since 2010. It’s 12 years later and it just works. May need a new gun in 5 years or so 
The built in tank cart is a feature I love. The interior of the welder when opened has enough room for storage. Built in consumable storage. I’d go with the Ironman but I am jaded.
The built in tank cart is a feature I love. The interior of the welder when opened has enough room for storage. Built in consumable storage. I’d go with the Ironman but I am jaded.IRQVET
Well-known member
Can’t go wrong with either brand. Duty cycle and how often its used plays a factor.
Non- production= Hobart.
Production setting= Miller.
Both are fantastic machines, and both are American made. #Salute
**** it Harbor Freight, lol.
Non- production= Hobart.
Production setting= Miller.
Both are fantastic machines, and both are American made. #Salute
**** it Harbor Freight, lol.
i think most of todays millers ( atleast the ones ive seen ) are labeled as assembled in usa. there must be some criteria legalities preventing them from having the made in usa designation. in a nut shell , im guessing they have too many foriegn components and that puts them in the assembled in usa category by law. not that assembled in usa is a bad thing , certainly its far better than made in china imo but i wonder if theres much ( if any ) usa components inside a miller.
the newer hobarts that ive seen , which isnt many, are labeled made in china but some may be assembled in usa.
the days of usa made welders are long gone
the newer hobarts that ive seen , which isnt many, are labeled made in china but some may be assembled in usa.
the days of usa made welders are long gone
IRQVET
Well-known member
I noticed the same thing with their newer inverter machines, made in China. Not sure if that extends to the rest of their line. My Hobart’s are converter machines, an older technology, but tried, true, reliable; and made in Ohio.
