Portable mig welder?

[dpg481]

Do any of yall have a portable mig welder system? I was looking at getting a Hobart or Forney 140 110 volt mig and running it off a generator. I like the idea of a inverter generator to keep the noise level down compared to a normal loud one. I'm not finding much out there other than one video you utube where a guy is using a harbor freight 3500 inverter generator running a miller 211 on 110 volt. My thinking is I can strap this little set up to the back of my jeep and I can weld just about anywhere I can drive in, plus I would have to new separate tools around the house.

[T-REX]

A mig welder does not do well in the open wind. It will blow your shield gas away and leave a very undesirable weld and porosity. Plus a 110v machine is very limited on thickness of material you are welding.
That being said, I have used larger 200+ amp machines quite a bit in the field but had to be done on calm days or use some sort of screens to block the wind with great success. For small jobs it is just too much of a chore to load bottles, welding machine, generator, ect. and chance tearing up equipment

[RifleBowPistol]

What he said is the truth. I have tried to weld in shops with the doors open when the wind is blowing. The welds come out like crap. The gas gets blown away by the wind. I have also tried to weld outside, it was extremely difficult to find enough wind block that the welds would not wind up splattered messes. I have seen videos of welders welding on pipe lines, with MIGs. They had special made tents set up over the pipe. Then has it closed up. Same info goes for TIG also.

Another problem with the keeping a MIG outside, or having one outside, is the wire getting wet, then getting surface rust on the wire. It won't feed for crap and you will get a lot of splatter, as a result of the rust on the wire. I had my MIG in a garage at one point that was not well sealed up and the spool of wire got wet at some point, took me a while to figure why all of my welds had splatter.

[dpg481]

A mig welder does not do well in the open wind. It will blow your shield gas away and leave a very undesirable weld and porosity. Plus a 110v machine is very limited on thickness of material you are welding.
That being said, I have used larger 200+ amp machines quite a bit in the field but had to be done on calm days or use some sort of screens to block the wind with great success. For small jobs it is just too much of a chore to load bottles, welding machine, generator, ect. and chance tearing up equipment

Isn't that why they make flux core wire, so the gas is not needed and there is no gas for the wind to blow away?

[12RingKing]

Isn't that why they make flux core wire, so the gas is not needed and there is no gas for the wind to blow away?

That’s correct.

However, 110v systems are still really limited with flux core.

[dclifton]

You would be better off with a 110V stick welder alot more could be done with that vs mig.

It wouldnt take a very big generator to jump up to 220V just have to watch the amperage.

That being said there are some pretty compact gas stick welders out there.

Hobart Champion 145 comes to mind. Not a bobcat or a trailblazer but will do alot more than a mig.


If you are hung up on MIG i would go with something like a esab or miller multi process so you have both mig and stick functions. Most will opertate on 110V and 220V they are very versatile machines most of them also have lift tig.

[SaltwaterSlick]

If you are wanting to use it for light welding projects in the field like fixing stands/feeders or light stuff like that, it will work just fine. I'm running a Lincoln mig/flux core combo welder off a Honda EU2000i to do just that. It works like a champ. I did a stainless project with it a few years ago and bought the gas/wire for that, but for mild steel projects I just use .035 flux core wire. It's good for everything as light as steel drum welding to about 3/16" material. Built a lot of stuff with mine. I have a stick welder too if I need to weld something heavy, but 90% of what I need a welder for, the little 110Volt Lincoln works just fine.

[RattlesnakeDan]

I had a cheap 110 mig I kept in my campers/motorhomes for years and welded many axles and atvs/utvs back together to keep the weekend rolling. Good enough for patching things up and use the flux core, the welds look like crap anyways with those so just use em' as needed. You can use a few CD's for eye protection.lol. Been there. Also I weld with a big mig outside often, repaired a shredder last night for a guy in about a 10 m/h wind, you have to crank up your gas a bit and understand it isn't going to look great but it will work.

[mattjproc]

Get a Hobart Handler 140 and run flux core wire through it. It won't look as pretty as if you did it in the shop with shielding gas but who cares if it's out in the middle of no where. Easy machine to use and works great.

[Throwin Darts]

Get a Hobart Handler 140 and run flux core wire through it. It won't look as pretty as if you did it in the shop with shielding gas but who cares if it's out in the middle of no where. Easy machine to use and works great.

After getting some advice from TBH on a thread I had a few days ago I am going this route.

[dpg481]

After getting some advice from TBH on a thread I had a few days ago I am going this route.

Are you going to use it with a generator or plugged in to shop/house power?My main concern is the power source, as I want to go portable.

[dpg481]

You would be better off with a 110V stick welder alot more could be done with that vs mig.

It wouldnt take a very big generator to jump up to 220V just have to watch the amperage.

That being said there are some pretty compact gas stick welders out there.

Hobart Champion 145 comes to mind. Not a bobcat or a trailblazer but will do alot more than a mig.


If you are hung up on MIG i would go with something like a esab or miller multi process so you have both mig and stick functions. Most will opertate on 110V and 220V they are very versatile machines most of them also have lift tig.

I was looking at that Hobart 145 and it is very appealing. 4500 watt generator with 110/220 hookups also. Tractor supply has it for $1,600.00

[FUB]

I have a Champion 5500 w generator and it will run my cheap Harbor Freight Titanium flux core welder without a problem. Great for tacking stuff around the ranch 1/4" or less in thickness. Not sure on the power of the HF 3500 w generator.

[SaltwaterSlick]

I was looking at that Hobart 145 and it is very appealing. 4500 watt generator with 110/220 hookups also. Tractor supply has it for $1,600.00

That'll work like a champ!

[Throwin Darts]

Are you going to use it with a generator or plugged in to shop/house power?My main concern is the power source, as I want to go portable.

I’m going with a Hobart Handler 140 with a separate generator.


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