ya know, this should probably be a sticky or something...there is some really good info in here and i'm sure we can keep adding to it!

 

i wouldnt buy a 220 welder if your just getting into welding. i would get a good 110v hobart or something similar. b/c if you really get into the welding thing, you could sell the welder and upgrade, and not loose too much money from the initial price. but if ya start out with a 220v thats a bigger investment and if its not your thing, you will loose a greater amount of money on the resale...
and being able to plug the welder in to any outlet(provided fuse in the breaker doesnt blow) will be a plus in my eyes b/c you could pack it up and go to a buddys house and do welding there without the hassle of finding a 220 outlet..

 

My dad has a Snap On 110 Mig And a Miller welder/generator in the garage that can do everything. We use nothing but Miller welders where I work and its a huge company plus most of the contractors I have worked for in the past used only Miller so that says alot. Doesn't mean they can't break but they are good quality.

 

Mig Welders and Tig welders are nice. But I Like the old school Stick welders. Hobart makes a nice genertator welder that will weld up to 1/4 inch on a single pass. The generator has 2 120 outlets and 2/220 outlets. Plus you can take it any were you can hall it. no bottles to mess with. And you don't see too many onboard mig welders on trail rigs. But that is my opionion

 

i havea 220 arc lincoln welder and im looking into getting a dual sheild welder also. so i can run mig and dual sheild, another one i might pick up here is an inner sheild welder ya.....im puting some money into a mini shop in the garage might as well :)

 

I have to agree with James... I've got MIG, flux core, and stick welders and used to hate stick welding until I learned how to do it... Now it's my favorite.

Stick welding is an art.... MIG and FCAW can be done by anyone.

 

stick welding sucks doing over head with 6010 rods :(
i can lay my beads(stick) just as clean looking as i can with mig just a little more texture to them