I have usedused the chicken scratch machine. If you plan to use it alot buy a name brand. It is $99 for a reason. Weld quality is poor as is the construction of the unit.
I ended up with a Lincoln and love it. It is as easy as writing your name with excellent results.
Remember a man is only as good as his tools!

My miller gas weld 175A 220V unit is for sale if anyone wants it... nice welder, but I want a stronger one, and like the 260A models ($1000... used) I've got a 30CF tank to go with it. I've used it for everything from sheetmetal and up to 3/8" steel on my trailer that I haul EVERYTHING on! it's paid for itself hundreds of times.

I'd not attempt to do ANY bodywork with a flux core welder... clean is the key for bodywork, and slag and residue is DIFFICULT to clean off for paint!

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John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
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My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
1987 300TD
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Yup, I welded in a set of floor pans and a trunk deck using flux core. I easily spent three times the hours grinding/cleaning as I did welding.

Spend the extra money. I've got the Lincoln Pro 135 and it handles all the work I need on the Benz. I have welded 1/4" plate with it but I spent a lot of prep time to do it.

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“Whatever story you're telling, it will be more interesting if, at the end you add, "and then everything burst into flames.”
― Brian P. Cleary, You Oughta Know By Now

As Hunter's post pointed out there are good deals out there cheap for good used brands of mig welders. Just take along someone that has used migs a lot when purchasing them if you have not any experience. Someone pretty well has to make sure it is working well. Or any issues are minor.

Get a used model that has parts available. Many of the consumables are standard but not all the parts are.

At some point most migs will see some body work in an owners hands. One nice feature is a beginner can get good penatration almost automatically with little experience with a mig. Most other types of welding do require more knowledge.

Plus it can reduce warpage a lot when used properly. Not using gas defeats some of the strong points of the type. Although for rusty metal you might have to use flux core wire with it.. Gas shielded migs want clean metal when the gas is being used. Remember as well it is almost if not impossible to use gas outside in a light wind. It tends to disperse the gas bubble surrounding the weld. In a light breeze you might get by increasing the gas flow but there are limits. Some of the better welders will have a switch that allows you to use flux core as well. You cannot usually run flux core on cheap welders designed for gas or it does not work really well.

Another thing is many professional welders do not like auto darkening helmuts but to me they are great. Especially as you get older and your eyes decline somewhat. You want to always see what you are doing. Nothing like trying to start a bead or whatever if you cannot see where you want to start.

There is nothing wrong with getting far better than what your budget may be able to afford by buying used. In our hands these machines are not being used on a constant basis.

I personally buy many things used but have become pretty good at evaluating condition and quality. I just feel that why pay for new when good used will meet my needs very well? Although I brought my mig welder new when I purchased a trailor load of them years ago. I have features on mine that do not exist in general on really cheap mig welders. For example I do a lot of spot type welding using the weld cycle timer.

I agree with Barry on buying used. I just wasn't able to find one in my geographical area when I upsized to the Eastwood. It's nice to have the Lincoln with fine wire and the Eastwood with bigger stuff for heavier work. But either way, stick to a gas shielded.

A note on bodywork - if the panel isn't clean enough to MIG weld you either need to clean it more or cut it back further. You need to build your work off of clean metal anyhow. I've done a TON of bodywork and it took me many failures to learn this.

Dan

I got a MAC tools Mig welder. Bought it for $250 from a local guy with a large gas cylinder. So far I used it to butt weld in new floor pan patches and to repair the area under my battery tray. Works like a champ. Just make sure you get the small guage wire and make tiny tack welds allowing time to cool.

Now I just need to get my trunk wells repaired.

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1978 Mercedes 240D
1981 Mercedes 240D
1982 Mercedes 240D

IMHO, flux core has only slightly more than NO usefulness at all. In a pinch it can be used for emergency repair jobs where it is necessary to weld outdoors in the wind. Otherwise you are SO much better served with CO2/Argon.

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2014 Porsche Cayenne six speed manual

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