I'm looking to buy a welder but don't know if I should get a wire feed or stick welder. Opinions?

Stick is good for long distance welding like high steel.
Wire feed is the answer for the shop or on the road.
110vac: iffy, mostly for body work, light gauge.
(You really need to know what your doing to make it work, even then~~~~~)
220vac: really min. needed for welding 1/4" +

I have a MILLER 175 amp and it welds like a 180 amp.

Seams to me 165amp-210amp is the range for welding structural steel,
and we would just run 180amp all day long. single or multi pass.
Hope that helps

i have both..i like the stick for big projects pipe etc and its moble runs on gas.. and i have a wire with an aluminum/stainless spool gun for smaller stuff has to have electricity to work (not moble)...both are linkin welders..just depends on what you are welding i guess..and a great benefit to having a stick is on most now days you have a powerplant too

If you have to ask you should get wire, but dont weld any thing that will hurt someone if it breaks, 'till you learn how.

Yes, I need to learn how to weld, but I know a lot of people who can teach me how.

It's for my truck, I'd be using it to weld shoes. The guy I work with said he had a wire feed and hated messing with the wire so now he has a stick. Another farrier he knows uses a wire and loves it. So if all you're using it for is turning a regular shoe into a bar shoe, which would you prefer and why? I don't want to carry around a bunch of bar shoes in my truck when I could make 'em when I need 'em.

khfs wrote:khfs it depends which one you learn on wrie is faster to learn on and it has flux core wire so you don't have to use co2/argon gases but stick is simplekeep the rod dry and set it on the right heat range and go to work. but for quick welds wire is better jmo.

khfs wrote:

Definetly wire feed for your truck. Especially if your not a good welder. Makes less mess and alot easier to arc. You can learn to mig weld quick, It takes awhile to master stick welding.

khfs wrote:
One word: Forge Welding. As long as you have the shoe hot to shape it into a bar shoe go ahead and weld it in the fire. I welded mig, tig, lo hy stick up and overhead, for twenty years befor I started shoeing. Once you learn to make bar shoes you will have also improved other skills to make your shoe shaping better.
Conversly if you skip this step and start welding chunks of old shoes across the heels you will never learn to do it the best way.
Learning to build and weld your own stands, racks, tools, etc., is great as you get them just as you like and save mucho denero.

Bill Adams wrote:
I agree with Bill.
Learn to Forge Weld!

Bill Adams wrote:
The time it saves you though is what I look at. It would take me at least 45 minutes to make a pair of bar shoes. And when I got done they wouldn't be as good as a guy who shaped the shoe and welded in the bar in 10 minutes. I know if I practiced enough sure they could be, but thats another subject.

khfs in gray

I'm looking to buy a welder but don't know if I should get a wire feed or stick welder. Opinions?

To play devil's advocate for the nonce, why buy either? An oxygen/acetylene rig is infinitely more versatile. With it, you can weld Fe or Al, hard or soft braze, and cut Fe - and you're not dependent on you're truck's engine or an outside power source. The basic skill set (lap welds/brazing, not overhead steam lines) can be learned with a few hours instruction and are a natural adjunct for forge welding.

You need to learn to weld in the fire, but do it on your own time NOT on the job!

What Tom said, and it's good for braising Borium.

Kari,

I have 2 sizes of Wire Feed Welders, both Lincoln. One is a 110 Volt for light work. I can get away with welding shoes with it. I also have a 220 volt with an aluminum spool gun. I can weld heavy gauge material (up to maybe 1/2") with the 220. I trust my wire feed just as much as any stick welder. I grew up the son of a Pipeliner, my ol' Dad has me weld all kinds of things for him now.

A quick suggestion; If you place a wire feed welder in your truck....Make sure the wire spool is secured while transporting the welder so it does not unravel itself. I have used mini bungees to keep tension on the wire. Have you ever casted a level-wind reel while fishing and forgot to place your thumb on the spool? You will get a nasty backlash with the wire and it won't feed properly through the welder.

Most any application in the Horseshoeing world (welding a bar shoe or Heart-Bar inserts) you could get by with a 110 volt welder IF your material is prepped. (Edges beveled and material clean) Make good tack welds and burn it in deep and use multiple passes.

Trevor

Just as in Forge Welding....most of the emphasis is in the prep and cleanliness. I don't forge weld worth a darn, therefore I have welders.

Kari,
I like your Blue Heeler Pup? Tail or No Tail? I like Bob's Border Collie too, and Tom's Catahoula.

Trev.

i'am with tom, a torch is the best way to go. you can do anything with it anywhere.