I LOVE my HH187. It's a 220V unit, I saw the new HH-190 with spool, I am considering selling mine and buying that one just for the spool feature. I set it up with 75/25 and never looked back. You did fine on the price. Go burn some wire. I am using ER-70S-6 wire it has a bit more manganese in it so it works better if your not 100% perfect on cleaning and prepping your steel. The good news is if where your shopping only has 1 kind of wire it usually is ER-70S-6. Keith
I've got one and it is perfect for what I do.......restoring cars. I also have a Miller Syncrowave 180SD for Tig and Stick when I need a little more juice. I had a Hobart 115 for a long time and it was great for sheet metal but it fell short when it came time to do anything thicker than 1/8".
Before i moved from Texas to Norway I bought a new Miller 180, had it for 8 or so years in my shop, perfect machine, was still in perfect nic when i sold it to move....Last year I bought the Hobart 187 with spool gun and brought here to Norway and couldnt be happier. The cool thing about the Hobarts is that they will work on both 50 and 60hz....we have 50hz over here....Miller welders as with most other brands will not work over here. Stuff is expensive over here, I Paid about 1/3 of Norway cost....I havent used it a ton yet, but almost done with some beefy 1/4in thick plate motor mounts and Even after buzzing it for several minutes straight on secondnto highest power setting, the air coming out of the cooling exhaust is still cool. I bought a Lincoln Invertec V205T ac/dc tig welder as well as it is another that is meant for 50/60hz.....another good compact inverter machine albiet much higher priced
Hobarts are a good deal, you just have to set them up right. I have two of them and I'm very happy with them.
i bet if i switched over to a hobart or a miller my welds would look perfect. both the lincolns i run are finnicky if not,cantankerous to get a decent weld. i'm always fighting with them,if i do get all my ducks in a row,some nob comes in the shop in the evening and screws with everything and leaves me a mess to clean up in the morning. next tool request is a bigger,better,bluer welder.
I bought a used 187 about a month ago only a couple hours on it. Got it off Craigs list for $450. Getting ready to switch it over to gas to run the fine wire for sheet metal.
Great welders... I am on my second one....I love the ability to weld really thin sheet metal with it, as well as the structural stuff. Good choice. Cheers........
Got an email a little bit ago saying it was shipped but I know it not shipping till tomorrow but at least I got a UPS tracking number. A couple others said that, too. I didn't know before but I know now.
dont remember what i paid for mine year ago, but love it... did you know that miller now owns hobart???
I bought the hobart cuz all the body shops I dealt with had one. Great little welder, and its made in the USA.
Well, checked the tracking number and UPS says it will be delivered on the 14th. I won't be home but the wife will. I'm gone most of the week driving a big truck and in Texas right now. Will be home Tuesday night but have to head out to Georgia Wednesday afternoon before the UPS guy comes. Yes, found that out in this thread
I seldom get a "deal", but recently scored on a 210MVP for 600+75 shipping on ebay...just happened to be browsing through when I saw the 210 with no bids and seconds to go...beats the crap out of my old lincoln 180.
I got it!!! I'm in Georgia right now but the wife called and UPS delivered it. She said she scooted the box in the house and wrapped it and put it by the tree so looks like I have to wait till Christmas to open it
hobart is a great machine but it is not a miller i dont want to sound like im a miller spokes man but for people to say they are the same is kind of misleading. a hobart is a miller with a plastic parts that are able to be put in are in place of steel. i know i might sound biased but being a person who has undergone varios welding classes and welds part time i can say that the miller is a far superior machine. for the puposes of most people it will serve its duties it will just never stand up to the level of a MILLER
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200328799_200328799 northern tool has it now, I am thinking about making a purchase. Any updates ALPO
Not to hijack but what do you guys know/think about the Hobart Handler 140? I bought a very lightly used one from an acquainance for $400. Came loaded with flux core which I've not used. Planning on using .023 for sheet metal repairs. I did NOT get a bottle with it. I need to buy one but just haven't had the $180 Airgas has one priced at.
That looks like a good price. $10 more than I paid without shipping and tax but that one is free shipping so you will come out better. Got mine all set up. Went over to Tractor Supply and got a cart made by Hobart to put it on and bought some gas for it at $165 for the bottle and gas mixture. Also got one of those fancy welding helmets that get dark when you start the ark. Pretty slick. Have it set up for gas-less welding now and been messing around on some scrap and it works pretty good. I don't consider myself a welder but doing ok on the scrap. Will switch it to the gas soon and see how it works. Need to get some work done on my '34 though so playing with the welder may have to wait a bit.
Thanks for the update...I almost returned it today cause I saw another Hobart welder on Northern that comes with a cart, it is like the big brother model..Would you still go with the 187 with this one as an option..? http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200479230_200479230
That's the cart that I bought for mine. Yes, I would still go with the 187. I see no advantage with the dual voltage. Plus, it is considerably more money.
I, too, bought a Hobart MigMan welder in 1984. The tuner cleaner treatment worked on my sticky trigger, as well. A couple of years ago, I commented to to counter sakes guy at my local welding supply about how much cheaper & smaller the new MIG welders are - compared to my MigMan. I mentioned that I’ve been using it for all these years, without a problem. He replied that I wasn’t likely to have any trouble with it because these units were built using a lot of components designed for a lot heavier use.
Welders from that time frame usually lasted a long time if you didn't abuse them. Both at work 25 years ago where I was in charge of getting broken welding equipment repaired and with the guys I have been around it is usually the units that guys are running at max capacity a lot of the time that have a lot of repair issues. The guy who has his 180 amp mig running wide open to weld up 1/2 inch plate when he has an old Lincoln 225 sitting in the corner that won't break a sweat at welding that.
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