Millermatic 175 vs Lincoln Pro-Mig 175?

[mabrodis]

So at some point here I need to buy a welder, my 110volt wirefeed is technically my dad's now...I know the Miller vs Lincoln is hotly debated at times, and I'm sure I'm safe to say that both are quality machines.

I'm leaning toward the Lincoln Pro-Mig 175, mostly because it seems quite a bit cheaper than the Miller 175. My 110volt one is a Lincoln, never failed me, wire welders at the highschool I learned at were Lincoln. I have used Miller 185 once, worked very well, good smooth welds, actually better than I anticipated, but that was a 185, which is now the 210 model. Also used a Miller plasma cutter that was a POS IMO, but to it's defense it was overkill for the plasma table we used it on and didn't work well, just to big of a machine, but the quality of it did not seem on par with say Thermal Dynamics...but that's a plasma cutter issue...

Anyway, any other pros/cons anyone out there can think of I'd be open to. I like the blue color better than the red I'll admit, but that's not going to be the deciding factor...actually I guess what I'm looking for is why would I spend more on the Miller? (I can get a Lincoln 175 off Ebay for around $400-$450 shipped, with regulator, etc).

Thanks,
Mark Brodis

 

[HI^C]

Just curious, have you looked into a slightly used one?

excellent deals to be had around me, small business closers, some rentals returns, etc... all machines i have looked at are less then 2 yrs old, a few where less then 6 months old. BLUE carrys the factory 3 yr no matter what. not sure about the red.

I guess it depends what you do, but 175 is a bit small for me to look into purchasing a new one.

 

[Junk]

Hobart will be rolling out a new 180 version real soon, then Miller. There's some decent improvements to it like drivetrain etc, but what this means to you is if you are fixin to get a 175, they may be going on sale soon!

 

[informationjunky]

The Hobart tech I spoke to said the 180 will also go thinner than the 175.

 

[HI^C]

hobart has not been the same since the buy out, not worth anything, shame to waste the name.

Older hobart welders are very good, been using the same little mig for about 9 yrs or so, and havent found anything close to replace it with.

somewhere along the way someone decided that they would list a 200 model but only have a rated output of 150 amps, everyone caught on, bigger number lower output amperage, more money then the model before, more money for a lot less machine. BAM everything is going down hill.

Wonder why the older millermatic welders, large ones 200, 250, etc... still sell for decent amount of $$$, makes you think twice about the crap coming out now.

local metal fab shop has a old millermatic 200, that has out last and out worked all other welders they had, made in the last decade, too this day they still use it and have sold or scrapped the other migs.