Longevity of a Lincoln vs. Miller welder?

Edited: 12/1/2005 8:26:01 AM by FloorVair

My miller crapped out this morning (after 13 years of heavy use), just picked up a lincoln sp175. Very nice piece of equipment, made a quick pass on some 1/4 plate and it actually makes a nicer weld than my miller did. Extremely happy with this welder, hopefully it lasts as long as my miller did.

BTW: My miller just needs a control board, ill buy that at a later on

miller is easier to get parts for made in usa lincoln made in china harder to get part other then consumables but time will tell 13 year isnt bad for a welder

i have a engine driven lincoln welder made in 1964 that it still all original motor and welder windings. works perfectly still to this day. change the oil and filters and she keeps on purrin

miller kicks ass, ive had crappy experience with lincoln, the guns and the wire feeds, and the topper is lincoln usually costs more than miller. the do make decent tig welders though. who wouldnt rather buy an american made product anyways.

i just got a hobart handler 180 and ive only got to weld with it with flux core and it was nice. I was looking at the sp175 lincoln on ebay and they were very cheap there and i had actually won an aution for one and it was 460 shipped but the seller disappeared after i paid.

Edited: 12/1/2005 8:54:35 AM by Low_SST

btw i got the place i bought it at to meet and beat sears price on the hobart so i paid 608 and i got a spool of .035 mig wire, and tips and nozzles too.

i just bought me a miller dvi on monday...and i love it......alot.....

I really wanted a miller again, but my supplier didnt have one in stock today. I had to have a welder today to put a quarter on a camary, oh well. I got a deal on it, $550 with everything but a cart and bottle. If it dont last i still got the miller, just gotta fix it.

my father bought a Miller 35s, used, before i was born. I'll be 22 next month. It still welds better than his brand new Lincoln 300

Edited: 12/1/2005 9:33:40 AM by Fishie04

i have had bad experince with Linoln mig welders(a Power Mig 255C). bascially i thought they where trash compared to a Miller (crappy cheap parts and always fawkin up). but i bought a Lincoln engine driven welder that i use stick and tig on. i wanted a miller engine driven one but i got a sweet deal because of places clearancing them after the hurricanes, and its very badass.