Tools Needed

[fankhaj1]

What welder'd do people use? What kind of money are we talking about?

[lapeer20m]

I agree that a welder is mostly optional when it comes to a skoolie. I have an old lincoln arc welder, and this past summer i also purchased a handy lincoln wire feed welder. Both have their pros and cons

the arc is much better suited to thick material

but alluminum can be welded with the wire welder and so can very thin pieces of metal.

wire feed welders start about $300 new

arc welders can be had for the same price new...but there are millions of used ones in existence that can be had for cheap.

[bdavis441]

my personal favorite for small wire feed welders is the Millermatic line by Miller. The Millermatic 135 is 110v and I think around $400-$500. I have a Millermatic 175 (220v) that I paid $675 for. It has definitely earned it's keep. You can study them on the miller website. Note: Miller is owned by Hobart, they sell a Hobart handler 135 and a Hobart handler 175, you can buy these at places like TSC, the prices are comparable to the miller, but the Miller is of much better quality. so, for the same money, buy the miller.

Also..... flux core wire (gasless mig) does work, but there is no substitute for regular mig welding, but you do have to buy a gas bottle.

[wmah]

I have a millermatic 210 that I purchaced new last Feburary. I also bought the big tank to go with it.
I have both wires gas and gasless. The gas wire gives a cleaner weld. The gasless tends to leave splatter, but it is nice to have for if I run out of gas in the middle of something.

[fankhaj1]

Last weekend they aired an episode of Xtreme 4x4 and they explained the diffeerence between MIG and TIG welding. It seems like MIG is most of the time what you need to do? Is that correct?

[bdavis441]

for these applications, yes.