Lorch or other welder

[Welder1997]

Hi everyone, my names Joe I'm new to the forum but I've been welding a while now as I work as a fabricator, I'm 25 and I've recently just started a family so I'm looking to do a bit of sidework to earn a bit more income with the rising living costs. Will mainly be garden gates and railing and every now and again some beams.

So I was wondering two things I'm looking for a single phase 250amp + mig welder now from what I've seen on other threads on here the best in the class that's not breaking the bank is the Lorch M pro 252 but I was wondering if there were any other machines worth looking at thay people may regard as better or in the same class? I was also looking at a kemppi kempact but I saw a post where people said it was no where near as good as the lorch and compared the build quality to a plast jet wash .

If the Lorch is the best one to go for where would the best place be to get it from price wise or deals?

 

[Mick Annick]

I got my Lorch MMA set from WASP in Luton, though they may have a dealer nearer to you, but WASP got mine sent out next day delivery so very happy.

 

[tom2207]

Welcome to the site ,,, dont miss out on EWM or Fronius , lots of brands , again a lot of it depends on what you want to spend , what features you want , will you want to be able to weld alloy , does it need to be moved much , and of course just how big is the single phase supply ,,
maybe a good second hand machine may be worthy of a thought ,,,, my advise is buy what you can get back up for locally , either warranty or repair.

 

[Mick Annick]

@matt1978 is the man to talk to

 

[Welder1997]

Welcome to the site ,,, dont miss out on EWM or Fronius , lots of brands , again a lot of it depends on what you want to spend , what features you want , will you want to be able to weld alloy , does it need to be moved much , and of course just how big is the single phase supply ,,
maybe a good second hand machine may be worthy of a thought ,,,, my advise is buy what you can get back up for locally , either warranty or repair.

Hi mate, thank you for the input I did have a look at EWM and Fronius before Lorch tbf but the only single phase EWM mig I could see was the picomig 180 which is a bit underpowered for what I want and the Fronius I looked at the transteel 2200 which again is slightly underpowered. I like features such as stitch and spot for thin materials. I will be welding mostly mild steel but sometimes aluminium for trailers and some stainless when there's too much to do with the tig. I tend to work in different thicknesss ranging from sheet up to mainly 10mm sometimes 12 and anything thicker I can do with the stick. I won't really have to move it much as I tend to use mig to pre fab everything in the workshop and use tig and stick to fit on site. I'm getting a 32 amp single phase fitted but I might have to move it between mine and my mates workshop so Idealy but not a need would being able to run it up to 150 amp on a 13 amp adapter. I do keep my eye out for 2nd hand but would have to be good brand in mint condition as I'm leaning more towards a new for the warranty. I beleive Lorch, kemppi, miller, lincon, ewm and fronius have good backup don't they?

 

[Welder1997]

@matt1978 is the man to talk to

Thank you for pointing me in the right direction

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

Paton make a 250A single phase machine...they sell either a combined mig or as a separate power supply that can also do MMA too and MIG with a wire feed. Mine is pretty well made....just haven't used the MIG functionality yet - the MMA is excellent though.

I think theres some reviews on the forum for the Paton (couple of people have them)...what I can say is mine is very well made!

Found this....might be of interest.

Review - paton welding machine

hya guys and girls, after a masive debate about what machine to buy last year, i was really torn between the esab reble and the fronious trans steel welding multi process welding plants each have there pros and cons. But after long convorsations with @HughF and a few others who had ran the other...

www.mig-welding.co.uk

 

[Welder1997]

I got my Lorch MMA set from WASP in Luton, though they may have a dealer nearer to you, but WASP got mine sent out next day delivery so very happy.

Hi mare Ill keep them in mind thank you and what's your opinion of Lorch as a brand? Is the mma set good and worth the price?

 

[Welder1997]

Paton make a 250A single phase machine...they sell either a combined mig or as a separate power supply that can also do MMA too and MIG with a wire feed. Mine is pretty well made....just haven't used the MIG functionality yet - the MMA is excellent though.

I think theres some reviews on the forum for the Paton (couple of people have them)...what I can say is mine is very well made!

Found this....might be of interest.

Review - paton welding machine

hya guys and girls, after a masive debate about what machine to buy last year, i was really torn between the esab reble and the fronious trans steel welding multi process welding plants each have there pros and cons. But after long convorsations with @HughF and a few others who had ran the other...

www.mig-welding.co.uk

Thanks mate Ill have a look into these just looked briefly and I can see they are a lot cheaper than the other brands and still have a decent build quality Ill see what other people opinions are of them and see what people think are better

 

[Mick Annick]

Hi mare Ill keep them in mind thank you and what's your opinion of Lorch as a brand? Is the mma set good and worth the price?

I’m semi professional, in that I take on paying work doing gates, railings etc., and find the Lorch lovely to use, a step up from my old Selco inverter. I’ve got the carrying case so taking it to site is no hassle, and it runs fine on an extension lead, longest so far being 50M. Worth the money.

 

[Popcorn]

Is the mma set good and worth the price?

MMA stands for Manual metal arc or Stick Welding as it's more commonly known. I think this is something you might consider to get you started and see how it goes. A stick welder is a lot cheaper than a Lorch MIG and there's usually loads of secondhand ones around.

 

[Mick Annick]

MMA stands for Manual metal arc or Stick Welding as it's more commonly known. I think this is something you might consider to get you started and see how it goes. A stick welder is a lot cheaper than a Lorch MIG and there's usually loads of secondhand ones around.

He’s a fabber, probably knows what MMA is

 

[Popcorn]

Good point Mick

 

[Welder1997]

MMA stands for Manual metal arc or Stick Welding as it's more commonly known. I think this is something you might consider to get you started and see how it goes. A stick welder is a lot cheaper than a Lorch MIG and there's usually loads of secondhand ones around.

I know mate I tend to just call it stick I've got a lincoln v160t pulse that I use for site work fitting as I use tig quite a lot for stainless and pipework to do the root and stick hot pass and cap that gets absolutely hammered im just looking for a mig now so I can do all my workshop work a lot more quicker and efficient and get through the jobs and a lot of the work I do in the workshop im literally in the workshop 50 percent of the time and the other half im on site at customers houses fitting what ive made or welding pipe so I want a really good one that will last just for the workshop that can run pretty much everything with ease

 

[Welder1997]

I’m semi professional, in that I take on paying work doing gates, railings etc., and find the Lorch lovely to use, a step up from my old Selco inverter. I’ve got the carrying case so taking it to site is no hassle, and it runs fine on an extension lead, longest so far being 50M. Worth the money.

Deffo thinking of the lorch mig I've got a lincoln v160t for the stick and tig and that's brilliant so I can only imagine what that bit of kits like

 

[lotus_esprit_s1]

I have had a Lorch M2060 (210A) for the past twelve years and have just added a new 3ph M250 Control Pro. I cannot fault them and the build quality is superb. The 2060 I used to use on both single phase 13amp plug and also 3ph.

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

Thanks mate Ill have a look into these just looked briefly and I can see they are a lot cheaper than the other brands and still have a decent build quality

No worries...good luck with getting the right machine .

I heard similar to you about the Kemppi 250A machine...I have the Kemppi evo200 and was looking to upgrade to their 250A machine until someone on here told me they were rubbish...dodged a bullet there I think!

Paton is built in Ukraine I think?...I got the power supply on here (does MMA/DC TIG/MIG) ....I managed to grab a cheap wire feed on eBay so my setup was a bit of a bargain as I recall....I bought the Paton for a project that never happened so not used the MIG yet but the stick was really good and it's solid built (no cheap nasty cables/cases!)

Got my Paton from @Tom Orrow L

 

[Brad93]

Lorch MPro252 a great bit of kit but it's a transformer machine so might be a bit thirsty on the electric unless you're on a cheap tariff.

I don't think any of the MIG/MAG inverters in the Lorch range are single phase unfortunately.

Fronius Transteel might be single phase.

Bohler/Selco 220 could be a good choice. Italian machine.

 

[Ged93]

Hi , well in my opinion you have to consider that at the moment you have to purchase also other equipment , so yes for a welder but you will need soon some grinders , drill press , a work table ? , and others .
So I think you should find something reliable but not so expensive .

Selcos are great machines , but damn expensive , same for Ewn and Fronius .

I can suggest Cebora , good machines , reliable , not too expensive , easy to be used .
Another good italian brand is Weco , but don't if there dealers in Uk right now .

Good luck , my dad did the same in the past : he was employed in a big mechanical shop as general director , but when he got me and my brother the money was never enough , so he started a metal welding home-garage job ( gates , rails , stairs ) . And now we do have our own shop with some great machines and new others coming soon ( it's a father and son company ) and the last piece we sent out was 7 meters long and 1500 kilos heavy ( a big machine frame )

 

[Welder1997]

I have had a Lorch M2060 (210A) for the past twelve years and have just added a new 3ph M250 Control Pro. I cannot fault them and the build quality is superb. The 2060 I used to use on both single phase 13amp plug and also 3ph.

Whats the control pro like to use mate?