Buying a new mig

[orkman]

Hello,

I currently have a Butters AMT 201C which is around 12 years old, (Which has been a great machine) and I am needing to upgrade to bigger. I do a lot of agricultural work -- gates, fences, trailer platforms etc so needing something to weld 12mm comfortably. Not bought a mig for years and not really paid a lot of attention to whats on market to be honest so whats out there and what do people recommend? Needs to be single phase, whats advantages of separate wire feed etc? Dont intend to pay silly money for for some great big industrial machine but quite prepared to pay decent money for a good quality welder. Any feedback much appreciated.

 

[Engineer1964]

Welcome to the forum, you can get a rough idea from here http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/buying.htm, generally i just check out ebay if i ever want to see whats available, but i think your going to have some issues with the single phase as most of the migs with a seperate wire feeder are 3 phase.

The largest single phase welder i've seen is about 185 amp, but there may be others??

 

[orkman]

Thanks for that gerry, I see weldequip do portamigs up to 415amp single phase but dont know what like they are. Everything I read about portamig on here seems positive though. I have also been told oxford do machines up to same size with separate wire feed.
regards Robbie

 

[cumbriasteve]

Portamigs are very well liked machines, Steve at Weldequip is spot on to have a chat with over the phone, honest advice without typical salesman pressure.

 

[Luke]

Portamig and Oxford both do welders that go up to the sort of current you require and are single phase. Both brands are made by Technical Arc Services in York.