Which mig?

[Badbusboy]

Hi,
my dad is after a small(ish) mig (<250 amp) that he won't have to replace any time soon. I have a portamig 235 and love it. But he's been looking at slightly smaller - but if it's the same price?!!!! H ewas thinking about:

Kemppi kempomat 1701 (£800+)
Licoln compact 185 (£715)
Esab origo 170 ( £550)

Others? Realiability and ease of service/repair are up there in the priority stakes aswell as weld quality etc.

Any advice for him would be great - thanks

 

[weldequip]

All of the above are decent sets. The Lorch 2060 (25-210 Amps) comes in at around those prices, or the 2040 model (25-170 Amps) for a bit less (least they do in my current price list...they might be going up cause of the Pound/Euro exchange rate ).
weldequip

 

[Jake SS]

Any one of those 3 machines are quality made, backup and service should not be a problem
Cheers

 

[Badbusboy]

which mig

thanks both,

I've also seen an Esab 150 for £400 inc. what would that be like? Also, Lorch - I don't know anything about tham what are they like? How good are they? Should I discount a smaller Portamig for him185 /215? Price of all of them from Weldy or DIY? It's like the more you get into the search the more confused you get. Is Miller any good? I mean do the european ones differ in quality to the US ones? Is it possible to rank them on any meaningful way?

cheers all

 

[irondarren]

Lorch are German made machines, which a good reputation for build quality. Just not as well marketed here in the UK as some of the bigger and well known brands (no disrespect matt). Possibly in part to the big boys having a larger marketing budget and i believe Lorch units havent been sold that long in the UK, despite them being available in Germany for years. Give Lorch a couple of years and they will be easily as well known as all the other major welding manufacturers.

 

[matt1978]

Lorch are German made machines, which a good reputation for build quality. Just not as well marketed here in the UK as some of the bigger and well known brands (no disrespect matt). Possibly in part to the big boys having a larger marketing budget and i believe Lorch units havent been sold that long in the UK, despite them being available in Germany for years. Give Lorch a couple of years and they will be easily as well known as all the other major welding manufacturers.

Certainly no offense taken mate

You are right in some aspects, obviously we don't have the same marketing budget of someone like ESAB etc.

However we are fairly well known in mainland europe and a household brand in Germany, Swiss and Austria. We are not as well known in the UK but only because the Lorch brand has only been available in the UK for 4 yrs, this month.

When I used to work for Fronius, I wish I had a £1 for everytime I was asked who Fronius are, I have never heard of them etc etc, even though they are one of the world leaders.......people's perception, was that because they had heard of Murex and not of Fronius then they must be better, but I am sure people can draw there own conclusions about this.

 

[irondarren]

It does take a long while for brands to be reckonised. I have always been a fan of metabo grinders (thats goes back over 10yrs), still not really a household brand name within the UK. despite the length of time they have been available in the UK.
I do believe places like this work wonders for brand reconistion, quality speaks for its self, certainly in places like this forum.
I also think sometimes big brand names become lazy and over confident, sometimes getting there products made in the far east and thinking now one will notice a drop in quality.

 

[matt1978]

I also think sometimes big brand names become lazy and over confident, sometimes getting there products made in the far east and thinking now one will notice a drop in quality.

You would be surprised of the amount of 'Big' brands who are relying on a reputation of quality which was based on products/machines which were made decades ago.........if they had to start out today as an un-known name, with the quality of kit they are selling now, it would be a totally different storey

 

[irondarren]

I guess now its down to profit, bigger outfits carry far to much in the way of overheads, thus need larger profits to survive

 

[matt1978]

I guess now its down to profit, bigger outfits carry far to much in the way of overheads, thus need larger profits to survive

True.....but Joe Public isn't told that when he buys the stuff.........its ok charging a premium price as long as your supplying a premium product......not a 2nd rate product with your name slapped on the side.

 

[TechnicAl]

I guess now its down to profit, bigger outfits carry far to much in the way of overheads, thus need larger profits to survive

On the other hand they have the "economy of scale" to reduce labour costs / raw material costs etc. These days you can often make 10 x more product with the same number of people simply by investing more in equipment. The costs then fall dramatically.

I think you will find it depends more on the company than the size of the company. Any company, no matter what size, will soon be in trouble if they supply shoddy goods, whatever the price.

Some of the Chinese outfits send stuff over here are absolutely massive. There is one plant making MIG wire that could comfortably supply the whole of Europe on their own.

 

[HasBean]

Off at a tangent again (appologies) but is this the same Lorch that used to (maybe still does?) make the toolroom lathes many moons ago?

Paul

 

[matt1978]

Off at a tangent again (appologies) but is this the same Lorch that used to (maybe still does?) make the toolroom lathes many moons ago?

Paul

Hi Paul,

No, not the same mate,

The company was started 52 yrs ago, by a German guy called Bruno Lorch, then about 25 yrs ago he was ready to retire, but had no one to pass the company on too, so there was a buy out by the then Sales Director, Helmut Grueb and it has remained in his family ever since, with his eldest son now the MD.

There is also a un-related company called Lorch who make burning equipment and another who are something to do with microwaves