Hobart Ironman 210 or Millermatic 210?

[Darren Ellis]

Hi All,
I need some advice here, I'm looking at the Hobart Ironman 210 and the Millermatic 210. What are the major differences between these two welders and which would you choose if you had a choice. If it isn't obvious, I'm new to welding and don't know enough at this point to make a really informed decision. I appreciate any help all of you can provide!

-Darren

[Dan]

Re: Hobart Ironman 210 or Millermatic 210?

Originally posted by Darren Ellis
Hi All,
I need some advice here, I'm looking at the Hobart Ironman 210 and the Millermatic 210. What are the major differences between these two welders and which would you choose if you had a choice. If it isn't obvious, I'm new to welding and don't know enough at this point to make a really informed decision. I appreciate any help all of you can provide!

-Darren

Darren

Between these two machines the Millermatic 210 is the better machine. The Millermatic 210 has a much higher duty cycle. For example, at 210 amps the duty cycle on the MM 210 is 30% where as on the Ironman 210 it is 15%. By the way duty cycle is the amount of time in a 10 minute time frame that you can actually weld before the machine needs a break. Also, the MM 210 has a better drive roll set up. The MM 210's has 2 rolls that are meshed together by gears so that both rolls are pushing the wire thru the cable to the end of the gun. The Ironman 210 has a single drive roll and a spring loaded wheel (bearing) that presses the wire tight against the groove of the drive roll. Now there is nothing wrong with this set up on the Ironman 210. Two of my machine here at home use a similar system and I ve never had any wire feeding problems. Then, there is the difference in the guns on the machine. The MM 210 comes with a heavier duty gun that gives your 12 ft of cable length were as the Ironman 210 comes with a lighter duty gun that gives you 10 ft of cable length. Actually, this is all the information that I would need to make the decision between the 2 machines.

You asked which machine would I choose, well I chose the MM 210. The machine has a excellent arc. Very smooth and very little spatter.

Oh yeah, one more thing that I forgot to mention the price difference between the 2 machines is very small. I know right now That I could get a MM 210 for around $1090 from my local store, and the Ironman 210 sells for slightly under a $1000. In my opinion the MM 210 is well worth the extra $100.

[Darren Ellis]

Hi Dan,

Thank you! This is exactly the advice I was looking for, I really appreciate you taking the time to detail the differences for me...much appreciated. I went down and ordered the Millermatic 210 from my local dealer today and it should be in tomorrow or Friday.

I've been reading through the posts and this is certainly a great site! I'll be lurking and learning from now on and probably start asking a bunch of newbie questions as I get into welding.

Any advice for a new guy getting into welding with a MIG welder? Books, videos, things to practice with? anything?

Thanks again, and have a great week!

-Darren