Welding Tips and Tricks

Ok this week sucks for me. The governor gear on my Trailblazer flew apart the other day and now I have repair costs and down time that I cannot really afford at this point in my welding career. What engine drives do you guys run? And is there an engine drive out there more dependable than an old SA200?

Old post but I doubt there is anything produced today as dependable than an old Continental driven 200. Short of the cast iron carbs amd the occasional magneto issues they are unstopable. I have an eary 50's with untold hours of use and abuse that will fire up now in the cold and weld till I am done. She goes through a pint of oil an hour and the vacuum idle is sketchy, but with good fuel and a warm engine, it will fire up with a quarter turn of the starter and run all day summer or winter.

I have since gotten myself a 1975 sa200. Runs like a dream. Still would rather have a red face or shorty but this one is still a really good dependable welder. And the trailblazer blew both circuit boards recently during a 4 week time sensitive job. That sucked but I had the old 200 to back me up. Now I'm switching which will be the primary welder. I wonder why...