Welding Tips and Tricks

I am looking for some welder recommendations.

Main reason for the request is that I am trying to decide if a Chinese welder or a US made (red or blue) is worth the cost difference.

My usage would normally be 1 or 2 times a month ( could be spans of usage every weekend) and rarely will I be welding on anything 1/4" or thicker. I would like the option of a spoolgun so I could try some aluminum as well.

The welders I have been looking at in order of lowest price are

• Everlast Power Mig 140I
  Hobart Handler 140
  Miller 141

Don't know much about he everlast nut he miller 141 and Hobart 140 are pretty much he same thing except the Hobart is cheaper. For your use I'd go with the Hobart and grab a spool mate 100.

i have a lincoln 140 it does great work on 3/16 metal but if you wanna do any kind of aluminum welding forget it.i bought the spool gun kit for it. the 140 just don't carry enough heat for welding aluminum it struggles to weld 1/8th aluminum. now what it is good for is very thin stuff like radiators i have welded a few radiators and also a/c coils with it. i bought the machine new at lowes and got the spool gun at airgas about 7 years ago total price for both was around 700.00.i use it for thin stuff i do alot of custom parts for kubota artv owners like cv boot guards and bed rails . i have made just over 35k dollars with this machine . i recomend buying a 140 if you know it's limitations ahead of time . you say your gonna weld 3/16 plate with it and thats fine but do not weld anything that is gonna be under alot of stress because the 140's are just about at thier max when welding 3/16 . i have welded up to 1/4" plate with it but did have some failures with it at that thickness and had to pre heat it to get the penetration it needed to hold .