Old welders

[Brown Dirt Cowboy]

I have these three. Actually 3 of the same as I have. These are pics off the net. Too cold to run out to take pics of mine! Use the Lincoln most of the time. The little Schumacher is nice on light metal with thin rods ( no wire feed at this time). I haven't used the Forney. Got it free when my old boss was getting rid of outdated and depreciated equipment. He said it worked very well.

How many of those old Lincoln tombstone welders are still out there doing the job. I've had mine since 1990 and it was used when I got it.

 

[Fixingfarmer]

Every once and awhile there was a massive horizontal Lincoln torpedo welder that would get drug out when one of the old timers wanted to weld a thumb on an excavator and show us kids how to really weld it was incredibly smooth beautiful beads. The thing was older than my father and incredibly inconvenient to move around even on the 4 wheels.

 

[UncleTom]

Those old transformer units are pretty indestructible - it'll probably outlive you. I don't necessarily agree with the poster above saying that it's only worth the scrap copper price. Most old transformer welders will plug away indefinitely and make a nice, smooth, stable arc.

I was looking for a new 250-ish amp MIG welder about 5 years ago for the home shop. I wanted something no-nonsense and basic, and had my heart set on the bare-bones, 2-knob Lincoln 250 amp transformer MIG they used to offer. But they had recently dropped it from their lineup in favour of a fancier unit with digital feed and voltage readouts, digital arc stabilization, etc.. Being old-fashioned, I didn't really want/need any of that.

The sales rep at the local welding supply told me that Lincoln owns Century, and they were still selling their old Lincoln 250 model, re-badged as the Century 255. I bought the Century unit for half the price of the fancier Lincoln unit and it's been a superb welder. Shortly after that, my friend (not to be outdone by me) bought a brand new Miller multi-process unit for his own shop (don't know the exact model, but about the same size as mine). The control board on his fried shortly after he bought it. Miller customer service was great about taking it back and repairing it under warranty, but it was during the supply chain shortages and took them a few months to get the parts, They also refused to give him a complete replacement unit - they'd only repair his original one even though it was only a few months old.

So: Nothing wrong with keeping things simple and old-fashioned. If those big old transformer machines were good enough for the folks assembling Apollo spacecraft and Vietnam war aircraft carriers, they're probably good enough for anything folks on an antique tractor forum are doing.

I just saw 2 of those old miller wire welders in the scrap yard yesterday. I just cringed when i saw that.

 

[Ultradog MN]

Every once and awhile there was a massive horizontal Lincoln torpedo welder that would get drug out when one of the old timers wanted to weld a thumb on an excavator and show us kids how to really weld it was incredibly smooth beautiful beads. The thing was older than my father and incredibly inconvenient to move around even on the 4 wheels.

Agree those Lincoln motor/generator torpedo machines were the smoothest DC machines ever built.
I got to run a few in welding classes here and there.
In the Navy the shipyards all had those.
Rectified DC from a buzz box is good but not nearly as smooth.

 

[3LFarms]

i restored this Lincoln SA200 last year for use around the farm building pipe fence and general farm repairs.
it runs great and welds better than any stick welder I’ve ever used.

 

[NDIHC]

How many of those old Lincoln tombstone welders are still out there doing the job. I've had mine since 1990 and it was used when I got it.

I think most every farm around here had one at one time or another. The one I have came from the city auction sale about 25 years ago. It was bought in the 70s when my dad worked for the city. When he retired in the 90s and the new public works guy took over, the city started getting rid of all the older equipment. They had an auction and dad bought the welder he had known since new and gave it to me. He has the same welder but about 15 years newer. He says he always thought the one I have welded better than the one he has. Says he has to set the heat a notch higher on his compared to mine.

 

[johnlobb]

Great job on the SA 200! I had one and I agree, the best stick welder I ever used. Sure wish I still had it...

 

[RedMF40]

I have 3 welding machines but none are old. Unfortunately, I don't know how to use them much but I try. The most unique one is 200amp belt-driven Zena brand mounted to my old chevy truck motor. I can drive it to where I need to weld and fire it up. Michael

Years ago on a motorcycle trip cross-country I stopped in a little farm town in Illinois. Somehow got talking to a local man who showed me his machines, whatever was parked in the sheds and a Ford tractor he’d split to put a clutch in. He had a very old Jeep, maybe a Willys and it had a PTO on the back with a welder hooked up. Looks like he’d used it to fab up a cab for the Jeep. For some reason that left an impression on me.

 

[farmersamm]

Tombstone.................

Crackerbox....................

Yes......there is a difference in the nomenclature.

 

[RedMF40]

Here’s my Linde that I picked up with a Lincoln a few years back for $75 for the pair. They wanted a quick sale and got it. I owe a word of thanks to the Linde for helping me overcome my phobia of electricity since I had to wire a new circuit from the panel to use it. Might as well thank the Benwil car lift at the same time.
“Thank you, Linde.”
“Thank you, Benwil.”
Still need to add another circuit for the Lincoln.

 

[NDIHC]

Tombstone.................
View attachment 97031

Crackerbox....................
View attachment 97032

Yes......there is a difference in the nomenclature.

Must be a regional thing. The angled top has always been called a tombstone around here. Even if you google Lincoln tombstone, the angled top is the one that comes up most often. The other was much less common around here and were usually called Idealarc or round top Lincolns .Never heard of a cracker box. Again, maybe regional.

 

[MeanGene1]

This is like the old Forney my gramps had in the shop, took care of all the limespreaders, farm trucks and tractors etc. I learned the basics on it in 1966. It also had the optional battery charger that plugged into a couple of the sockets. Love the old copper rigs, I have three gas SA200s

 

[Fritz Maurer]

Must be a regional thing

Apparently all skid-steer loaders are bobcats in Bay City Michigan. A company called Dore came to Cleveland to raze a couple schools and I was working with them. I mentioned using a skid steer for something or another and they stood there scratching their heads. "Skid steer?"

 

[NDIHC]

Apparently all skid-steer loaders are bobcats in Bay City Michigan. A company called Dore came to Cleveland to raze a couple schools and I was working with them. I mentioned using a skid steer for something or another and they stood there scratching their heads. "Skid steer?"

And as 1 person I know from Atlanta said, all sodas are called cokes there. "I want a coke". What kind? Mountain Dew. My wife grew up calling all loaders "farmhands".