Hobart Mig Welding Machine – Ironman 230

Are Hobart Mig Welders as good as Miller?

The Hobart IronMan 230 mig welder is a 250 amp machine that is priced right.

in fact, while I am writing this, NorthernTool.com has the machine advertised for $1699 with spool gun included and with free shipping to the lower 48 USA states.

I have a thick aluminum job to build in a week or so with quite a bit of welding required and tig will just be too slow. It should be a pretty cool job because it has 2 round rings with tapered spokes and I will be using the Stronhand buildpro table to fit it up and hold it in place for welding.

I hardly ever get thick aluminum jobs like this so a high priced aluminum spool gun or a push pull system like a Cobramatic would be nice, it just doesn’t make sense for me right now.

First, I unboxed the IronMan 230 and set it up for steel with .035 (0.9mm) er70s6 wire and 75/25 ar/co2.

I welded a root pass in a 2g open butt 3/8″ ( 9mm) plate… an outside corner joint on 16ga hot rolled steel, and a couple of lap joints on 11 ga cold rolled.

The chart on the inside of the machine got me a good starting point for voltage but the wire speed recommendation was high for me. Once I trimmed that back, the arc was sweet like honey… This machine has a smooth arc on steel.

Aluminum is next so stay tuned for a few vids on mig welding aluminum with a spool gun and Hobart Mig Welder. So far, I have only welded a couple of beads on aluminum and was getting some sooty welds. But I will fix the problem and then let you know what it was. Say… that’s how we learn, isn’t it?

( And as always, feel free to visit us at our sister site, WeldingTipsAndTricks.com. )