Hey there guys, I'm new to the forum and what most would call new to the welding industry. Been in it since I graduated high school and never been to a "welding school" if that's what you can call them anymore, I personally don't believe they are anything but a very good advertisement! I have my 6G Tig, Vert and Horizontal Pulse SS, and Vert and Horizontal Flux Core X-ray Certs. I just recently became a Boilermaker working in Georgia. I'm a Tankie and have been for 3 years now and truthfully not enjoying working for someone anymore. Looking to expand my capabilities and become my own boss, piss on these CO's!
So here's my question. I need a welder/generator that can stick/tig! And truthfully I cant spend a lot right now, Just got a ball and chain and a home and my bank acct loves to fluctuate! If you experienced fellas out there can point me in the right direction here you would make my day.
You're going to need a whole lot more than a generator machine to break out on your own. Figure another $10K for being tooled up enough to get respect (not counting the truck and utility bed. Also price a $5M liability policy (standard requirement as a contract rig-welder). Figure a cash reserve to repair/replace equipment, including the truck and the welder. Figure a cash reserve to feed your family during periods of little/no work and/or equipment failures.
I admire your desire to be responsible only to yourself. Three years on tank farms does not qualify you for the jobs that will pay for your dream, nor has it earned you nearly enough money yet to actually attempt it.
Consider working as a "single-hand" first... Its the same work, but someone else owns all the equipment,truck,insurance, etc. You'll learn what you need to know to do it yourself, and find out at the same time if it's really for you. Oh, and you'll make a ton of money, if you're not the type to party it away.
I'm not looking to pick up a welder and jump out on my own and be a millionaire tomorrow, and I'm not honestly looking to bust myself to do it either, what I'm looking to do is get a rig. A man can build the house without his nails, I do have a truck for this also atm, not too worried about that. Just looking as to what I should buy, I know that I need to have my info before I plan on' anything. Thank you for your input Steve, I've seen you on here a lot and you seem to know your stuff!
I'm reserving my comments on a generator machine. I've worked with several, but never owned one, so I can't speak beyond my impressions of how they weld, and all were good to very good.
You'll be interested in more factors, though, like initial cost (new and used), reliability, fuel consumption, and maintenance costs/hassles.
Lansdown13
I have had good luck with Miller welder generators. I have ran several units from a old 200 amp gas to a Big Blue 300 diesel. I have a friend that has a portable rig with a Bobcat 250 and his argument is how often do you need more amps than this machine can put out? It will do your TIG and even capable of AC TIG. For the money this seems to be a great deal for some one who is not running it very hard everyday. I have also ran the Trailblazer 325 and will say this is a great machine as well. It started good in the cold and never had a problem stick welding with it.
A friend of mine, pieced together a welding machine on the cheap. His first stroke of luck was finding the generator without the engine in a local scrap yard. Then, he went shopping for an engine and bought a little reefer diesel from a refrigeration truck. I thought that he was nuts but he really knew what he was doing. Those reefer diesels are designed to run and run and run. His total cost for this project was easily under $500 in scrap metal parts.
I'm working on a similar project but my generator will be wind powered. I plan to use it mostly for developing my remote acreage. The generator that I found for $100 was actually a newly rebuilt elevator motor from an industrial building. It was rated to run at 340 volts DC and weighs 525lbs. We brought it home in the trunk of an old Cadillac with air ride to keep the bumper from dragging on the ground. I hooked a 12volt car battery to it, when it was in the yard and it motors on 12volts. With a 48volt UPS battery, it will remove your shoes for you, when you try to stop the armature with your foot. If you spin the armature with your hands, it can generate some pretty serious sparks, so I don't imagine that it would have to turn too fast to get some decent current out of it. I still have to wire in the control electronics in order to tame the beast into usable power. I have a 5 gallon buck of IGBTs from the yard that only cost $5 in total. Recycling is a sort of sport for my group of friends, as we can all afford to go out and buy the good stuff, but somehow we see ourselves as adventurers that are out to save the planet, one project at a time.
Buy an Esab Caddy 200, a 4 inch grinder and a Yamaha 250. You'll actually make a ton of money.45/hr. Cash. One Hr min. Travel time charged (one way). Tell every mechanic and GC in town.
I am a one man welding outfit a small shop and my service truck and I can tell you that you need to find a engine driven welder that has ...... A/C D/C CC and CV that way you can do every phase of welding ... you will need a cupule of other things to go with the welder to do mig and ac tig like a high frequency box and a spool gun or a suitcase wire feeder.
I have a miller trailblazer 302 with a 251 high frequency box and a miller 30a spool gun. It will do lift arc tig so with steel or stainless you don't even need to hookup the high frek box ... but I do anyway I just like the starts better.
So with that kind of welder you can stick mig tig dc tig ac and arc gouge
and a home 
and my bank acct loves to fluctuate! If you experienced fellas out there can point me in the right direction here you would make my day.
