I guess we all know who has the welders!! LOL! We started out with a Hobart 200 amp dc/rev.switch welder. It was 220/440 v 3ph ( which nobodyhas) and had a 15hp ac motor wound inside it to run it, and was runnin on 440 when I bought it. It also had a broken end stickin out of one end to hook to engine drive. (somebody forgot to unhook the drive, hit the go button, and ya took the shaft off in a flash! --- anyway I managed to write to Hobart and x'plain what I needed and they sent me a phone # to call and see if they had what I needed. ( this was in 1962 BEFORE internet!!! ) anyway I called the parts dept and they had a new stub shaft in stock, $25.00 mailed to my door back then! Dad an I put the shaft in and tried to flat belt drive it of the wc allis tractor and that got interesting cause the old wc had more than it could chew! BUT it did work. keeping the belt on was always a problem but we knew the welder would weld without being plugged in to line power.
Dad had a 1939 chevy 1.5 ton truck at the time that he didnt use anymore so decided to cut the cab off,-- cut the frame a ways behind the transmission, ad a hitch to the front and mount the welder behind the transmission and direct drive it.
Lacking lifting power back then and since I was in ag and industrial arts class in high school, I talked the teacher into using the shop to put the welder in the truck frame and it right then became a demo to the shop class as a project. Course dad and the teacher became friends right off the go and my classmated took to dad too, anyway we rigged a chain hoist hung from the building trusses, ( building was made from 18" I beams so no chance of breaking one),
We lifted the welder off dads 48 gmc grain truck and pushed the frame under it and lined it all up then made the drop frame for the welder to sit in. The teacher welded the frame up and while he was doing that the rest of us were mounting a governor off an oliver 70 tractor to the chevy motor.
After we got it all together and tested it, dad wanted all the guys to do some test beads with it to see what the had been missing out on by using the ac 225 welders the school had.
All of them were shocked at the ease and smooth job the old Hobart did! One of the guys was really struggling with the school welders but he took right off runnin perfect welds with the dc!
I got an A+ for the year in the class, dad got a welder running and all was well!
We used the Hobart for many years on many jobs. Dad did a lot of outside welding with it too. The local grain elevator always had something broke so he was up there a lot.

Later I ran into a new Lincoln 225 ac jobber at tsc on sale. --- $84. tax included out the door so I had just enough money to cover it. Took it home and later as I earned the money got cords to hook it up in our shed at the home place. It was/is a great little welder and yes I still have/use it here! ( the fan squeels like a caught hog but still welds)

Along the way I came across a Century wire welder 200 amp 220 1 phase and it had a feed wheel and a couple tip parts gone. local welding dealer said "obsolete" and dropped it. I got looking on the internet and ran into Summit Racing site and found all kinds of stuff for it so thats how I got it running. It had solid wire in it but not having the gas stuff, I use flux core in it. Kinda nasty looking welds but strong so I been getting used to it lately.

At one of the auctiond last summer I ran into another Lincoln 225 ac with helmet and homemade handle and wheels on it. Got it for $40. and it looks new! It is a much newer one than my old one and welds smoother almost like dc! I wonder if in later production they added more stuff to make it more like dc?
Anyway thats my welder history and I'm stickin to it!!! LOL
HAPPY NEW YEAR GUYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"A machine you build yourself is a vote for a different way of life. There are things you have to earn with your hands."