MIG Welders

This Hobart (140 Handler) is on sale for $419 at Tractor supply.

 

If mine is in fact the same machine you've got then it's more than enough to do cages. I built a few racecars with mine. Mine gets hot enough to blow through the cage tubing

 

A Hobart 135 is enough to burn into axle tubes. It'll handle a cage with no problems. Most cage tubing is only 1/8" thick.

 

BTW the Hobart and Miller are made by the same company, and the 135s are almost identical (slightly different guns). There's a table on the web somewhere that describes the difference.

 

Glad you mentioned that there are a couple of others like that out there also. But have found there can be a difference in the price between the two depending where you buy them.

 

Here's the comparison table. http://www.millerwelds.com/products/mig/comparisons/millermatic_135.html

It's advertising for Miller, so I'd expect some bias in which features are compared.

 

If you don't mind, I'll put a little opinion in.
I have a Miller Bobcat 225D, with the Miller suitcase for MIG. Now, this outfit is way out of range price wise, but since my company bought it, I didn't mind. A large portion of the welding I do is done outside, in various weather conditions, so I primarily use the stick.( on reversed polarity for penetration.
I also use a Miller 135 from time to time, and it has proved a very useful machine. The key with welding the heavier stuff is to get enough heat, with the right wire speed for decent penetration. Sometimes pre-heating with a torch will help. Generally I use it for light applications, sheet metal on truck bodies and such. Personally, I like the gas and the flux cored wire, as this offers up a pretty clean job. There are a variety of things such as anti spatter spray that is pretty good too. I like to try different things out to see what will give the best results. I managed to get certified, but I am no expert by any stretch of the imagination.
I'd recommend trying a few different things on some scrap. What Jeep owner doesn't have a few "doorstops" and "paperweights" laying around.

 

I bought a Miller 185 in January of 1998 and I'm very pleased with it.I bought it to do fabrication and truck repair and originally was running straight CO2 but just changed to a mix of 75% Argon 25% CO2.It's a 220 machine but we were already wired for it.I have used my buddies 110 volt Lincoln and it works super and the gun is small and not so bulky to fit into tight areas.