8 Best Stick Welders (Arc Welders) – 2023 Reviews

Hobart is one of the oldest American welding brands, venerated for rugged construction and excellent performance. The Hobart Stickmate 160i delivers good performance, but it should be pointed out that this one is built in China. Hobart assures customers that the machine meets Hobart’s exacting standards. Some buyers point out that you can buy a Chinese stick welder for half the price of the Hobart. What a Chinese brand can’t offer is a nationwide network of dealerships and service centers.

Users praise the Hobart Stickmate 160i for smooth performance. The extended warranty shows Hobart’s confidence in its quality. Inverter power keeps the Stickmate 160i under twenty pounds, light enough to move around the worksite with its included adjustable shoulder strap (full review here).

The Hobart Stickmate 160i has an infinitely adjustable current dial, which can adjust the output in increments as small as 1 amp. Able to run either 120 or 240 volts, the Hobart Stickmate 160i is convenient and powerful. It’s capable of welding up to 3/8-inch thick steel, and the wide range of current options gets down to 20 amps.

The YesWelder TIG-205DS is a dual-voltage welder with 120 or 240 volts input. It has 120 stick power to 140 amps, 145 amps on TIG. On 240 the stick has a 180-amp top end, the TIG 205 amps. The lower limit with TIG or stick is 15 amps. This welder has an LCD digital display (that some owners report reads too high) and automatic compensation for power fluctuations.

The stick feature can weld up to 3/8-inch steel and sheet metal down to 22 gauge. One peculiar choice with the YesWelder TIG-205DS is the power adapter to change input voltage. Most dual-voltage machines run on 240 volts by default, with an adapter to plug into 120 volts. This welder runs on 120 volts, with an adapter to let you plug into 240.

The YesWelder TIG-205DS has a dust cover over the controls, which is nice. On the TIG side of the machine, there are high tech niceties like high-frequency arc starting, soft switch technology for arc stability and overload protection. This machine ships with a 13-foot TIG torch, 10-foot stinger clamp and a 120 to 240 adapter.

You can 10% off this YesWelder by using the coupon code: WELDGURU10

The Forney Easy Weld 180 ST is a lightweight, inverter powered DC stick welder that also offers DC TIG welding capability. It’s designed with generator power in mind, tolerant of “dirty power” fluctuations that are common in generator power sources This is a dual input voltage machine that can be plugged into either a 120 volt or 240 volt power source.

Forney designed the Easy Weld 180 ST arc welder with a high frequency lift-type TIG torch start to minimize contamination of the tungsten element and reduce consumable consumption. Unfortunately, you need to buy the TIG torch and gas regulator separately if you want to do TIG welding. This machine isn’t compatible with a foot control pedal.

This arc welder/TIG offers a very wide 10 to 180 amp current output. The Forney Easy Weld 180 ST is capable of welding up to 1/2-inch thick steel even though it weighs only 14 pounds. The fine 10 amp minimum limit is great for welding as thin as 18-gauge sheet metal for auto body work. The Forney Easy Weld 180 ST is backed by a 5-year warranty.

The Lincoln AC-225 AC Arc Welder is Lincoln Electric’s best seller over the company’s history. There are examples on the job that have literally been running for decades. It’s well-known as a durable, solidly-made welder that brings home the bacon. Lincoln Smooth Arc technology makes for easier starts than most AC welders and maintains optimum arc characteristics.

Although this machine doesn’t have any high-tech bells and whistles like modern machines, its simple design means it can take the wear and tear of a workshop environment. The Lincoln AC-225 AC Arc Welder is made with a transformer power source instead of more modern inverter power, which leaves almost nothing to go wrong. It does make this model heavy, though at 99 pounds.

The Lincoln AC-225 AC Arc Welder is considered by many professional welders to be the best welder ever made. This welder has huge numbers of enthusiastic owners and an impeccable reputation in the industry. It’s able to weld from 1/16-inch sheet up to 1/4-inch thick steel plate. The controls are easy, it’s American-made, and it’s ISO 9001 certified. If you don’t mind the weight, this is a can’t-miss deal.

The Primeweld TIG225X TIG welder is a well-regarded AC/DC TIG welder with advanced features, including the ability to run as a DC stick welder. This is a dual-voltage welder that runs on either 120 or 240 volts. It has a 12.5-foot electrode clamp for the stick welder, also called manual metal arc or MMA welding. The ground lead is 12.5 foot also.

When used on the stick setting, the PrimeWeld TIG225X produces 120 amps on 12 volts. When it’s running on 240 volts you’ve got 180 amps on tap. That kind of juice will weld up to 3/8-inch plate at 180 amps, 1/4-inch at 140 amps. The lower limit of 10 amps on either source will let you weld 24-gauge sheet metal with a thin stick and the right settings.

Of course, with sheet metal, TIG is king and the PrimeWeld TIG225X is really in its element for that task. This welder has advanced AC TIG features such as pulse width modulation, CK17 torch and an AC balance feature to adjust the time spent in each side of the AC cycle, cleaning impurities from the weld puddle.

The LOTOS LTPDC2000D is more than a 200 amp stick arc welder. It also has the ability to do 15-200 amp TIG work and includes a 50 amp plasma cutter that can go through 1/2 inch of steel. It’s got dual input voltage, which lets you plug in at home or in a commercial setting with either 120 volt or 240 volt input power.

This multi-process triple threat is designed with high frequency arc starting that lets you get the arc going easily. The stick welder portion includes “soft arc” technology for easy starting. The high frequency arc starting also delivers a pilot arc feature on the TIG welder and plasma cutter.

That means no touch arc starts, saving on consumables because the TIG torch never touches the surface, eliminating the main cause of tungsten electrode contamination. One drawback is that this welder doesn’t come with a TIG heat control pedal.

Both the stick and TIG modes can push 200 amps, which is enough power to weld 1/2 inch of steel. The Lotos LTPDC2000D is backed by a 1-year warranty.

The Everlast PowerARC 160STH is a powerful and lightweight DC stick welder offering both arc welding and DC TIG features.

This machine has dual voltage input that lets you plug in either on home shop 120 volt power or use heavier duty 240 volt outlets. This machine comes with a shoulder strap to make it easier to move around at the work site, leaving your hands free to handle cables and accessories.

The Everlast PowerARC 160 STH comes with an 8-foot electrode clamp as well as a 12-foot TIG Torch and argon regulator. However, one disadvantage of this machine from a TIG standpoint is that it’s not compatible with a TIG heat control foot pedal. Instead, Everlast’s proprietary SV17 TIG torch comes with an adjustable hand operated variable heat control.

With a very wide 10-160 amp output range, the Everlast PowerARC 160STH is quite versatile, able to weld thin sheet metal from 18 gauge all the way up to 1/2-inch thick steel plate. There’s a carrying case included for the TIG torch and accessories. Everlast provides a 5-year warranty on the PowerARC 160 STH.

The Titanium Stick 225 Arc Welder is compact, powerful and lightweight. The leads are 10 feet long for good reach. Some owners thought they could be higher quality, reporting improved performance after replacing them. This might be related to reports of leads unplugging sometimes when tugged. If you’re not welding in volume, it’s not likely a problem, but we feel that many modern arc welders benefit from a change of leads.

This machine offers a wide output, with a 15-amp bottom end, a nice low number for such a powerful machine. The Titanium Stick 225 Arc Welder tops out at 70 amps on 120 volts, enough power for 1/8-inch steel. When running on 240 volt power, this machine will weld 1/4-inch steel.

The Titanium Stick 225 Arc Welder surprised a lot of owners with its ease of use and smooth performance. This machine runs both 6010 and 6011 rods with ease, all the way to 1/8-inch sized rods. It’s capable of 100 percent duty cycle at 100 amps on 240 volts, giving you the ability for continuous welding on 3/8-inch steel.