Skip to main content

The Harbor Freight Low-Cost Welder Your Home DIY Garage Needs

The best welders typically cost too much for most home DIY garage needs. But what about the lower-cost models? Here’s a great review of several brands of welders running from $70 to $2,000 that shows not only what makes good budget sense for the home garage, but also shows what you need to look for in a low-cost welder…and what to expect.
It doesn't Always Take a Thousand-Dollar Welder to Do the Job

Welding Needs for the DIY Guy or Gal

While a welder is not often needed in a home garage for most car owners, there are times when one comes in very handy for small jobs such as making and installing your own trailer hitch on an older vehicle; building your own small trailer for hauling light loads, repurposing an old bicycle rack to connect to your trailer hitch, even repurposing those broken light weight wheel barrows or other yard carts you often see tossed out on the curb.

If you are into rebuilding older cars, a good welder comes in handy for fixing broken motor mounts, bumpers and a miscellany of rusted out areas for patchwork and other areas where vehicle safety is not compromised.

However, the best welders are often way too expensive for most small garage/home needs to justify the expense for the work to be done.

Related article: An Affordable Car Lift Solution for Your Home Garage

Which begs the question: Are low-cost welders that cost anywhere from $70 to $300 good enough to get the job done that can pay for themselves, or are you just wasting good money on a poorly made product that might be too difficult to use…and maybe even dangerous?

Related article: Scissor Lift Review for Small Garages

The Project Farm Review

That was the message in a recent Project Farm YouTube channel episode where the host does a show and tell demonstration of several brands of stick (and a multipurpose) welders in a side-by-side comparison showing how well they perform with each weld stress tested.

The added value of the demonstration is that it shows which ones do not offer the amperage they are advertised to provide, whether running off of a 120-volt outlet can do the job, and how each performs when welding rusty metal.

The Harbor Freight Comparison Surprise

That said, let’s find out how Harbor Freight compared in this review and why you may want to keep an eye out for Harbor Freight’s next round of tool deals to get the best price possible without going too cheap on cost and performance.

$70 vs $2,300 Welder? Let's Settle This! Weld Strength, Duty Cycle, Current Output, Build Quality

And finally…

For additional articles related to Harbor Freight tools, here are a few for your consideration:

• The Harbor Freight Gift Every Car Owner Needs

• Best Floor Jack Comparison Tests Reveal Which Harbor Freight Jack to Buy and Which to Probably Avoid

• Best Gloves for Automotive Work Reveals How Harbor Freight Gloves Compare

Timothy Boyer is a Torque News automotive reporter based in Cincinnati. Experienced with early car restorations, he regularly restores older vehicles with engine modifications for improved performance. Follow Tim on Twitter at @TimBoyerWrites for daily new and used vehicle news.

COMING UP NEXT: Ford EcoBoost Engine Oil Breakdown Problem

Image Source: Pexels

Automotive News
Car Questions