Mig welding is way easier, and my preferred method, But some one should mention a lincoln tombstone welder, It's the farmers weapon of choice. I got mine for 40 bucks at auction, works excellent. Yes there is a much steeper learning curve with stick, and you would need a 220 line, but you don't need any gas bottles and welding rods or readily available at several large box stores. With all that in mind, mig is way easier and have been wanting a machine for a long time.

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2000 Ford Ranger XLT 4x4 5spd 3.0L V6 4.10s 8.8+PowerTrax NoSlip, Extended Cab,Custom Exhaust, T-bar crank, 31x10.50x15 BFG A/T KO2s, 15in Cragar V5 Wheels, RCI Front and T-Case Skid plates. Factory Fuel Tank Skid, Affordable Offroad Winch Bumper, 10K Smittybuilt Winch. BellTech Shackles. High Lift Jack Bed Mount, Manual Gauges. ScanGuageII. Custom Dual Battery,

Thats what I learned on lol. Lincoln idealarc 250

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2006 Ford Ranger FX4 Off Road
maxed out torsion keys, Add a Leaf, 3" higher then stock, LT265/75R16 BF Goodrich all terrain KO2s on 16x8 Black Rock 997 Type 8 Wheels, 15% front windows, 5% back windows. Cobra 40 Channel CB and a 3' Firestik II, 3157 Pilot LED backup light bulbs and 2 KC Dayligher 100 Watt lights

Strangely, I never have learned to use a mig very well. I've been stick welding my whole life. I tried mig a couple of times, but trying to get the spool speed set correctly was frustrating. I might try again someday. Stick is what I prefer. It seams to come naturally.

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2003 Ranger FX4 level II. 3" BL, 33x12.50 GT Radial Mud Claws, Custom front and rear bumpers with winch hookups, custom flatbed, with hi-lift, and full size spare mount, 12,000 lb winch mounted under bed, Electric fan, and of course a flowmaster.

As far as the "what can I do with a welder?", Austin (DangerRanger01NJ) and I made a multi-purpose bike rack for my camper shell using an old metal bed frame that my other buddy was throwing away. One on each side, sturdy enough for me to use as a step-up or to lift and move the cap.





This was the first welding project I've worked on. Admittedly he did most of the work but now I'm dizzy with ideas of other things to make

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Dennis Brady

Black 2001 4x2 XLT Supercab 3.0 "Shadow" - WIA

Black 2001 4x4 EDGE Supercab 4.0 ('Body donor' for Shadow lol)

Build thread:
http://www.fordrangerforum.com/proje...adow-redo.html

I have a little Craftsman 80 amp gasless mig that I bought in college for $200. 110 volt and uses flux core wire. I've owned it for well over 10 years now, and I don't know what I'd do without it now.

Mig is pretty easy, I more or less taught myself to weld, and I've used it for everything from building small brackets for stuff (exhaust hangers especially) to welding subframe connectors into my old Thunderbird. It's amazing the things you can do with a little imagination and the ability to join metal!

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2009 Ranger SCab XL- 4x4, 4.0, auto, 172K. Project "Low Buck Truck." Pre-keys, #1 bars, blocks, Ranchos, 32x11.5 Discoverer STT's on 15x8 AR Bajas, dual exhaust, AEM dryflow drop-in.

2005 Mustang GT- Tune, CAI, Longtubes, suspension, etc.

ya mig sucks once you learn how to tig weld but I don't mind running some 6010s and 7018s on a stick welder I'm actually getting ready for my 6g tig/stick certification now

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2002 Ford Ranger EDGE: 4 inch spindle lift, 2 inch add a leaf, 33x12.5xR15 BFG All Terrrain KO2, Black bullethole steel rims, camo center console mod, diamond plate toolbox, 102 inch cb whip, tinted tails/corners, throttle cable mod, headlight mod, blinker mod, air box mod, Fog light mod.

I like tig welding, you actually have to focus and get a technique down.

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2006 Ford Ranger FX4 Off Road
maxed out torsion keys, Add a Leaf, 3" higher then stock, LT265/75R16 BF Goodrich all terrain KO2s on 16x8 Black Rock 997 Type 8 Wheels, 15% front windows, 5% back windows. Cobra 40 Channel CB and a 3' Firestik II, 3157 Pilot LED backup light bulbs and 2 KC Dayligher 100 Watt lights

Haha good old 6011's for anything that I don't want to clean and prep. 7018's for when I want it to look pretty.

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2003 Ranger FX4 level II. 3" BL, 33x12.50 GT Radial Mud Claws, Custom front and rear bumpers with winch hookups, custom flatbed, with hi-lift, and full size spare mount, 12,000 lb winch mounted under bed, Electric fan, and of course a flowmaster.

Im learning welding right now, 7018 stick does make a damn good weld. However, im really enjoying MIG welding right now, using .035 wire and C25. SO MUCH AWESOME

Try using a 3/32 6010 rod lol. I always had a problem with them sticking. Went through 3 before I actually started welding haha.

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2006 Ford Ranger FX4 Off Road
maxed out torsion keys, Add a Leaf, 3" higher then stock, LT265/75R16 BF Goodrich all terrain KO2s on 16x8 Black Rock 997 Type 8 Wheels, 15% front windows, 5% back windows. Cobra 40 Channel CB and a 3' Firestik II, 3157 Pilot LED backup light bulbs and 2 KC Dayligher 100 Watt lights