I'm trying to decide between two stick welders, either a 110 volt that says it goes up to 100 amps or a 220 volt that says it goes up to 180 amps. Same manufacturer for both,

Doubt I would ever try to weld anything over 1/4", mostly angle iron for pig traps and some odds and ends. given that would I ever notice any practical difference between the two for what I plan on using them for?

Get the 220V machine.

The only advantage of a 110 welder is the ability to use it somewhere else where's there no 220.

The disadvantages with the 110 are a much reduced duty cycle and likely AC only.

I have a 110 at home and a 220 at work. The 110 has really surprised me with its capabilities, and I really prefer it for light metal. It's a Lincoln, and I use the gas for thin stuff and flux core for thicker dirtier stuff. I don't know what the duty cycle is supposed to be, but I've never had it quit on me, despite pushing it pretty hard sometimes. If I could have only 1, it would be a 220 though.

The 220v will have enough power to do a great job on 1/4”.
The 110v would struggle.

Colodog hit the biggest reason, above, on the reduced duty cycle with 110v.

Get the 220.

The op is talking about a stick machine, not a wire feeder.. I'd get the 220v stick machine, if it were me.. The 110's are very lacking in duty cycle, amperage and capability...

You'll have a hard time burning a rod bigger than 3/32" with a 110 volt machine, or welding anything thicker than 1/4". If it's an AC machine forget about running 7018 rod of any diameter- - - -it needs reverse polarity DC to burn properly. I'd recommend a 225 amp or higher capacity AC/DC machine for anything approaching heavy duty work. For heavy duty work I've got a 300 amp AC/DC/TIG Miller welder on a 50 amp 220 volt circuit. My Hobart 110/220 volt gas shielded MIG is great for light work, and by just interchanging the power plug I can run it on either voltage.
Jerry

I should defer to the welders that know. My 2 cents, buy a good 220. There might be a way to Jerry rig 220 from the entrance box, clips with insulation.

Without a doubt, 220.

Our school shop had a Lincoln with copper coils, no fan, crank dial, only AC.

Get the 220 and don't look back.

A 110V stick welder doesn’t even have enough copper in it to make a good boat anchor, and that’s the only possible good use for one.

Two ways to go about it.

A: Buy a 110V machine and find out it’s worthless. Try to sell it for 3 months on Craigslist with no takers. And then go buy a 220V machine and live happily ever after.

Or option B: Buy a 220V machine and live happily ever after.

If you can swing the extra cash upgrade to an A/C-D/C machine instead of the entry level rigs that are mostly likely AC only. Much more versatile for rod selection and different tasks.

For building angle iron pig traps get yourself a 10lb box of 1/8” 7014s. They run like a Jet rod but all positions, no fancy whip or weave needed. Strike them up and drag across the joint, if everything is set right it’ll look like it was MIG welded when the slag pops off.

I realize you are asking about stick, but the Harbor Freight Titanium 110/220v (switchable) multi-process (wire MIG/TIG and stick) has been excellent for me. It comes with a stinger for stick welding too. Around $600 I think for the package.

Son Jake has an AC DC Hobart welder that is just fine.

I've been very pleased with one I bought from Northern Tool. I cought it on sale for less than $200.

It is both 110 and 220 (I've never used mine on 110 though).

https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200680690_200680690

I have a Miller 250. It’s 100% duty cycle with a 1/8 rod. I’ve had it since 1988, never missed a lick. We have the same machine at work. It’s over 30 years old also. The Miller 250’s are on EBay. If you could find one close to you, I would highly recommend them.

I have an ESAB 161 machine that runs on either 120 or 240, and it works WAY BETTER on 240. On 120 it is very difficult to get a arc started without sticking.

I plug it into a dryer outlet and weld in the garage, with good results. A 30A 240V outlet is plenty of juice for it.

OP is talking stick...

220V. The quality 110V machines weld ok with a 3/32 and that's probably all you need but the problem can be the circuit. NOTHING else can be on that circuit and it better be wired properly with good connections.
I will say that I just picked up a new little Lincoln 200 Square Wave and I was impressed with the output and abilities when plugged into 110. It will be used at 220 all the time but it is nice to have the option.
Inverter technology has come a long ways in the past years.

Edit to add: Get something with DC capabilities. Life is too short to not weld with DC unless it's loominum.

I have a little inverter 110 machine that's a handy little bugger but sure wouldn't want it to be the only one. Deferred to these guys and added a 240v ac/DC stick machine to the wishlist.

110 welders are for very light duty or for folks that don't have a choice.

If possible without too much crazy effort, 220/240V is by far the way to go.

To get 220 volt my son plugs into his wife's dryer plug. and runs the extension out the window. He has a powerful Hobart power pack and hasn't had any problems with the 30amp.. When I wanted to do some stainless, it would have involved buying another bottle for tri-mix. to do stainless with my MIG. So I looked for a stick machine, even AC Lincoln tombstone would have worked . Instead I picked up a AC/DC TIG and stick.

I run my Miller Dialarc on a 30A 240V circuit. I TIG Chromoly and SS parts for my buddies’ race cars pretty regular and burn up a pretty fair amount of 1/8” 5P and 3/32” and 1/8 7018s doing fab and repair on farm stuff. Never popped a breaker or had a problem.

My experience with the 110 volt machines is limited to a couple of models and I can't even tell you exactly what they are. Regardless, some of them are pretty good for their size and weight. I would not buy any welder from a big box or farm store.

In the nukes I've used a small miller that would run on 110/220, and where I was working 110 was the easiest in a couple of instances. No issue running 3/32 7018 in any position.

Maybe 12-15 years back a local welding supply had some Thermal Arc 110v/20a inverter machines (edit; I think it was the "Dragster" model) that had been intended for demonstration use. They came with stick leads, a tig torch, and a regulator for argon. And most of them hadn't had the boxes opened.
For $175 IIRC they seemed like they'd be ok for occasional use. Used mine a little bit for a couple of years, then switched my main employment and my welding at home dropped away to nothing.
What I remember of the machine was that it ran 3/32 7018 fairly well, 1/8 5p well enough to root a full pen, and would tig adequately for a full pen root as well. It ran well enough that when I sold the rest of my machines I thought it might as well stay for what it was worth. And it's still here somewhere, but I couldn't begin to say where...

If I knew where it was, and someone wanted it, they could have it.

Get one that will run on both.

Yeah, you might want to consider one of the inverter
stick units that run on 110 . I got to use one of the little
yellow Northern inverter stick units that a man was
using on his job, and it did as good as a Lincoln 220
stick welder I've used.
I don't have 220 here, or I'd have a bigger 220 unit
instead of the 110 flux welder I was using this evening
It works fine for the small stuff I do here.

220 - AC/DC and stay away from those Harbor Freight and the likes, and pay close attention to duty cycle or all you'll have is a heavy piece of scrap sitting in the corner.


Phil

I know you are looking for a stick machine but I have a near new Millermatic 211 Autoset MIG and kit that I no longer need. I am outside Boerne.

"With a welder and metal lathe you can make anything." That's not far from the truth.

But rather than ask a bunch of hunters which welder, ask weldors https://weldingweb.com/vbb/

"I don't have 220 here, or I'd have a bigger 220 unit"

You don't have 220 at your house are you don't have a 220 receptacle? A receptacle is easy to install.

Sounds like Lincoln dogbox. Good old machine. I added an add on high frequency box to mine for TIG capability.

Would this be handy to compliment a MIG?


https://www.lincolnelectric.com/en-us/Equipment/Pages/product.aspx?product=K1297(LincolnElectric)


LINK

75 year old house. No 220. Not worth the expense to have
it wired properly to avoid a fire. I already checked into it
some years back when I bought a small 220 unit and
found out I didn't have a way to plug it in and use it after
the fact.

Not sure what you mean by compliment a MIG but that unit has repaired an awful lot of iron into serviceable condition.

Buy a few tubes or a can of 6010 don't look back

Yes this ^. I did lots of repair welding on an 80 million dollar project with one of those. Most of it was dual shield flux cored but problem areas or stuff that was rejected for not being up to code and got kicked back I tackled with the little AC/DC cracker box. I burned no less than 200lbs of 3/32” 7018s and 100lbs of 1/8” 7010s on that project using that little machine.

I built a dual chamber 200 gallon gasoline and 500 gallon diesel fuel tank out of a length of 36” pipe with it too. Heavy wall with full pen welds on the baffle and caps and taps. 7010 roots 7018 fill and caps.

It didn’t weld as smooth as my Dialarc or the Lincoln 300/300 I had at my next job but it was portable and did a fine job.

Go fishin',.....

I caught a bucket of saugeye and crappie this morning before I got blown off the lake. Headed out to catch bait and look for a big blue here directly.

Dc Tombstone is a great welder.

I have one of course.


The 300/300 is at dads shop.

Didnt know about add on high freq stuff.

High frequency is needed for TIG welding aluminum and other non-ferrous metals to break through the oxide coating that forms and has a higher melting point than the metal underneath it. The welding instructor at the high school where I used to teach auto mechanics used to show his students how to weld two Coke cans together- - - -he was that good with the foot pedal current control on the TIG machine and a 1/16" diameter aluminum fill rod!
Jerry

Aircraft mech. I know butt welds razor blades with his machine. Precise.

Compliment. I have a mig, a Hobart Handler 140, 115V.... Looking to add more capabilities for a resonable cost.

Tombstone!

Lucky if ya find one

thank for the input everyone, was being lazy as I don't have a 220 outlet in the garage but think i'm going to go with one of the little inverter dual voltage ones. Will probably be carrying it back and forth to the farm and don't want to deal with anything too big or having to carry gas.