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Stick welders (and welders in general) are handy tools to have around most households, especially if you’re a very do it yourself kind of person or are forced to be so due to circumstances. Amazon has a surprisingly large and good selection of these items on their storefront, which can make it hard to sift through them to find the most supported and best stick welders.
This list should hopefully narrow down your options to some top picks of stick welders.
In a Rush? Here is Our Top Choice
Everlast PowerPro 164
Our Favorite Stick Welders On The Market [2020]
7 Best Stick Welders - Reviews
1. Everlast PowerPro 164 Stick Welder - Best Overall Pick
While a bit expensive, this powerful multiprocess welder gives you a lot of bang for your buck. As a stick welder it’s as good as it gets, and like all of its functions is rated as a high quality machine. It can draw power from 110 and 220 volt outlets, and is compatible with generators that produce at least 10, 000 watts of “clean” power.
The biggest draw is likely its ability to switch between its stick, TIG, and plasma cutting features quickly and easily with just the flip of a simple selector switch.
For raw specs, it welds a 3/16” swath on a single pass on AC, 3/8” on DC (both TIG), and a 5/8” pass on the plasma cutter.
Rounding things out is a 30 day money back guarantee, and a 5 year parts and labor warranty, so you can subject it to as much of a pounding a you need to to get the job done. It’s even movable in a pinch, though a bit on the heavy side (60 lbs) to be called truly “portable.
You can’t go wrong with this best model no matter your purpose.
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2. Amico ARC-160D Stick welder - Best for 110v unit
Similar to the Alpha 160, this is a very small and maneuverable (16 lbs, about the size of a lunch cooler) stick welding machine. It’s a dual voltage 110 and 230 volt package, and also like the Alpha 160 is only a DC welder.
While a bit weaker, it is also very cheap, and comes with a number of good safety features: a “smart fan” that only turns on when the machine is over 100 degrees Fahrenheit, over and under voltage protection, over current protection, and overload protection. This makes it perfect for job sites with inconsistent power output (shoddy generators, or power in developing countries) or when working with unknown factors in regards to power. Amico ARC 160D has enough protections to make it safe to use under most conditions, and if it burns out it’s a tenth the price of a heavy duty stick welding machine so it isn’t as much of an issue to replace.
This is our choice for the best 110v stick welder machine on the market. It also fills a fairly unique niche as an portable and affordable price stick welder.
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3. Forney Easy Weld 298 Stick-Welder - Top budget Choice Under $200
By far the best budget stick welder on this list, but a great option for beginners. It is a combination “TIG” and "stick" welder, though TIG torch is sold separately.
Overall it’s very lightweight (9.65 lbs) movable enough for most purposes. It is a single voltage, 120 volt and 90 amp machine with enough power to finish out small projects.
The maximum single pass it can weld is 1/8 inch, fairly small for the average. This makes it fine for smaller jobs, but it doesn’t scale up very well.
While not recommended for an experienced welder with heavy duty needs, the Forney Easy Weld 298 lives up to its name, and is a good arc welding machine to learn how to weld well enough for hobby purposes.
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4. PrimeWeld Ct520d Stick Welder - Best for Farm Use
The above confluence of features is what makes it top stick welder for farm use. Day by day you never know what you’re going to need to do on a farm. Fence repair, broken wheelbarrow axle, some side project you’re throwing together for a single job, you name it and it might need doing.
While the Everlast Power Pro is a tempting option to go with for its power and multiprocess functions, it’s also bulky and would be difficult to drag out into the middle of a field. The Prime Weld is about half the weight and bulk of the Power Pro, 1/3 of the price, and still does TIG and stick welding, the most important features you’re likely to need (a plasma cutter is nice, but is less generally useful).
The 3 year warranty and 7 day customer service push it over the edge as the top arc welder option for farm use, since never knowing what’s going to go wrong next includes when your welder is going to break down when you need it most.
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5. Forney Easy Weld 261 Stick welder - Best for Beginners
As might be expected, one of the cheapest option for stick welders on the market is the great choice for someone just starting to learn welding. Everything that makes this the best cheap welder makes it great for beginning, not least because it’s so cheap. Less of an investment in money means if the hobby isn’t something you want to do long term, or if you end up just hailing it out once in a blue moon, you’re not out much money.
Combined with it being specifically designed to be easy to use above all its other functions, and it’s a great arc welder choice. A few other items on the list came to mind (the Alpha 160 and Prime Weld especially), neither quite hits the same intersection of low price point and versatility that this option does.
Easy to use, basically risk free, and small enough to easily stow away in the garage when it’s not in use. Perfect for this purpose.
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6. AHP AlphaTIG 200X TIG / Stick welder
The first thing to note with this unit is its quality and neat construction. It weighs 69 lbs, and takes up about as much space as a toolbox.
Sufficient for light to medium duty, as this runs on AC DC power (have dual voltages 120 and 240 volt machine), it is eminently portable and great for small jobs on steel or cast iron constructed items. This AHP AlphaTIG 200X do TIG welding, so you can use materials like brass and aluminum. It's low price makes it a good option for any welder who needs to work with steel and iron, or for anyone who wants a long lasting power source machine.
It is possible to hook up gas and a separate TIG torch to get some of that functionality.
For what it is, this is the best arc welder that is reliable, cheap, do it yourself, hobbyist, or professional looking machine.
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7. LONGEVITY Stickweld 140 Arc Welder - Best For Home Use
Similar to the Alpha 160, this is a small 13 lb dual voltage (110 and 220 volt, 140 amp) unit that is top stick welder for small jobs, hobbyists, simple repairs, and home garage work. While being a bit larger than the Alpha 16 (taller and longer, but thinner) makes it harder to store, it also makes it easier to move around due to its shape, making it a bit of a trade off.
While it can’t do aluminum, it ends up as a perfect all rounder welding machine that is used primarily for art projects and small repairs, and is favored by professionals as a cheap stick welding machine to keep around the house.
Variable amp adjustment (30 to 140 amps), easy voltage switch over, and overheat protection (it will automatically and safely shut off if the machine overheats) round out the package. It doesn’t have many special features, but for the price (one of the cheapest welders on the market) it does what it says it does and does it well.
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Our Top Choice
Everlast PowerPro 164
After thorough research and testing of the best stick welder reviews Everlast Power Pro is the highest quality option there is, its price point makes it easier to recommend each other option on this list for their own merits. They’re all fairly priced for what they do and serve very different purposes, and depending on your need you can’t go wrong with any one of them, or a combination of two if you need stick welders for multiple purposes but want to keep price down and portability up.
Just make sure to take your own specific needs into account when choosing, and you shouldn’t regret your purchase.
Check out the link if you are looking for reviews of best welding mask for stick welding machines.