Pipe Welding: Should You Buy a Diesel Welder or a Gas Welder? (What about propane?)

If you are going to weld pipes and assemble, which one will be the best? Gas? Diesel? Propane?

A gas-powered welder is the best option if money is your greatest consideration. A used welder (in my opinion makes a lot of sense if you find a garage queen. This article isn’t about brands, but in my opinion I’d stick with Lincoln or Miller for three reasons.

Reason one:

Made in the USA Yes, the Chinese are starting to do some good things, but they are NOT there yet when it comes to welders.

Reason two:

Availability of parts. Virtually every welding shop in every city will have parts for whatever lives in the bed of your truck.

Reason three:

Copper windings. Copper and aluminum are used to conduct and generate electricity. Copper is superior. Why? I really don’t know, but I do know this: a 1980 Lincoln Pipeliner with copper windings will solder so smoothly you’ll think it’s ice cream.

What fuel will you choose?

Gas is everywhere and easy to get. Is it clean. It’s not a big deal if you spill a little. However, gas has a problem: it is not as efficient as diesel. Cars are a good example. A VW Beetle with a diesel engine will get up to 54 MPG on the highway. Exactly the same because gasoline will top out at around 35 MPG. THAT my friend can mean a lot of money if we are talking about feeding a welder who is sitting in North Dakota working 12 or more hours a day.

Let’s do a little math.

Let’s say an older diesel Pipeliner uses a gallon per hour in average usage. At $4.00 a gallon, that’s $48 a day. The same gas-powered welder would probably use about 1.5 gallons per hour under the same conditions. 1.5 X 12 = 18 gallons at $3.75 = $67.50. The difference is about $20 a day. Let’s say you run it 300 days a year, so 300 X $20 = $6,000. And let’s say you’re going to use this welder for four years, so that’s a difference of $24,000.

What about the propane?

Propane is pretty cheap, and where you’ll be welding, it’s probably $2.00 a gallon. A gasoline engine running on propane will burn more fuel because gas has more BTUs than propane (and diesel has more BTUs than gasoline). Let’s say we are going to use 20 gallons of propane X $2.00 = $40 per day in fuel cost. OK, that’s a little less cost than diesel. Normally, a diesel welder would be more expensive than a gas welder, but by the time you have a propane kit and tank, you’ll be almost even.

Propane has another advantage: it burns super clean. You can stretch your oil changes. All things being equal, I still think I’d go diesel. Why?

Propane can have a bad habit of not being readily available when you need it. It also always means moving the truck to another location to feed the welder. On the other hand, your truck will probably be diesel, so one stop and you can unload the truck and welder.

WARNING:

Take your time if you are going to buy a used welder. Find that sweet garage queen who still has the paint on. You’ll be glad you waited. If you decide to use propane, do your best to find a welder that is already set up for propane. Welders have to move to another trade for various reasons, and businesses are going under. Look for auctions and complete ready-to-use kits. Consider all your options.

You can put “All of Craigslist” into a Google search and it will search everywhere (great for comparing prices.