Here's How Harbor Freight's Vulcan Welders Coompare To Other Big Name Brands

Shopping for tools becomes second nature after a while. The more you buy, the more you'll start to gravitate toward a specific brand or retail outlet. 

Harbor Freight is among the more trusted outlets, with an assortment of tools from brands big and small. Among the names you can expect to see — and want to purchase — is Vulcan, an in-house Harbor Freight brand that MotorTrend described in 2018 as having the features and performance you'd expect from the best professional equipment. The accolades are abundant for Vulcan's welders, as all four models on Harbor Freight have garnered just shy of five stars from shopper reviews.

Just because a product is good doesn't mean it's the best, though. There are other high-end welders from well-known brands, so you may want to do some comparison shopping before dropping as much as $1,800 at Harbor Freight for a new Vulcan welder. And there are a few differences between Vulcan welders and other brands that may raise some eyebrows.

According to Harbor Freight's comparisons, Lincoln Electric tends to be the most similar option, albeit with a considerably higher price tag. For example, looking at the Vulcan OmniPro 220, which retails for $1,100, stacked against a $1,999 Lincoln Electric MIG 215 (which replaced the model used in Harbor Freight's comparison), the differences seem negligible. When you consider the price, it's surprising that Vulcan's model stands up fairly well to Lincoln's. Its MIG (metal inert gas) and DC TIG (direct current tungsten inert gas) welding ratings differ minimally — not enough to warrant an almost $900 difference. American Torch Tip compared the Vulcan 220 with the Lincoln Electric 210 that Harbor Freight lists, noting their warranties as the most significant difference between the brands. Whereas Vulcan offers 90 days, Lincoln Electric is three years.

Further up the Vulcan line, Harbor Freight lists the MIGMax 215 against the Millermatic 211 MIG Welder. In its review of Vulcan's MIGMax 215, Weld Guru said Vulcan's model bridges the gap between lower-cost welders and Miller's more expensive models by including inverter technology, something absent in other cheaper brands. User reviews across both models are also very close. Vulcan has a score of 4.8 stars and a 97% recommendation rate from over 500 reviews while the 211 MIG Welder scored identically in over 900 reviews. Again, where Vulcan falters a bit is with its warranty. Like Lincoln Electric, Miller offers three years against Vulcan's considerably shorter 90 days.

The reviews show that Vulcan is a feature-rich, consumer-friendly option that stands up well against expensive brands. When you do a price-to-price comparison, it gets more difficult not to opt for one of Harbor Freight's four Vulcan models. In an extensive overview of Vulcan's primary TIG welders, Pro TIG Welders praised them as simple to use and versatile, preferred by many professional welders but effective for work around the house.

Vulcan welders also do well when put up against Titanium model welders, another in-house Harbor Freight brand. These are priced comparably to Vulcan welders, and the user reviews are fairly similar. Across forums and YouTube channels, it seems that professionals often find a better value in Vulcan, though more casual users may not see a significant difference between the two. According to internet welding personality Mike Festiva, Vulcan had a few additional features and more durable materials, while discussions on The Garage Journal tended to favor Vulcan's build quality and long-term durability.

So the internet leans pretty heavily toward Vulcan. If it's a feature-rich, user-friendly, long-lasting welder that you're looking for, consumer reviews and professional welders tend to either recommend Vulcan over more expensive models or, at the very least, agree they're worth saving a few bucks on.