[AT] Antique tractors that are too expensive (now welders)

Mon Dec 23 08:41:35 PST 2019

I think there may be some confusion over using the term 'tombstone". I believe that the "real" tombstone (the desirable one that goes for a high price) is the Idealarc that Cecil mentioned. It has a elliptical or oval shaped top of the housing and is probably 3 feet tall when sitting on the floor. It has a crank to change the amperage.
The 225 was/is available in AC only or AC/DC. It has a flat top with two 45 deg corners. They are only about 2 feet tall. The AC version I used from $25 to $200 or so. They still sell new for $300 or so. The AC/DC version is more desirable and don't come up for sale as often, but can probably be bought in the $200-400 range. Some people might think these look like a tombstone.

Todd MarkleSpring Mills, Pa.

-----Original Message-----
From: Cecil Bearden <crbearden at copper.net>
To: at <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Sent: Mon, Dec 23, 2019 10:06 am
Subject: Re: [AT] Antique tractors that are too expensive

 It doesn't have to be old   Maybe I should have stated that what sets these welders apart is the IDEALARC 250 designation, that welder sells new for MSRP 2892.00  see this linkhttps://www.lincolnelectric.com/en-us/equipment/stick-welders/Pages/idealarc.aspx  The new ones are square box not the old tombstone.  I have a couple of the newer ones here that I have not checked out.  The one I use all the time had a burned out diode and I found one on Ebay but it was the wrong polarity, so I mounted it on plexiglass and ran it reversed and it works fine.  Liincoln wants over $300 for the diodes.  I got mine for $20 !!   The diodes are all I have ever had to replace on them.   The transformers are built extremely heavy.  The welder weighs probably 350lbs.  There are some on Ebay for about $600 but the shipping runs the cost up.  Like everything at Farm sales, there is someone there who has some sentimental attachment to the item and pays a fortune.   I saw 2 brothers bid on an old desk that belonged to their Uncle and paid over $2500 for a desk that I have seen in a thrift store for $20 !!!!!!
 Cecil
  On 12/23/2019 7:27 AM, Stephen Offiler wrote:

Again I inquire, how old is old?  Is my late '70's  ish tombstone old enough?  (I'd take a grand for it in a heartbeat and put it towards a modern TIG/stick unit) 
  SO  
  On Mon, Dec 23, 2019 at 8:13 AM Cecil Bearden <crbearden at copper.net> wrote:

  At a Farm sale about 3 months ago, an old 225 AC/DC Lincoln went for  $1200, the leads were about to fall apart.  It looked like it had a rod holder from 1945!!
 Cecil
  On 12/23/2019 6:30 AM, Stephen Offiler wrote:

 Hold on, you say old LIncoln tombstones go for a grand?  How old do they have to be?  I've got a 225 AC/DC that I picked up at an auction for $50, had to be 20 years ago, and it was certainly not new then.  As a wild guess I'd say it must be late '70's to early 80's.  Externally it doesn't seem much different from modern ones and I greatly doubt mine is old enough to be worth anything.  Curious though. 
  SO 

  On Sun, Dec 22, 2019 at 6:22 PM Cecil Bearden <crbearden at copper.net> wrote:

  I always wanted an old Lincoln "tombstone"225 AC/DC welder.  They sell at auction for over $1000.    An old local farmer had an estate auction and I was at the back of the crowd when his Lincoln Tombstone welder came up for auction.  I got it for $400, but after I got it home is was a tombstone, but it was AC only.....  I finally got the chance to buy one on Craigs list for $600.  Then a year later I bought 4 that had been rebuilt for a VO-Tech out west for $450 for the lot!!!   I first welded with one of them during college at OSU.  I fell in love with the welder.   Those welders have an open arc voltage of about 90V.  They will make you jump when welding on wet stuff...  However, they run 7018 LH as pretty as you could ever want.  I have mounted one on a 15KW generator for a portable welder.  It works great and I have plenty of power to run grinders etc. 
 Cecil
  On 12/22/2019 2:59 PM, deanvp at att.net wrote:

  I purchased my used Lincoln 225 AMP arc welder for $100 at a swap meet. It is quite old. I haven’t taken the time to try to figure out how old but I wanted to buy an older one after looking at new ones. I looked at the guts of a new one vs how the old ones were built and decided an old one would last longer and probably weld better.  I’ve had it 10 years and it is ready to go every time I need it.  IMHO, sometimes new isn’t always better.     Dean VP Snohomish, WA 98290      From: AT <at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com> On Behalf Of Mike M
 Sent: Saturday, December 21, 2019 9:38 AM
 To: at at lists.antique-tractor.com
 Subject: Re: [AT] Antique tractors that are too expensive     I've also seen people bid way too high, they get caught up in the excitement. I was standing next to a guy who was bidding on an old tombstone welder. I wanted it too. I think he ended up paying $300 for it. You could buy a new one for less than that. It's pays to know what things cost before bidding on them. I was bidding, but dropped out at $150, because that is all I was willing to pay.

 Mike M

   On 12/22/2019 12:13 AM, Spencer Yost wrote:  
     We have all seen it:  the tractor the seller is asking way too much for.  Or conversely; why buyers don’t show up for our obviously wonderful tractor that we post in EBay/Craigslist/whatever.       So listening to podcasts tonight, I ran across a podcast that was discussing many things, including a discussion with a psychologist from Berkeley who was explaining the “endowment effect”. I was unaware of this. Though I had intuited it many times I did not know it was a “thing”.   

    Long story short it explains why people often seem to ask way more for a tractor that I’m willing to pay.       https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endowment_effect       https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C34&q=endowment+effect&oq=endowment+           Interestingly, this is true regardless of how long they owned it or whether it had any other type (e.g. nostalgia) of value.        Unfortunately, the podcast did not describe how I, the buyer, could negotiate my way around this.       PS:   I will be that seller if I ever sell the Pacer. (-;       Spencer      Sent from my iPhone    

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