TRAILMIG welder put to the test!

On the last few bush trips I’ve been on we’ve had the use of a TrailMig welder for those odd occasions when things break.

And things do break out there; sometimes it’s just a simple bracket and at other times it is a spring hanger or suspension tower. I’ve even had a steering rod break and at another time a chassis break, all of which were welded up in the scrub. Sure, you can do that with a welding hand piece, a couple of batteries and some welding rods, but there is a far better solution.

The TrailMig, which is Aussie designed and developed, gives you near professional welding gear anywhere you go, including at home. The TrailMig Packout Series, which is the kit we have, comes in a handy Milwaukee Packout case. There are a couple of other kits on offer but all are quite similar.

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The welder comes standard with all you need to start welding including a roll of 0.8mm flux core welding wire, five different tips, good gloves and a set of pliers.

And while the unit comes with a good standard welding mask we opted for the ultimate auto-darkening compact mask for just $40 extra.

The system requires two car batteries for efficient welding although we did try with just one 12-volt battery. The welder worked but it was much more effective with two batteries connected in series to provide 24 volts. To ensure you have the power you need, the kit includes 6m long 4-gauge power cables that can also be converted into jumper leads.

It’s simple enough to operate. Connect up the batteries, select the wire speed – we set it to halfway – and away you go.

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If you have never welded before a bit of practice with some scrap metal will see you improve your welding and the unit welds quickly and effectively.

What we particularly like is the unit’s ability to get into hard-to-reach places with its small handpiece that a normal stick welder can’t reach. The quality of the weld is also much better with long unbroken runs that a stick welder simply can’t produce in the scrub.

While the unit may be deemed too expensive for the single traveller to justify, for those handy people who build things at home or travel in groups, or those leading a club trip or a commercial tag-along 4WD adventure, this unit is handy and often invaluable.

It’s covered by a 12-month warranty.