Well, the Hobart Stickmate LX 235/160 arrived today, in spite of a threat of bad weather. I wasn't home and it didn't require a signature so it was left by the front door. Shortly afterward I came home to be sure and get it inside before snow blew in on it or it sprouted legs.
The box was damaged, but I felt better as I opened the top and noticed that the crunches in the box appeared to be on either end where there was double cardboard to protect the cables.
A SEPARATE manual was provided in English and Spanish so you didn't have to keep up with both, just the one you could understand. I was feeling pretty good by then. It even said, "Made in U.S.A."
It was a bit heavy to lift from the cardboard box so I turned it upside down on the living room carpet (I had brought it in the front door by which it was sitting and couldn't wait to look it over.) -- ONLY TO DISCOVER IT WAS DAMAGED ON THE SIDES AND BOTH ENDS! :-( I'm not sure if the ends distorted the sides or if the sides got damaged and distorted the ends.
I dropped Amazon.Com an email as they'll have to file the UPS damaged goods claim. Yep. I saved the box.
BTW, I was a bit surprised it was not double boxed. It was mounted on a piece of 3/8" plywood and the only "double boxing" was where inserts were placed at the ends to protect the cord and leads.
Looks like I won't be using this welder, even though mechanically (? electrically) it is probably all right.
Al