There was a thread about this not too long ago with some good recommendations as I recall.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/best-soldering-irons

Good luck!

For board work or playfield work?

Budget? Pace,jbc,metcal. Hakko, Weller
As prices are as wide as pinball machines

A nice stick for coils and such is an fx600/601 Hakko.about 50-70$

For boards on the cheap maybe even a hakko clone.

But your better off getting descent gear as it will provide better results, make things easier and last longer. My son bought a Weller station with analog adjustment for heat and he said he was going through tips like crazy.

Some equipment like pace the bits alone can be very pricey, so do some homework.

Damien i picked up my Hakko 888d for board work in Mississauga. Right from a distributor's whse cheaper then i could find online at the time (hisco canada). Not a retail store but sold me one and ive been very happy with it. But amazon has it now for $140 shipped. Hakko fx888d-29by for the digital temp controlled station.

For under pf work i just use a weller plug in iron - 25 watt is all you need.

Best to use solder with lead in it. You will have to order it on Amazon, as it's not commonly sold in stores. The gauge of solder doesn't matter as much for soldering wires to switches.

DO NOT use your iron to try and fix circuit boards

Avoid the Chinese so-called 63-37 stuff because it isn't. Get name-brand solder like Multicore or Kester.

Turn the cheapo adjustable iron all the way down, then turn it up until solder melts, then put a piece of tape over the knob so it stays put.

I usually have mine set at about 305 degrees C for standard work like coils, etc. If you were doing board work i think people usually recommend hotter than that.

for general work the weller 25 watt sp25 they sell at home depot for $18 works very well. It has 3 leds in the handle too which are helpful when soldering a broken wire on that pop bumper coil under the playfield. just when you get that from Home depot (or where ever), throw away the solder that comes with it. Instead get some 60/40 rosin core lead solder. (The solder that comes with it is silver solder, and it doesn't play well with pinball machines.)