Probably 102nd time a new poster asks a welder comparison question

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But here goes....   I farm and used to have more time than money and now I have neither, but I end up doing a lot of fabrication.  I had a lincoln SP200 mig welder that did a good job, but I had a pretty large aluminum job and started reading too many brochures.  Minimum I would need a PP or spool gun, but pulse seemed to be another 'must have'.  Being in the ready shoot aim mode I bought a longevity welder (250mp) that does everything but make coffee.  It also isn't made very well.  I have it on a solid base (1/4" plate), but in my situation on gravel I can see most of the tin falling off and ending up with a "mad max" version of a welder.  However, I really like the pulse function in steel and my welds look far better (I even stick weld better after using the pulse mig). So, I'm setting out to do what I should have done from the start and buy something that will last better and has some level of support.  I really wish welder companies had a timeline published showing which welders were made when and what market they were aimed at or what feature set they had.  Ie. Lincoln has an invertec and powerwave welders that are both inverters and have pulse functions and they both come in power source only models - is one older than the other or are they aimed at different industries (and so on).  I'm not afraid of getting a welder from a factory setting and repurposing it for my use if it's practical and especially cheaper (my sp200 was a 480 model bring the price down and I just had to get a step up transformer to make it work.At this point I've talked with miller and lincoln and some other folks and miller's 350P looks like a good choice and lincoln suggested the C300 powerwave.  I've also looked at 355M powerwaves with a 25M feeder used for $4000 with a PP gun.  Occasionally there is a 1/3 phase miller axcess for sale pretty reasonable.  They all will weld for me just fine.  I'm guilty of wanting the 'swiss army knife' version of anything I get which I'm not sure is a great idea.  If I have a good mig welder, I'm unlikely to do much tig and I use a hobart generator welder for stick and it does fine.  The bottom line for me is to have 250-300 amps, pulse function and some aluminum capabilities.  I have a cheap spool gun and an old binzel PP gun, but at this point I would like to start with a working setup (used, but working) instead of trying to get some of the older stuff to work.  Are there other, older/newer/different brand welders I should be considering?  I also recognize if I were a better welder I could use 2 cables hooked to a car battery and make a row of dimes weld - I'm not there yet. Attached Images
Reply:Welcome.  Where did you find all those units to take pictures of?30+ yrs Army Infantry & Field Artillery, 25 yrs agoMiller 350LX Tig Runner TA 210, spool gunLincoln 250/250 IdealArcESAB PCM 500i PlasmaKazoo 30"  vert BSKazoo 9x16 horiz BSClausing 12x24 lathe20T Air Press
Reply:Ebay, craigslist.  Welders of various types are for sale everywhere.  Along with getting a welder I'm going to like, I would like to be in the right place at the right time to buy.  I am well versed in being in the wrong place at the wrong time.thanks
Reply:From what I read in your post, you want to weld alum and mig is your huckleberry. I own a MillerMatic350P, and demoed a MillerMatic350P-aluminum, and it was incredible. But it was alum only.http://www.millerwelds.com/products/...p?model=M00398Weld like a "WELDOR", not a wel-"DERR" MillerDynasty700DX,Dynasty350DX4ea,Dynasty200DX,Li  ncolnSW200-2ea.,MillerMatic350P,MillerMatic200w/spoolgun,MKCobraMig260,Lincoln SP-170T,PlasmaCam/Hypertherm1250,HFProTig2ea,MigMax1ea.
Reply:first do have single or 3 phase power, I am guessing you have 240 from your comments.Unless you are going to weld a lot of pipe don't look at the Lincoln STT The model pictured is going obsolete. The millermatic 350P and the powermig 350 are similar machines. Both can use a standard miggun, spoolgun and Push pullgun. The C300 is an updated version of the powermig 350.uses same software but now is auto line.The power wave and axcess machine are industrial machines.the 350s and c300 are light industrial / home / farm shop. The Miller machines are mig only and software is flashed on the pcb. Lincoln machines, the software can be updated if new software is released and are multiprocess. Mig/stick/ tig. Send me a Private message if you want to compare any machines or want some unpublished information.  Just to many machines to get into here.
Reply:To expand a bit on the above post, all the Lincolns in your pictures are older pulse-MIG machines whose software has not been updated in several years. The C300 and S350 are the current models, and Lincoln issues software updates a couple of times a year. The Millermatic 350P is of a similar era as the older Lincolns. The innards are the same as the XMT304 MPA.I don't know what your budget is but new pulse MIGs are in the $5K range, more if you go for separate feeders, push-pull guns, etc.As you implied in your post, a high-tech welder is no substitute for welding experience. 90% of what you can do with a pulse MIG machine you can do with a 20 year old Millermatic 200. When you have enough experience to know when you hit the last 10%, you will be able to properly apply the pulse machines.JohnA few weldersA lot of hammersA whole lot of C-clamps
Reply:I'm partial to the miller!  Just my opinion.....
Reply:I bought an xmt 304 cc/cv, xr feeder with aluma gun and 22a feeder with standard mig gun for $3500.  With all the different points of view it was a hard choice except when it came to price.  This is more bang for the buck than the 350P would have been for similar dollars.  I still have to dig up a pendant to get the pulse function.  All the welders I looked at had great features and all of them will be more than I need (though I'll have suffer through only having 225 amps on single phase with the 304 O poor me). I think the stick welding capability will be handier than firing up my hobart welder/generator and is likely a better welder.
Reply:Great choice!  That is my personal machine I have at home.  Mine has a 22a wire feeder.  I have had the machine for years and I love it so much.  I also want the pulse pendant bad!!!!!  I used it at work welding Hastelloy pulse mig with a xmt 304 and it laid down that wire so good went thru some liners with that hard wire, but it was awesome.  How does your xmt 304 weld aluminum with the xr setup??  Oh yeah awesome choice!!!!!!!!!  Here's a pic of mine.......
Reply:XMT 304's are good machines. They really helped establish that inverters can be reliable for heavy production.You might be a Redneck....if you need to label the drawers on your toolbox with a sharpie!
Reply:I label all my tool boxes with a sharpie!  Have not received the welder yet and have a couple of options for an optima pendant (around $250).  While looking on ebay for pendants and still trying to figure out what differentiates some of the welder models - sometimes it's obvious between stick tig and mig, but sometimes not so much.  One machine I noticed is a "Red D Arc" /Miller Extreme 360 MAP CC/CV box.  It looks like the rental company red d arc has Miller make a special model just for them.  Is this just a XMT 350MPa?  thanks  Pat
Reply:Originally Posted by PathI label all my tool boxes with a sharpie!  Have not received the welder yet and have a couple of options for an optima pendant (around $250).  While looking on ebay for pendants and still trying to figure out what differentiates some of the welder models - sometimes it's obvious between stick tig and mig, but sometimes not so much.  One machine I noticed is a "Red D Arc" /Miller Extreme 360 MAP CC/CV box.  It looks like the rental company red d arc has Miller make a special model just for them.  Is this just a XMT 350MPa?  thanks  Pat