Miller Shopmate 300DX... Is it worth it?

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Hi,This is my first post on the forum. My name is Rich and I'm in the process of reopening a welding/fabrication shop. As I gear up, I'm looking to be able to cover mig, TIG, and stick processes. I was wondering if the Miller Shopmate 300DX is worth the investment, or if I should go the route of buying two different machines. Previously I was leaning towards a Millermatic 252 for Mig, and The Dynasty 200DX package for stick/TIG. The Shopmate is attractive though when you compare the costs. Thoughts on this?Thanks!
Reply:Not sure I would want all my capability in one machine.  If you go with the two mention you have a good chance of "making do" with one of the machines if the other is down.  I have no experience with the Shopmate but the 252 mig is a good machine.
Reply:The shopmate is a nice machine but you would not be able to tig aluminum with it. Your other two choices seem a little lacking in amperage to me, but it would depend on the type of work you are going after. Just my 2 cents worth.
Reply:The Shopmate is a DC only machine. I'm not that familiar with it, but I am familiar with Millers XMT 304 CC/CV machine. It is an excellent DC tig, mig and stick machine and you will find them in many fab shops. You can pick them up used for decent money . Price would depend if it came with a feeder, stick or tig torch, spoolgun and controler, etc or was just a bare power source.The Dynasty 200 would offer you a few advantages. #1 it is an AC/DC tig, so you could tig weld alum, something that's not really an easy option with a DC only power source except with a spoolgun. It's also an excellent portable machine for tig and stick.Honestly I'd take an XMT 304 CC/CV with feeder over a MM252 any day. If you don't need portability or AC tig, it will cover almost everything. I'm thinking the Shopmaster will do the same things, except I believe it's a transformer rather than an inverter based machine, but one of the more knowledgeable guys will correct me if I'm wrong..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:I did not realize the Shopmate was DC only. Thanks for the replies. I'm not a huge fan of putting all the eggs in one basket myself. If I had $10K to spend I wouldn't even consider an all in one. My hope is to get up and running then invest in a second machine based on what process I'm doing most. I should mention that I only have single phase power. Again, hoping to get up and running then move into a bigger facility with 3 phase in 18-24 months from now.
Reply:I would think you would be better served with the XMT 304 cc cv as suggested by DSW earlier. It can be run on both single phase or 3 phase. You will still need something else for AC Tig.
Reply:I can understand the "all in one basket" issues. I'd avoid smaller machines for this reason, though the newer ones  from major manufacturers reaching the market lately show a lot of promise. They are still to new to know long term track record however. However larger industrial machines with a good track record seldom have problems. The tech school has almost a dozen XMT's and I know of only one issue in the 3-4 years I've helped out there. They are almost a "standard" in the industry. It's very common to walk in to most fab shops and find an XMT in use.Taht said there's a lot to be said about dedicated individual machines. You can work on more than one project at the same time if you have multiple operators, or you can leave one machine set up for one standard job and use another for misc jobs. As mentioned if for some reason the machine goes down, say a lightning strike takes out a board, you may not loose all your options in one fell swoop.As far as a mig, stick, AC/DC tig, I believe that would be Millers old Shopmaster rather than the Shopmate. I think Steve here has very high regards for the old Shopmasters..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:Thanks for the input. Lost of good info to think about!It's been 10 years since I had a shop, and back then it was mainly mobile. Had a Multiquip whisperweld, and only did stick welding. I'm trying to stay in the shop this time, and operate more along the lines of a job shop. Whole different animal to me this time around!
Reply:The Dynasty is a nice shop AC/DC tig even though it's small and portable. Cost is high though. The Syncrowaves are excellent AC/DC shop tigs and a Syncro 250 will probably cover most medium sized shops. The smaller Syncrowave 200 is also a good machine if you don't need the top end power and don't need to tig alum over say 3/16".That still leaves you needing a decent mig. Again, not to keep hounding on the same thing, the XMT's are great units and give you some back up on the Syncrowave. If not then one of the 200+ amp stand along mig machines. However people usually want premium money for the used stand alones for some reason. The end result is you usually get more output for less money with the XMT's. Miller also had some older transformer CV power units that would take feeders. I ran one years ago, but I can't remember the model right now..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:I like the multiprocess machines. The chopper machines have a bit different Mig arc then the inverter half brothers. I have used, or owned the Miller Shopmate 300DX ,Lincoln Powermig 300-350, and the Esab  260/300 machines over the years. I have the least time on the Shopmate, but, I would feel pretty good about owning one,.Esab/Lorch ET-220iEsab 160i caddyThermal LM-200 Lincoln feedersThermal Pee-Wee 85sThermal 60i- 3phase /RPC powered (Beast)Thermal Drag-gun 35CINE 1500 Klutch 140i
Reply:I own a late model Shopmaster. It stick and mig welds great. I haven't tried tig and I think I've tried the AC side once. I don't have a high freq so I don't need that side. But I am partial to separate power supply and suitcase wire feeder combos because of the mobility. Even in a shop, if you get a dump truck in, you can carry the feeder inside the body versus having to haul a MM250, whole power supply/feeder all in one. And yes, Shopmasters are transformer machines."Where's Stick man????????" - 7A749"SHHHHHH!! I sent him over to snag that MIC-4 while tbone wasn't looking!" - duaneb55"I have bought a few of Tbone's things unlike Stick-Man who helps himself" - TozziWelding"Stick-man"