Upgrade or downgrade..?

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Hey guys, Mark here, new to the forum. I have just finished building a 28'x40' garage and am just starting to get things organized in there. Anyways years ago, I inherited an older Hobart BetaMig 251 with a  Piecemaker 25A and a ThermalArc SMC-2001 spool gun assembly for aluminum... I am looking for input from people who A. worked with smaller multiprocess units and B. possibly in the same boat as me. I have been welding on and off as a hobby for about 5 years and I enjoy being set-up to weld most anything that comes my way. My trusty hobart is a "higher end" (for its day?) machine that can handle thicker material than say a newer multiprocess machine I assume? correct me if I am wrong I have not played with one, just read reviews online. Back to the question, should I sell the Hobart, making a bit more room in the shop for a Multiprocess machine, possibly losing the ability for welding thicker material and aluminum, and the gain being I have a stick and a Tig to play with. I hear you cannot weld aluminum with a multiprocess as it is only DC unit. OR hold on to the older hobart (keeping in mind parts are harder and harder to come by if anything happens) and invest in a TIG/Stick machine and just have both machines around. I will be using it for a hand full of vehicle restoration projects and some custom trailer work, who knows in the future... but bigger is better with these things, right?Any pros/cons I may have missed would be awesome too!I am sure this whole Multiprocess unit debate has gone on enough around here and don't get me wrong I have read my fair share about them, so I have heard the good and the bad as well..Any input is much appreciated!Mark
Reply:Maybe you could hold on to the Betamig until you see if it stops getting used. I don't have a multiprocess machine but I may buy one to give me mig capability at home. I think most of the multiprocess machines will weld aluminum with a spool gun but maybe not very thick aluminum. What are you looking at in multiprocess?---Meltedmetal
Reply:I was hoping to sell the hobart and use those funds to buy the new Multiprocess machine, I have looked at a Lincoln 210mp tig package... but I heard it wasn't the best choice for those class of Multiprocess, The miller multimatic 200 (little more money), and the esab Rebel... lots of hype around that one but I am sure you know already. Lots of good and bad from what I have heard from this first batch coming out. But it seems ESAB is doing a good job of keeping true to warranty and to keep customer service up... I am really curious about the Rebel. I don't need the portability of these new multiprocess units so I'd love to find one more "stationary". How about yourself? What machines are you looking at?
Reply:I'm looking at the Lincoln, which by the way is on sale at the moment if you buy from a listed distributor 1439 and then 250 rebate. But I'm kind of torn because all I really want it for is mig. I have a good stick welder  and if you add the tig module etc it is up over 2K CAD with the taxes. I kind of wish companies could give you an instant rebate so you didn't pay the taxes on the rebate. By the time I hit 2K I start thinking about the 256 since what I really want is mig. My LWS doesn't sell ESAB and is also not a listed Lincoln distributor(but he does sell Lincoln) so I don't think I can get the rebate anyway and I've dealt with them for more than 40 years but I wonder if he's as loyal to me as I am to him. I've got some Miller equipment in my business and it has been great but it is older stuff and these new things full of circuit boards make me nervous as the get very spendy when the go poof. On the other hand I'm sure both the Lincoln and the ESAB have them too.   Anyway for the time being it's all academic as I don't have the cash for any of them.---Meltedmetal
Reply:At the end of the day I'm sure any of the new machines will do us just fine... In your opinion it is worth keeping that Betamig251? It is still a good working machine just needs a new gun. Or just see what I can get for it and pick up something similar just a bit newer... I don't want to hold on to it too long until it becomes obsolete and worth nothing, but also don't want to downgrade myself too far and end up trading for a smaller machine.Also a bit of a game changer, income tax returns are coming out soon so I could hold off and pick up a new gun and say a good used Tig,Stick machine. I just like the idea of playing with all 3 styles as of now and the multiprocess allow me to do that without breaking the bank.
Reply:Originally Posted by MeltedmetalI'm looking at the Lincoln, which by the way is on sale at the moment if you buy from a listed distributor 1439 and then 250 rebate. But I'm kind of torn because all I really want it for is mig. I have a good stick welder  and if you add the tig module etc it is up over 2K CAD with the taxes. I kind of wish companies could give you an instant rebate so you didn't pay the taxes on the rebate. By the time I hit 2K I start thinking about the 256 since what I really want is mig. My LWS doesn't sell ESAB and is also not a listed Lincoln distributor(but he does sell Lincoln) so I don't think I can get the rebate anyway and I've dealt with them for more than 40 years but I wonder if he's as loyal to me as I am to him. I've got some Miller equipment in my business and it has been great but it is older stuff and these new things full of circuit boards make me nervous as the get very spendy when the go poof. On the other hand I'm sure both the Lincoln and the ESAB have them too.   Anyway for the time being it's all academic as I don't have the cash for any of them.
Reply:I'm probably not a great one to advise on mig as I don't really do much mig welding. Most of what i do/have done is stick and O/A. I'm thinking mig mostly for some body work and exhaust work so I don't really need a large machine but I'd like one.       As always it depends....on what you are going to do and want to do in the future. There is no doubt that an old machine can roll over and play dead on you just like a new one can but I'm less afraid of an old one doing that than some of the new ones. I'm getting set up to do some scratch start tig with my Idealarc. I've only had time to do 1 test but I'll get to it if I don't die first. I bought the Idealarc from a rental place in Ontario for $275 USD and then if cost me about $200 more to ship it to me. I think it is a 2003 machine came with no cables either in or out but I'm quite happy with it.     I suppose you could put the BetaMig on the market at a price that you can live with and see if it moves. Then be prepared to spend enough to get the machine you want.     In a perfect world we could all buy the 350 amp machines like the Lincoln or the Miller that can do just about every thing(except AC tig, I believe) the home welder could ever want to do but in the real world few of us can justify that kind of expenditure. The down side is that if that multiprocess machine breaks down, all your welders are broken down. But if the ship isn't sinking that needs to be welded up right now maybe that is not so critical. Meaning you can wait for it to be repaired.   For myself I would probably just keep the BetaMig unless someone would offer me more than it is worth because I know that 2 days after I sold it I'd be looking for it. But that's just my paranoid way of thinking. I still have and am using a pre-WWII (I believe) K.O.Lee AC stick welder that my father bought used I'm sure.        Decisions,decisions...---Meltedmetal
Reply:Paranoid way of thinking.... kind of sounds a lot like myself haha. Yeah I agree with what you are saying here, makes sense to me anyways. I figured it is a heavy enough machine to do anything I want, plus the aluminum spool for "just in case". We'll see how the tax return is shortly and go from there on another machine, but for now I'm thinking I'll hold on to it, and maybe wait another year or so to see how this "Multiprocess unit boom" goes, could be the next best thing for the homeowner like myself. I'll keep my eye out for a decent Tig/Stick/plasma all in 1 and keep on pondering.. Thanks for the input MeltedMetal, Cheers, Mark