MIG or Stick for Trailer Repair?

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I have a heavy duty (6x4 angle iron) dual axle trailer that is currently 14ft plus a 2ft dovetail.The wood floor needed to be replaced and when I took the wood off I decided that I will eliminate the dovetail and make the trailer a straight 16 footer. Grind the welds, remove bracing, remove dovetail section, square up and buttweld, add inside and bottom plates for strength, re-weld the bracing, replace the flooring. Pretty straightforward, but I don't know what will be a stronger weld (especially for the butt weld). I realize that the buttweld will basically hold the two sections together and the added plates will provide a large part of the strength.(correct?)Machines will be Miller 175 or Lincoln Tombstone.
Reply:whichever process you can weld better with will yield the stronger welds.  cold lapped mig with 70kpsi filler will be much weaker than a quality stick weld with a 60kpsi rod.   If you are not good with either,  you should have someone else do it.
Reply:Does the Lincoln have DC output? AC will work, but it would not be my favorite polarity to run. However, a tombstone is fully capable of doing the job, if you have the hands for it.City of L.A. Structural; Manual & Semi-Automatic;"Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place where gold is refined. Iron is taken from the earth, and copper is smelted from ore."Job 28:1,2Lincoln, Miller, Victor & ISV BibleDanny
Reply:I've got a tombstone myself as well as a Millermatic 250 MIG. I chose the tombstone every time I need to do a heavy job like you're talking about. I like 6011 and 7018AC rods.Once I got a good handle on SMAW welding, my MIG machine has been gathering more dust than I ever imagined.Kevin- Springtown, TexasTruck:Chevy cab/ chassis 1 ton dually, big block and flatbedMiller BobcatVictor cutting rigTool boxes crammed full of stuffShop:Millermatic 250Lincoln 135Lincoln 225AC tombstone