Welder Purchase

[etinti]

Is the 350P that much better than the 251? I'm prepared to spend the money but was made to realize that I could get the 251 with a spool gun(30A) for the same amount of money I would spend on the 350 alone. The welder would be used to repair construction equipment. Is the 350 that much better than the 251? Thanks for replies.

[cope]

I don't know what the high end on the 350 is but if I was using Mig for heavy work I would probably opt for the 351. You wont need the spool gun for construction equipment often.

[Paul Seaman]

etinti:
Welcome aboard, The mm251 is a formidable machine but if your talking heavy equipment repair you may want the higher amperage output of the mm350p. I own the mm210 and I have done some heavy 1" plate in multipass to achieve the weld bead desired. The mm350p will probably be the best choice but before you lay down the cash I would try to get a demo from the local supplier.

Good luck whichever you choose,

[Sberry]

Whats the defination of heavy? How thick are the typical weldments.

[etinti]

The typical repairs would be to backhoes and dumptrucks. Probably not much thicker than 3/4" plate.

[dyn88]

any hard facing? It can be done with mig.

[Paul Seaman]

I was referring to material above 1/2" plate which is the upper end for the mm251. I think the mm350p would suit you better but I would say the mm251 could do it multipass but compare the amount of 3/4" to the amount of 1/4-1/2" and see which seems more logical.

More power wont hurt you, you know the Tim Taylor thing!

Peace,

[etinti]

You can hard face with mig? Tell me more. I currently use my stick welder for that, but it would be so much easier with mig.

[dyn88]

I generally use 7/64 dual sheild wire the designation escapes me but will post monday. We have fastened work plates to buckets with hard wire and no failures yet. Its a b#$%h to burn even if you clean the heck out of the base. We first preheat with rosebud till brown and then burn away. It likes to spray, and we havent tried to pulse it(still trying to figure out my optima pendant[ gheeze i wish someone offered a class on that in my area]). but one other guy in my area says pulse is the only way to go. Primarily we hard face the agitater paddles on our concrete pump trucks(32 meter and 47 meter). try some searches and see what you come up with.
Lastly I will say the wire isnt cheap we pay 380 for a 50 pound spool. But if you add up labor savings over stick, its much better.

http://www.esabna.com/EUWeb/AS_handbook/596as11_20.htm

theres a link we use the overlay-48. There are other manufacturers that offer different diameters which may work out better for you.