mm251 or 210 (see post for details)

[sandman]

New to welding - first a few notes then question.

building box tubing trailer (double decker for standup jet skis)

using .188 (3/16) box tubing mostly
some .120 wall tubing
same for plate (if used)

future projects

now was reading up on the diff welders - amps vs metal vs duty cycles etc. cost too!

was looking at the mm210 / 212.. found a 3 month (new) 251 from a shop forced to close - price is $1100 for the 251.. I am wondering how the 251 will fare on thinner stuff (1/8 and 3/16) and close corners/etc.. Should I get the 251 for the trailer and then get a passport/other down the road when I can find a deal.. or get the mm210 (is it perfect of the job at hand)! But a new mm210/212 is $1500 + tax approx!

[crawler]

Get the 3 month old MM251 for $1100. This is a no brainer to me. I don't see why it wouldn't do as well on thinner materials such as 1/8." You'll have more top end (1/2" in single pass) with the MM251. Both MM210/212 and MM251/252 have very good duty cycles which I really doubt you would ever exceed.

Worse case.. if you don't like the MM251, you could sell it for more than what you paid and buy something else.

[Jetmekdc-10]

I agree with crawler. I wish I would of spent the extra cash and gotten the 251. Don't get me wrong the 210 is an extremely fine machine,,But,,,, Sortof like when I bought my plasma cutter. I figured the 375 would be fine, but after wrestling with some stainless plate I realized I should have gone with the 625. I sold the 375 and bought a 625 and in the first 10 minutes realized I made the right decision. More power!!

[Bert]

My 251 works GREAT on 1/8" metal. Buy it while it's cheap, that way you can do the big stuff when it comes up! BEST OF BOTH WORLDS!!!

[aametalmaster]

I would also go with the MM251. I ran a Deltaweld 452 all day on thin stuff and thats a good sized mig and a sweet one at that...Bob