Did you man "can't"?
No, don't use tiny wire....I think this is 30-50A, right....so you'd need 10/3 for 30A or 6/3 for 50A. Because of the duty cycle, you can actually go smaller, but I wouldn't do that because you may use something other than a welder on the circuit.
That's what I do. My receptacle is below my panel which happens to be next to the man door for my garage. An extension cord makes it easy for welding in most areas of my garage as well as outside.How big is the garage? If you calculate the amount of wire needed to run to the other side v. making an extension cord, you might find more versatility in positioning your welder using a cord from one side. It doesn't matter what is used to power the welder, cords or hard wire. What matters is sizing and total length. As mentioned, you can use a somewhat smaller extension cord than you would need to run to other 240v equipment.
You can buy 10/3 cords, but the ends won't be correct. Easier to make one no longer than what you actually need.
Did you man "can't"?
No, don't use tiny wire....I think this is 30-50A, right....so you'd need 10/3 for 30A or 6/3 for 50A. Because of the duty cycle, you can actually go smaller, but I wouldn't do that because you may use something other than a welder on the circuit.