verticore / smoothcore 711 experience?

You're on the right track, the 71 series dual shield wires are going to be your best bet for very high deposition out of position. They are really easy to run for experienced LoHi welders as well. I've not run the 711 you mention but Lincoln 71 Elite or Hobart Excellarc 71 are about as good as it gets in those wires. All of the major manufacturers make versions that run well. On the size material you're working with we'd run it around 230 amps and just pound those welds out at a fast pace. We don't run it very often but when we do it's hundreds upon hundreds of pounds at a time. It's probably the most user friendly consumable for out of position code work.
never heard of verticore.
JTMcC.

Thanks for the reply, Turned out verticore was just a competitors version of 711 smoothcore but with more hydrogen and a lower rated strength. I called up our consumables supplier who was all too keen to talk up his own proprietary verion of this wire, but after a few more calls around to other shop owners in the area, it seems most of what he said is true.
Im not sure whether BOC is a player in the states, but they are reasonably big here in australia and 711 smoothcore is what they offer against CIGweld's verticore. The wire he eventually sold me on though was BOC 715 supercore, yeah yeah blah blah blah, never needs sharpening etc etc. better out of position capabilities, H4 (vs. H8 for 711), lower fume rates, slightly better deposition and a higher strength rating.
Will let you guys know in about a month or so how it works out, but by all accounts it seems a good wire to go with. The biggest size it comes in is only 1.6mm though vs being able to get 3xp in up to about 3.0mm. still, even with 1.6 it seems you can really crank out a lot of inches of vertical up weld in a shift.
Shaun

1.6mm is plenty big, .045" (1.1434mm) is what's commonly used in out of position work here. You can run .045 at speeds too great for vertical or overhead welding. Current density is a consideration with cored wires. .045 really allows the greatest deposition rates in vertical with 71 series wires. A good example is running Hobart Excellarc 71 at about 220 amps, 24 volts you have a deposition rate of 7.6 lbs./hour. You can't beat that (in vertical weld) with any other size wire.