^I picked up a little Lincoln wire feed MIG welder with a CO2 bottle probably 8 years ago and Ive used the crap out of it. All sorts of little stuff, but literally HUNDREDS of feet of 4 rail pipe railing for barn; deck railings, antenna masts, etc, etc. Fixing broken tractor bits, etc.

Oh, one thing- people look at some of the projects and say "wow, you are a really good welder" to which I reply "I am a better grinder".

You want a 4" right angle grinder, all the usual blades, but also abrasive disks with 'sandpaper fan' type surfaces- it will polish a welded joint to make it look like it was cast.

For welders, look for something used - craigslist ideally so you can check it out and make sure all is good. Sometimes a store will have smaller units when guys upgrade their rigs too.