[BlackBike]

azh...you cant go wrong with a flux core wire welder. they are really getting inexpensive these days. everyone has them now. i have a lincoln got from h.d. probably going on 15 years now. has been great (just point and shoot hot molten steel, ha) , continue to use it. thats why i bought it (original made a weed eater lock cage for the trailer) will have it for the rest of your life so you might as well get one sooner, rather than later. definite one of those must have shop tools.

i got the lincoln weld pak 155( lincoln brand probably more expensive than others) . later i thought i should have got the hobart handler 175 for heaver duty but turns out the lincoln is plenty hot for what i use it for . they are cheaper now so you could get the 175 now for about as much as i paid for the 155 then. (like you mention, i think mine was in the 500-600 range)

there are a few hobart haters out there, but i dont think i would know the difference, as long as i can stick steel together, good enoough (not welding on the space shuttle any time soon). you might look at tractor supply i think they "handle" hobart.