welder type

[bearcreek paul]

An Ac dc stick welder will give you the most bang for your buck for what you are looking to do.They can be had for 200 and sometimes less.Cons are heavy and a bit more practice than a mig.You can pickup an inverter for 250 or so.Much more portable and about 150 lbs lighter.I'm a recent convert to the Inverter Welders.Who said old dogs can't learn new tricks.Now if money is no object what Shield Arc said is the way to go.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

Probably for farm use, a good stick machine would be a good choice because they're pretty cheap on craigslist and aren't at all fussy about a bit of dirt or rust. I've got everything covered here with a Millermatic 250 and a Hobart Tigwave 250 that will also do stick, plus my old Airco 300 that is pretty much obsolete now.
A small 110v wirefeed with flux core will be good for sheet metal and is portable, they show up fairly cheap as well. If you plan on doing quite a lot of medium duty (.187 to .375") of fairly clean materials inside, a good 220v wirefeed with 75/25 or steelmix gas is the best choice.

Flyerdan brought up a good point that hasn't been mentioned in this thread yet... Stick is more forgiving of wind. I haven't tried it, but I hear that MIG welding is nearly impossible with a breeze blowing.

 

[Shield Arc]

Mig is a nightmare in the wind, but I've run Innershield in 80 to 90 MPH wind in Alaska. Couldn't hardly stand up or walk, but I could set on my azz and weld all day.:laughing:

 

[undercut]

I don't have anywhere in doors where I can weld so I'll always be outside where there might be wind. Stick it is! I'm also not going to have access to 240 all of the time so I'm looking at 120/240 inverters. If I want to connect to a gasoline generator to make it portable, any suggestions on what I should be looking for?

 

[rcowan]

That depends on how much amperage you are gonna pull.
Plus you need one that has the outlets that fit your welder connector.

RC

I don't have anywhere in doors where I can weld so I'll always be outside where there might be wind. Stick it is! I'm also not going to have access to 240 all of the time so I'm looking at 120/240 inverters. If I want to connect to a gasoline generator to make it portable, any suggestions on what I should be looking for?