The cheap welders are worthless IMHO! I am a Lincoln fan. I have a 25+ year old Lincoln SP100 and a newer PowerMig 180C. The smaller one does most of what I need and I use it most of the time. Its great for sheet metal. The other one is a bit big for sheet metal so I don't use it for that.

In addition, the Lincoln units bought at Lowes or Home Depot are not the same as the ones bought from a welding shop. The drive units have plastic parts in the wire drive and they are just not as good.

I would be looking around for a good used unit if you can't spend the money on a good new new.

Over time you will be glad you spent the money on a quality unit.

67 Coronet 500 9.610 @ 139.20 mph
67 Coronet 500 (street car) 14.82 @ 94 mph
69 GTX (clone) - build in progress......