I am just about an hour south of Augusta, home of the Masters Golf Tournament, and live about 3 minutes from the Savannah River. My main crops are peanuts and cotton, with some irrigated corn thrown in for a good rotational crop when the price is good enough.
I've been welding with the obligatory "hot box" AC stick welder for 45 years. Still use it for easy, quick work, bit I've got a Miller Bobcat with an Onan powering it, in the shop, too. And, a suitcase wire welder I can hook up to it, with shielding gas. Of course, the old torch is at ready. I don't see how man farms without an oxygen-acetylene torch.
The desire to learn TIG welding has it's roots in wanting to be able to do precise buildups on barrel hooks, and learning to refit them properly myself. Doing this job well is an extremely exacting task, and some of the best fitters sometimes take more than one try to get it right, and they're not satisfied unless it is really right. I don't have the words to express my respect for good barrel fitters. They are on another "plane", IMO.
SRH
