If you're not going to be doing really thin sheet, then you can get away with a stick welder. I did the whole welder research thing a couple of years back. After assessing how much welding I'd actually be doing, the type of welding I'd be doing 95% of the time and cost - I settled on an AC 180 amp stick unit. Everyone is going to inverter now, but inverters do have their drawbacks - like frying from unclean current etc. Also, top quality old technology sticks are as cheap as chips as folk rush to buy inverters. I don't know about you - but most farm welding is on thickish mild steel. With practice you can weld thin plate like muffler etc. Anyway, Just my 10 cents worth ...
