Yesterday a new welder arrived in the shop, and I got it together and gave it a go. I tried it with a stick welder last summer and have been advised since that wire welding is a lot easier to do. So, I got a multi-process welder that works amazingly on 110Volt electric from Lincoln Electric. I bought an extra roll of flux-core wire and some set-up magnets. I already have many of the other small tools from the stick welder.
I looked around in the shop and found some angle iron from a tractor implement shipment, and a piece of an old metal table, and welded them together. The first couple of welds were pretty bad as I got used to the speed and amperage of the arc. But once I got it dialed in a bit, I tried some techniques I have watched on YouTube, and got some pretty clean welds as far as the join goes. I need to work out splatter, but I did not clean the metal, so that could be the heart of it. That is the first place to start. I also used the angle grinder to put a cut in the angle iron and bend it down to a 90-degree turn, and weld that into position.
So, it was a decent first go at the welding. It gave results that are better than hot glue. It might be technically poor, but I can work on that. Meanwhile, it certainly adds an exciting new capability to the farm! I have some work to do on the wood hauling trailer, and there are a couple of old pieces of farm equipment that could use a bit of getting together to at least keep them from falling into pieces and getting lost.