There's a little town a few miles away from my sisters farm, probably little more than a dozen people there. And there's a mechanic there who knows how to weld things. And when I say he knows how to weld stuff, he really knows his shit. I've seen him weld and stabilize the base of a large wood saw by adding plates to it and letting them expand. He took a small portable engine, one that at the most takes two people to lift, added wheels to it, a bar for pulling it, and two bars right in the middle of it to carry it. He modified a snow blower, welding on extra parts near the blades to keep everything stable. The guy has about 70 year's worth of mechanical knowledge on just about anything and everything, and knows how to weld, really, really well. If he wasn't so far away, I'd almost consider asking him to teach me what he knows. The dude has three chalkboards filled with mathematical equations and his half finished, custom built hovercraft in his garage. Welding is handy to know.