Best combination of cost and safety for my one-man logging/milling endeavor?

[Mestak]

p.s. I'd love to have a welder and the know-how to make one of these myself, but I just don't.

Well...  No time like the present!  

<snip>

As far as the quick hitch, have you looked at a Pat's Quick Hitch?  

I'm thinking about it. I would love to be able to fabricate the heavier duty stuff and work out a decent forwarding trailer. Just have a lot of learning curve ahead of me already with the logging and milling and wary of taking on too much.

I have seen Pat's and they seem well-liked and work for a lot of folks. The only reason I'd lean towards the Harbor Freight quick hitch is that I thought it might do double duty as an entry-level skidding hitch. Used in conjunction with tongs and chains and with a trailing log hauler like the one I posted above or a Logrite.

[rusticretreater]

I looked at the prices for some of the logging arches and dollies and decided to build my own.  My reasoning is as it is with many major projects.  I can buy the equipment and materials to make it for the around the same cost or less and I still have the equipment to use in the future.

I bought a highly rated Fourney mig flux core starter welder that can do up to 1/4 inch thick.  I did have to install a 20amp outlet, but it still ran on 120v. Then I got an Evolution metal chop saw.  You will need either a chop saw or a motorized hack saw.  My first welds weren't all that pretty, but I soon got the hang of it.  And if you have a angle grinder, you can remove all the bad stuff so your final work looks pretty.



 
I got one of these for $100 off Amazon and it works great.

You might also consider a log skidding cone.

[Oddman]

The ability to "stick metal together" for farm duty can be picked up pretty quickly, becoming an actual weldor is a whole other deal obviously. Great videos on youYou for learning, and I've some books with good info. The old log boom I use was cobbled together decades ago with some scrap steel, a torch, and an old buzz box...and it survives use behind our 85hp Mahindra pulling some big oak.
That said, we can only take on so much at once and still make any headway. Making the decision on what's priority can be difficult. 

[thecfarm]

We have a, what kind of welder should I buy thread too.  ;)  :D
Just makes sure it runs on 220. I had a 110 for a while. The 220 is much better. I could not run The C Farm without one.

[doc henderson]

you can take a class at a junior college.  buy the best one you can afford if you are young.  I have had my miller 250x for 30 years now.  

[47sawdust]

I took a welding class at a local high school 15 years ago and have never regretted it.
220 mig. a set of torches,handheld bandsaw and assorted hand tools and I can build/repair just about  anything I need.
I also have 2 good machine shops close by to fab the stuff that is beyond my ability.

[TroyC]

Just makes sure it runs on 220. I had a 110 for a while

Agree on the 220V. For starting out (after some instruction of course) I'd go with a 175 amp mig welder with argon/co2 shielding gas. You'll find it easy to master and it will do 95% of what you need around a farm or woodmill. I find the mig does much better for me than the arc, but the 225A Lincoln arc welder is a solid machine and affordable. The arc requires a knack to master the arc length but is usually what you'll start out on at a welding class.

For about $1,000 you can get into a decent welder, chop saw, and some grinders and such. You can quickly pay for the investments by making an arch, 3 point hitch, etc. Only problem is the price of steel lately.....:(

I'd shy away from the $100 HF flux core wire machines. They will not handle bushogs and thicker metals.