I have a really low cost, was on sale for $100 Cdn, welder that absolutely sucked at laying beads, but made awesome BB's. Almost tossed it. Then I changed my wire to Blue Demon. I use .030 as well. I don't have as many settings as the Lincoln's - just min/max, and wire speed from 0 to 10, and the on/off switch. My gun is hot all the time, so I don't wave it about. That change in wire type was like I had swapped out for a totally new machine. I won't be starting any bike builds for a bit - there's some metal work on the property that needs to happen first, but after this change I'm itching to try building now (the bike trailer was my warm up project).
I started with O/A - still have the kit, but prefer it for brazing now. The problem for me, is gas supply. I have a small porta-torch type kit. It's luggable, but not fun to carry, but is only good for about a day of welding - and that's the cut, fit, tack, adjust, weld, think about next bit, repeat type of day. You'd think, in a city, you'd be able to get gas, but the suppliers here all shut down at 4 pm, and aren't open on weekends, when a hobbiest who tends to work Monday to Friday from 9 to 7 has free time to get supplies. The larger tanks for me are out of the question - rental cost alone, never mind the insurance implications. A generator and a FCAW machine will be much much better I think in a field - esp. if what you're welding is quite rusty/greasy or paint covered. FCAW really cuts through that crud. O/A makes a lot of startling pops and bangs, and sets it on fire.