[Jeffy]

Another vote for kitbot here.

Our first year, we built the kit bot, bolted it together,and got it running. About week 3, we tried to weld it together. Removing all the bolts saved about 6 pounds. However, it left us with a warped and unusable frame. And we had to "copy" the kit bot out of the 1.5" square al tubing we had. It turned out fine for us, but it was a close call.

As per the welding, it can be done without warping, by an experienced welder, and with some braces. If you want to weld it, you can cut some 1" thick pieces of wood that fit inside the channels in the tubing and span across the "channel" that the drivetrain is ussualy located in. Clamp it all together, and you should have a solid base to weld together.

Good luck this year!