Ha! Old & Rusty, that's great- I'm with you on the Stick. Any fool can pull a trigger but it takes a real man to work a stick electrode . OK- I'm being biased here- I'm stick certified but not wire. It is true- you can get greater deposition with wire but whenever I need more rod, I moved up to a 3/16" dia. or 1/4" which can get you a 3/8" fillet in one pass if you know what you're doing.
There's a reason why virtually every stick welding joint configuration is prequalified- It has a 100 year history of satisfactory performance. FCAW, GMAW and TIG welding have not.
What does that mean? If you have a code job that requires your welds to meet a certain spec ie; tensile, etc., stick welds are EXEMPT from procedure qualification testing (for most structural grades). All other processes must go through the wringer with tensile, bend, radiographic and etch tests. Last I checked those tests cost an average of 600$ per joint.
It's the reason why I 'stuck with stick' for our bridge fabrication- less regulatory headache. Will AWS ever exempt Fluxcore or MIG from the same requirements? Perhaps, but I think it may take another 20 years.
Larry- it's true: welding ovens and machines need to be calibrated.. Although- an old fridge with a light bulb makes a great rod oven too. :P