Then again, some folks are really good at what they do. I tested a welder today...2" sch 80, tig root and hot, 7018 fill and cap. He welded his test, cut and prepped the bend straps and made himself a pair of wedges (while I bent the coupons) all in one hour and 15 minutes...He is a true craftsman. I Loved watching him work, no wasted movements, did everything methodically, with out running around like some ferret on Meth.
Figure 5 hours of actual work time out of 8 hours, that's gives 22 seconds per weld. The MIG weld can be made at about 30 ipm which takes about 8 seconds, so that leaves 14 seconds for the loading/unloading handling time. This is possible with some simple mechanization and manual loading.