Look, it is that serious. Free heat is free heat, and if your scrap gets hot enough to weld, you've already won. Paying for coal when you've got a pile of waste wood that works just fine feels like a dumb tax. Sure, it takes more fussing with the fire, but that's half the fun anyway. The job gets done for the cost of your time, and that's a good trade.
Exactly, and it's not like coal is some magic heat bullet. I've gotten steel to a nice orange with just scrap pallet wood and a decent air source. The fuss is part of the craft, not a bug.