Big J

Haha! Maybe, maybe not. Why do you say that?

I had problems with a Rayburn I had years ago due to the 5" flue. That being said, I'm not convinced that Rayburns are especially efficient and I wouldn't recommend one. Old technology.

Equivilent Ranger was £32k

Good point as regards the spares and the dealer network. The consensus from the Auto press is that Ssangyong are breaking into the mainstream now. The Musso does seem to review better than many of it's competitors, such as the L200, D-Max, Fiat and X Class. It appears to be on a par with the Hilux, Navara and Amarok. As regards the Devon lanes, I am attempting to accommodate the awfulness of the roads by changing my vehicle. I love my 4x4 Sprinter and on normal roads it's fine, and the mpg is fine. Not the case on the lanes, so I am looking to make a change. I'm perfectly entitled to complain about them, as they aren't fit for purpose, but understand that I'm personally making a substantial compromise to make living with them a little less unpleasant.

You're not making a single coherent point. Devon and Cornwall appears to have one of the highest road casualty rates in the UK*. So much of it would be quite avoidable with an improvement in the road transport network. It's not about increasing profits for "capitalists" like myself. It's about improving every aspect of life for everyone. Being able to get to emergency healthcare more quickly, being able to reduce journey times, reduce risk when driving, reduce fuel consumption and improve overall productivity - the list is endless. I have no personal aspirations to make a fortune, rather I see productivity as a means of reducing one's need to work. If you work smart, rather than hard, it allows you to enjoy more time off and for everyone to have a better standard of living. Devon and Cornwall are in places really rather deprived and much of that can be attributed to the isolation caused by 19th century roads. * Car crash hotspots UK - most dangerous areas for collisions revealed | Express.co.uk WWW.EXPRESS.CO.UK THE UK's most dangerous accident hot spots have been revealed. Do you live near one of the most dangerous roads in Britain?

Second generation aren't quite as hideous. Once you delete all the stupid chrome effect bits, they are OK.

Well that is your problem then isn't it. I am entirely within my rights to point out the massive deficiency in the transport infrastructure down here. Having had someone crash into me in recent weeks (I was stationary, they were speeding) as well as experiencing repeated road blockages due to serious accidents in recent months only serves to reinforce that observation. I'm not interested in people saying that the lanes are "twee, charming, part of the character of the county, historic" or any of that nonsense. Roads have a function, which is to get people and goods from point A to point B, safely. If they can't do that, then they aren't fit for purpose. The number of people driving around with half their bumper hanging off is astonishing. Just as I left site last night, a brand new Insignia passed with it's front end caved in. Anyway, does anyone have any experience with the truck?

Does anyone have any experience with the new Musso pickup? The large discounts, the 7 year warranty and 3.5t towing capacity make quite a strong case for themselves, and I'm just a little tired of threading the Sprinter down the Devon lanes. £25k plus VAT gets you top spec on everything, and the dealer was pretty accommodating in terms of getting prices for full underbody guarding and extra spot lights on the front, as well as stripping off all the daft fake chrome bits and sticker motifs. It certainly drove better than the Ranger too, with more interior space (which at my height is vital).

I was making a willy joke, but I admire your steadfast resolve to stay on topic! 😄

It would be very useful to see some photos if at all possible

I heard 5" was pretty average - I mean some people say you need 8", but that's a fallacy! 😄

When green, softwood is often as nearly as heavy, or as heavy as hardwood. A notable exception is hornbeam, which sinks in water. UK hardwoods aren't that slowly grown due to mild winters and ample rainfall. Dry ash and oak are around 650kg/CM but larch can easily be 550kg. Not a huge difference. When running a firewood business, you have to factor in that storage equals cost and the much longer drying time associated with hardwoods costs a great deal, and that often offsets the lower retail cost. Couple that with the much more rapid processing and you've an attractive proposition. In an ideal world, I guess I'd burn an 80/20 softwood hardwood mix. Unfortunately, I'm stuck with 45 cubic metres of ash for the next two winters! 😄

Fair enough. Prices like that don't exist around here and would barely cover the harvesting costs. The lower density of softwood (typically 10-20% less, though BTU output is only 10% down due to higher resin content) is offset by the much more rapid processing. When I had a firewood processor, we could do a cubic meter of softwood (with 20-35cm roundwood stock) in 4 minutes. It's very rare to find hardwood that processes that quickly.

Yes and no, but mostly yes. My interpretation of the rules is that a tree that is dead, dying or dangerous does not require a licence. All trees suffering from ash dieback fall into that category, though walking around a woodland with an FC forester, he said unless it's stone dead, it should have a licence. Given that the timeframe from first symptoms to completely dead is often months, it seems like a daft line to draw, but that was what I was told.

The speed at which is burns is largely down to air control. Keep ontop of that, and it burns more slowly than some hardwoods.