Log Boats - ancient inland navigation

[tree monkey]

On 2017-5-28 at 18:57, Pluto said:

The L&LC minutes noted: 1801-11-12 Timber can no longer be rafted due to damage.

Followed by: 1804-11-13 Timber can be rafted from Top Locks, Burscough, if they are 3 baulks deep, to compete with trade through Preston, but only by agreement with the Liverpool agent.

They do not seem to have been used for carrying goods, with the Bridgewater Canal having decked boats, with cargo carried on deck, from a very early stage.

Timber rafting was used extensively on European rivers, and there are several excellent German books on the subject. I ave been told that timber was floated down the Main and Rhine to The Netherlands in rafts of up to 1km in length, worked by at least 40 or 50 men, with the owner of the wood having a wooden house onboard to keep an eye on things, and as a base for selling at the end of the journey. There were raftmen's guilds going back centuries, in much the same way as boatmen's guilds on the Rhine, Mosel and Danube.

 

 

In New Zealand and likely in the states on the smaller rivers they would dam the river and build up the felled timber behind the dam, untill both enough water and timber had built up, then just release the dam sending the timber down the valley.

It must have been incredible to see as well as very destructive the the valley sides.

Sorry off topic

[MtB]

On 5/22/2017 at 16:24, Pluto said:

Log boats seem to have been found all over the country on both tidal and non-tidal waters, with dating suggesting usage for a couple of thousand years, up to 1000AD. 

 

This is of course, complete twaddle. Log boats are still in regular commercial use today. 

Here's a photo of one, taken recently:

 

[Pluto]

16 hours ago, tree monkey said:

In New Zealand and likely in the states on the smaller rivers they would dam the river and build up the felled timber behind the dam, untill both enough water and timber had built up, then just release the dam sending the timber down the valley.

It must have been incredible to see as well as very destructive the the valley sides.

Sorry off topic

This was a system widely used in Bavaria and Austria, particularly for firewood. There seem to be several Triftklause, the dam and gate, surviving. Below is one I visited in 1995. There were also narrow canals for logs, the best known being the Schwartzenburger Schwemmkanal on the border between Czech Republic and Austria which includes a tunnel,seen below, as does one I have recently been told about to the south of Vienna.

[tree monkey]

22 minutes ago, Pluto said:

This was a system widely used in Bavaria and Austria, particularly for firewood. There seem to be several Triftklause, the dam and gate, surviving. Below is one I visited in 1995. There were also narrow canals for logs, the best known being the Schwartzenburger Schwemmkanal on the border between Czech Republic and Austria which includes a tunnel,seen below, as does one I have recently been told about to the south of Vienna.

Intresting,  the remains I saw in NZ were much cruder

[Pluto]

40 minutes ago, tree monkey said:

Intresting,  the remains I saw in NZ were much cruder

The Bavarian and Austrian ones were probably more important to the state as they were supplying the respective capital cities and other areas with wood for heating and industry, so consequently built in a substantial manner.