down the north
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All very interesting, I have section Inspectors reports from Lawton Yard, 1888 and mention is made to Bidners upper and lower locks. Could this also be wheelock Top,bottom. It refers to the two together so there's not many other in the Cheshire flight that are 'together' Also re GH Cooke windlass, I'm still uncertain whee they were made; someone said they were made at Middlewich, on the offside opposite where Middlewich narrowboats were. Aslo, I'd heard they were made at Wheelock, and to complicate things further, there was a small round brick building on the Chesh locks that Max Holgate photoghraphed, that could have been a small forge, ( as it had a chimney pot) but where that was I'v no idea .
Our windlass collection at the Museum, Water & Wheels is growing, and we'd be very pleased to display any old marked ones we have no examples of such as, boatmans SUR co, Seddons of Middlewich, GJCCo, GWR, ( stratford canal), S&WCco. Members may have heard I found an Anderton Coy windlass last year ( attached), stamped both sides and previously unknown, also seen a marked' LB Falkner' thanks. Martin.
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I agree to the general, these are bad news, its a solution to a bad idea!! Trad sterns were developed to suite a commercial need where access to engine controls and steering go hand in hand,slick rope throwing to speed up a boats passage, all these are compromised by ugly ( even if they are gold plated) seats on a traditional counter,, if you want comfort, get a boat builder to create a social design where safety is not compromised, ie, wheelhouse, open stern deck,engine to rear so youre not breathing diesel fumes all day. Unfortunately we seem to think that the trad stern is the ONLY stern design available to a boatbuilder about to build your 'dream' boat,,,how wrong and naive can that design process be ! cheers, Martin
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Thanks for all your thoughts on this, firstly grease will generally not penetrate a spindle bearing ; thats why theres a countersunk oil hole on the top of each bearing housing ! ( come on ), The comment ( if everyone did this we would be in a fine mess) strange, as no one would think of oiling paddlegear if it went up and down easily, I certainly wouldnt ! Chain saw oil with tackifiers , has been used by CART as an experiment , but they found it washed off easily with rain. Pollution, well 3 or 4 drops of oil in the water is not going to kill anything ! the BCN years ago was swimming in oil that covered boat sides at water line, and there were still anglers about so in our over concious environmental friendly world we live in, lubricating paddlegear as it has always done is just not going to cause eco meltdown,,, and we all know it !! If paddlegear is too stiff to use, I will oil it !
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Hi All, well the 'season' is nearly upon us,and we'll be struggling to lift the paddles that haven't had oil on them for months !!! as indeed I did last week on Bosley locks. So, the remedy, dont moan, do something about it to assist CART in their much publicised campaign of ' getting involved' All of Bosley I oiled top and bottom, whilst locking through and still traversed the flight in an hour and ten mins. Get an oil can, oil from the waste disposal sites and lube the spindle bearings, generally from both sides as most oil holes are gunged up. The CART policy is; if it aint on the computer system to be oiled , then it wont be. Oiling or rather emulsified bio friendly spray greasing is only scheduled for two times a year. Greasing of course will not easily get into the spindle bearings, and chain saw oil can be bad as it washes off easily, ( depends on type) so I'd guess a mineral sae 60/ 70/ 90 gear oil will do fine,,, if every 10th boat did a little as they pass through, we'd all have easy to operate lockgear and less likelyhood of paddles being left half up. I'll carry on doing my bit, until the prohibition notices go up on the balance beams !! cheers.
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I've read all this and these are my thoughts, correct, theres no limit on navigation at night, excepting certain navigations providing the vessel has navigation lights,,port and starboard to identify edges of the vessel, a small white light midships visible ideally 360 degrees, a stern light, and a tunnel light. Comments about glare are obvious so on mine I have a 100 watt wide beam light that is completely dimmable,and would be dimmed or turned off in a tunnel,, then the small white and red and green take over,, thats what happens in Belgium and Holland. Spots or searchlights are only used where absolutely necessary. so its all about getting kitted out correctly, the licence says have navigation lights, great , no problem, its just common sense, however as commented not all have or think they need nav lights, or realise that a spotlight in a tunnel is bad news,,,, hence my 100 Watter to encourage oncoming boats to turn off close up !!! cheers all, martin
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Hi, Ive seen you have a kabola E7 in a narrowboat? is it not abit OTT or can you turn it down enough? Im wanting a kabola but not sure E5 or E7. thanks Kristian
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Hi , the vid of Ilford being strapped by me was good, not seen it before but the jist of it is to help the gate a bit, let the rope slip round the post as it goes, if you dont, the butty can come to an abrupt stop too early, so conservation of energy is needed in this operation. Once the gate is half way round, I lock the rope giving a direct pull by the butty and this then controls the butty when the gate is shut. As pointed out elsewhere, a pull in line with the boat is pointless and will do nothing, but motor boats that have fenders pointing skyward are not strapping customers, as the strap gets hooked on the fenders , being attached to the opposite dolly. Another problem can be the fender eyes,that hook up the strap, so then we look at the strap size, make it big, inch and a quarter soft poly or nylon. theres so many things that have to be just right for a polished performance, cheers, Martin
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Well, after being a non boat owner for 21 years, I'm almost ready to polish the rust off those cooke windlasses, so could I find fees and an application form on CART's website,,,,, NO, a call to Leeds asking where on the website these 'useful downloads' are, failed to find them, so they're in the post, however today these forms are available, dated at the bottom "issue date 2 july 2012", ! So well done Leeds for acting so promptly, either from my or someone elses enquiry Martin
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I will always start my HA2 with the cold start lever pulled, this is the small round knob on the side of the timing casing, that you lift then pull the speeder rod out to give full fuel on starting. If the rod will come out against the speeder spring action, than as soon as it starts, it will drop back to tick over speed as the governor takes control. assume you're doing this already!! hope its sorted soon, but other comments taken on board re overheating, fuel air leaks etc.
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Hi All, Interesting scenario here. Firstly the RCD will not trip unless an inbalance occure between outgoing phase and returning neutral, which means current will have to go somewhere else!!! ( person, or connection to hull, BUT this will only happen if theres the Neutral to earth connection preceeding the RCD,( so causing an inbalance in L & N currents in the event of a fault. So with a double insulated ( normally meaning plastic case and further isolation by means of a step up transformer or discrete inverter components to produce 230 V)then assuming no Neutral - earth connection, then to get a shock a person will need to contact both live and neutral simultaneously !!!! pretty unlikely. Without this link, then the RCD is doing nothing as previously stated and correct. To be honest I think I personally would go for the NO LINK option as I think making direct contact with both live and neutral ( neither being live or neutral in a double ins system) is pretty unlikely and less likely than a live contact with a linked earth- neutral. I would of course keep all Class 1 earthed appliances connected to hull, just for extra safety so all bonding to hull is achieved, just a few thoughts, any comments.
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Hi all Kubola users, is there a download somewhere for tha E7 kubola ? that I can have a look at. I've checked Kuranda, but cant seem to find the exact E7 manual, thanks in anticipation, martin.
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Cheers david, yes I had the 160 on Anne and it never failed, however would you rent your boat out to a cowboy tug 'steerer',,,,,,, i just wanted to be prepared however never actually had any trouble with it, as you say, bomb proof ,cheers, martin
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many thanks for the tips, and info details,,,, just another question, if it were using 1 gallon, 4.55 litres a day, what KW do you recon it would be giving out ?? I'd guess about 1-2, does that sound right ?? Does anyone know what fuel consumption a E5 or E7 uses per day going flat out ?? thx martin
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Hi Tim,,,,,,,, its actually BRAND new, never been on a boat , never used, straight out of the test shop at Coventry !!! I got it just in case i had a tug breakdown and needed one in a rapid fashion !! I'll check out new current prices and ponder on it, speak soon, thx, martin
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Hi all, i've a spare 3:1 PRM 260, which was bought as a tug spare gearbox,,,, but I'll be selling the tug in the spring ( thrasher as used and abused by L & W ) so I'm on the lookout for an A1 unused 2:1 prm 260 as a direct exchange if theres anyone out there with one. The next boat is 2:1 hence my interest, failing that I'll probably sell it, so its got to go somehow,,, cheers martin
