jonesthenuke

So what's this- F'ing scotch mist? Perhaps you should engage brain before letting clutch out on keyboard! Just search BA spanner in RS https://uk.rs-online.com/web/c/?searchTerm=BA+spanner

BA spanners are available, Zoro, RS, Amazon and of course eBay have them. RDG tools have some open ended spanner sets which look ok and they have BA socket sets . Quality spanners from named suppliers are becoming quite expensive (ELORA etc). I am not sure you will find combination spanners. Nuts and bolts are available from model engineering suppliers but again the low demand causes prices to be much higher than equivalent size metric fasteners. Taps and dies are available from model engineering suppliers.

I doubt it, all the Staffs and Worcs lock cottage locations that I know of are alongside the lock.

Gothersley lock cottage on the Staff and Worcs is for sale, though the title "cottage" is somewhat understating the nature of the property. https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/145218935#/?channel=RES_BUY

B.A. threads were mainly used in the even sizes, 0, 2, 4, 6 etc. IIRC the GPO used a lot of the odd numbered sizes in their equipment, apparently to stop them being used for homers by their staff.

When you have chosen the two pack paint system that you are going to use, download and read the instructions carefully. It is highly likely (near certain) that it will specify that the substrate should be shot blasted, usually to a standard of Sa2.5. If you choose to do any less than the paint manufacturer specifies then you are likely to be disappointed by the outcome. Note the same applies to meeting all the requirements, such as ambient temperature, humidity, curing time before re-floating the boat etc. Any boat yard saying they know better and that you do not need to comply with the manufacturer's specification is at best taking a chance and would make me doubt their competence to do the work. After all its worth doing the job properly as it should last many years if done correctly.

At least some of the Perry Barr flight work as originally intended with automatic closure of the lower gates when filling the lock. I tried this last time we went through (about 3 years ago) and the ones I tried all worked. PS I think there is an Andy Tidy Canal-hunter video showing them working.

Just a thought, but are there any derelict locks that would give an idea of construction and design? I am thinking of the scenario where part of the walls have collapsed, thus allowing an insight into brickwork thickness etc.

Similarly on Romney marsh. The roads have ditches along side and the practice was to plant in the ditch sides and bottom, however this is on a far smaller scale than a canal cutting and is this not a model for growing trees in massive cuttings. In recent decades farmers on the Marsh have grubbed out trees and filled in roadside ditches to gain more farmland. Now they complain that the fields get waterlogged and flood in heavy rain such as occurred this week.

Trees do not dewater in the winter when they are not growing so I suggest the effect of trees is minimal at best. Large trees are not required to stabilise the bank, small trees and bushes would do.

I seem to be getting this due to a change in Chrome? I have a link to the .gov.uk river levels site and I persistently got this error, so have had to create a new link to the site and now its repeatedly OK

This does sound like a lack of fuel, embarrassingly we had this issue when I left the fuel line isolated at the tank, the engine ran for quite some Time on what was already in the system. Coasting to a some hundreds of yards down the canal was a surprise. Given what has already been done I suggest removing the bowl from the Amal pump and checking its clean. Then pump fuel through using the lever on the Amal pump making sure the engine cam is not holding the pump arm pressed down (rotate engine a bit if needed). On our 3LW you can feel a change when the pump has filled the system, this gives some indication that the pump is working. Another thought would be to take the air/fuel vent line off the fuel filter and check fuel/air comes out when manually pumping with the AMAL. A word of caution though, on our boat the fuel filter is below the top of the fuel tank, so if the tank is full to the top, fuel flows from the tank continuously so I cannot do this check if the tank is full.

I wonder about the effect of the trees in these cuttings, now allowed to grow very large. On one hand the roots will provide some stabilisation of the bank, on the other, a tree uprooted due to wind causes significant bank damage, perhaps exacerbating the state of the ground which is saturated and ready to slip. So, what would the designer of the cutting have expected in terms of allowing unrestricted tree growth? Is there any evidence that the cuttings were kept clear of large trees in the past?

No room for toe weighting in that cutting. The toe weights at Folkestone warren extend to 50m or more in width. Drains would help but I would think difficult to install.

And my post (chuckle)

OK, so can you tell us the battery voltage whilst doing this? Or, do you have any jump leads? If so, connect the positive on the starter battery to the positive of the domestic battery and then try again to start the engine. Whilst doing this be very careful not to allow either end of the jump lead to touch any metalwork or the negative connections on any of the batteries.

Just a thought but is the battery flat? It would be worth measuring the starter battery voltage if you have a meter. Take a reading on the battery with controls switched off and again when trying to start.

Just for information, I believe these Beta engines to be a Kubota engines, and a friend has one in a narrowboat, his manual says keep the valve open. However the Kubota manual for this range of engines says to keep the bleed valve shut ( I have one in a digger). I can see arguments for either state, but it may depend on the installation, particularly the fuel supply (Gravity, electric lift pump, mechanical lift pump). The digger has an electric lift pump.

I wonder what this means "A step-change in income generation from towpath users and other supporters is targeted". I would be impressed if they can raise significant money from Joe Public on the towpath.

If the priming levers are not showing any resistance before starting after being left for some time, does this perhaps point to defective non-return valves in the injection pump? On our engine the priming levers are stiff and pumping through the injector on the first or second pull even after leaving the engine shutdown for weeks. Otherwise, it's perhaps the injectors or the pump elements. You can get some idea of leakage through these by seeing how the priming lever slowly continues to move down after being brought to the point where resistance is felt by maintaining the same force on the lever (just less than the force required to open the injector. Gardner provided details of how to test the pump elements as shown in the attached. I made this test equipment and it convinced me to get the pump on our engine serviced as it confirmed that one of the pump elements was worn pump element tests.pdf

Event by Bradley Canal Restoration Society Walsall Canal, Nr Moorcroft Junction, access from Bilston Road A4098, meeting under Metro Bridge. What 3 Words location: chairs.they.others If you have any spare time, come along and get muddy Duration: 5 hr The objectives for this work party are as follows: - To clear visible canal of vegetative obstructions and Detritus, - To remove overgrowth from the canal banks and pathways, - To manage low level re-growth, - To expose brickwork along the water way edges, - To clear the waterway of rubbish and debris. Events will occur at roughly monthly intervals thereafter Admins, please remove or relocate to another area if appropriate.

Its a mechanical seal. see this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/End-face_mechanical_seal. If its worn it will not seal and the only solution is replacement parts

Disconnect the hot/ smelly battery immediately. Its probably got a shorted cell and the other batteries will continue to feed current into it until its removed. Also ensure plenty of ventilation, the hydrogen sulphide is poisonous if in a high concentration.

We have the same unit of much the same age. I would be very interested to see how you get on.