frahkn

I think that the guy with the beard (is it Michael?) from the 'Minimal List' vlog has been here for several years and is certainly not 'below the radar'. But he is married to an English woman, perhaps that makes the difference.

It means that there is a one day VM between the post and the bridge waiting point. We moored there last year but I agree that our 70' boat would have been an inconvenience to water users or bridge users. Luckily the bridge was broken (and had been for a couple of years) so this was not an issue at the time.

Amazing how a thread can drift! But certainly Cuthound's theory has the ring of truth, for instance cars have 4 wheels and boats often have 4 anodes!

Thanks, that's great. Didn't know they existed but now I've got a set. Be back on the boat in a few weeks. Yes, found them, thanks.

Remember I was talking about the super-rich - the £200 million boat brigade - not the reasonably well-off.

In all honesty, I have yet to see many of the super-rich out on the cut. Of course I cannot deny the concentration of wealth, which is very real, just not a lot of it in narrowboats.

Ray T Thanks very much, really helpful. I might see if Richard would be interested in helping me with a similar arrangement.

Very true of flatpack generally. I still have a flatpack desk which I bought for my daughter when she went to secondary school, more than 30 years ago. It's getting scruffy (has been in my shead for years) but is still sound, supports a heavy vice.

I am very interested in this. Could you say a little more about how the sumps, particularly for the gearbox, are obtained and fitted.

This is only my opinion, maybe I'm just too old. We have done it once, a couple of years ago in a 70' boat. We started from Marple and moored overnight just above the Rochdale 9. We didn't have any problem with the Ashton flight but the "9" were truly horrible. But loads of inexperienced boaters do it every year - so it's probably me.

I use these quite a lot, probably too often for some peoples taste but I always use them with bootlace ferules to strengthen the connection. Too slow, Tony got in first!

There are nuts on some but one in particular has no nut. It passes through the slot in the adjustment bar (suitably washered) but then goes into a threaded hole in the next bar. I was thinking of replacing it with an ordinary bolt if I can ever get it out. The whole assembly is different to the photos in the Beta manual. Thanks, that is useful but I wonder how strong it would be. I had the engine moved during the winter, the fitter must have had a gorilla as an apprentice.

Thanks but I tried the key in my adjustable spanner (10" long) and still did not have the leverage - that was with me standing on it!

Job - Tighten the alternator belt on my Beta 43 Problem - The nuts which need to be loosened are not the usual sort (with hex heads). Instead they are some sort of Allen bolt, round externally with a hole for an 8mm allen key in the head. My allen key won’t work because the nuts are very tight. I have an impact torque wrench set which includes an“allen” type drive 30mm by 8mm and which fit the bolts. There is no room to use the wrench but the 8mm drive fits well in my 8mm socket. The issue is that my small sockets came with a .25 inch ratchet drive. This is only about 6 inches long and does not give me the leverage to shift the bolt. I have a big torque wrench at home or I could buy another (or some type of leverage bar) but my wrench has a .5 inch drive so would not fit the 8mm socket. Question - What is the cheapest way of solving this problem? All advice gratefully accepted.

Is it not this sort of thinking that got us out of the caves? Not that I'm sure that this was an improvement overall. 😉

Thanks everyone. I had the engine moved over the winter and it now has a steel guard over the belts, this makes it a little difficult to measure deflection accurately. I'll have to take it off and try the various suggestions. Probably be back tomorrow.

I have two alternators on my Beta 43 and I think one of the belts is squealing but I'm not sure! About ten seconds after I start the engine there is a loud squealing sound which stops if I rev the engine in neutral for a bit. This is new and getting worse - it now happens every time I start. I am hoping that it is one of the belts (though they seem to have the usual 1 inch play). But I've started to worry that it may be something else, the bearing in the water pump for example. Is this likely?

I will report on my experience but think it's only fair to give it twelve months. I was fairly open minded on the subject and only got the composting toilet because I had to have my pump out removed to accommodate an engine move. It's a learning curve and if it doesn't work out I will go to a cassette.

My composting toilet was installed in February, I promised at the time to report on it and will when it's a year old. Meanwhile I am keeping good records of my experiences. I will just say that to date nothing whatsoever has gone into a waste bin (of any sort). I don't live aboard but do spend six months of the year out and about on the boat.

Thanks very much for the help so far (and I do take the "matches" point) but does anyone have more on the brands issue. Chewbacka has helped with one not to get and Alan has shown me one but I don't know what it is. With the boating and caravan markets, surely there are more than just those in Midland Chandlers?

This makes a lot of sense but I am a bit concerned about losing the oven if my combi failed. Despite the weakness of 12 volt appliances, I look for the extra string to my bow.

Thanks, what kit is this?

I would like to replace my cooker with an eye-level oven and a separate hob. While I have seen several on boats and some in chandlers, there seems to be only a quite limited range available. I would be grateful for advice re brands and about 240v or 12v (for ignition, timers etc). I expect to do this only once so I'm not too worried about price. Thanks. Frank.

While moored behind a "broken" boat on the Leicester arm I saw an RCR team remove an engine and replace it with a new one; all from the towpath. It took all day but I was very impressed.

It's safe enough, there are always other boats in the basin so you are not alone. I have not been during school holidays but it is not in the centre of things so probably not a 'destination' for kids.