bag 'o' bones

Similar scenario to buying an old car - your inheriting the previous owners list of repairs. The trick is to identify the expensive repairs and agree on a sale price that reflects the existence of those faults (easier said than done) leaving you with a repair budget to bring the boat up to scratch.

Assuming the 3mm holes are tapped you could glue a suitable bolt in and grind it off flush. A plastic bolt would be even easier. Trim it of with a Stanley blade. Plus it renders the hole reusable in the future.

Can't argue with that to be honest!

No. So there.

I think most people agree that the above is a very old an boring joke. In the interests in keeping the thread on track, further references to 'pump out or cassette' will be hidden. Good question hopefully someone will be along shortly with the answer

All depends on which bit of the shroppie shelf your referring to. We used to be moored at betton wood farm line mooring just outside Market Drayton. The shelf was particularly wide. We found that barrow wheels were not wide enough so we used old car wheels instead. We now use extended fenders that drop below the shelf line. Work well and easy to fold away.

I reckon the amount of water flowing down the bywashes at Turley locks on the shroppy would be enough to LED illuminate the flight all night perhaps? Its the cost of maintenance to available power ration that kills off most schemes from what I have read/ heard.

Had a quick look - good website for the favourites list.

So that's how they work. By ensuring the charge rate is kept below the 'safety valve' limit then they won't need topping up. Makes sense. Have another greenie

I wonder what James May would have to say about supposedly intelligent people who are incapable of topping up a battery: 'When people say, "Oh, I'm so impractical. I can't even wire a plug", because they think that makes them sound more intellectual, I think, "No, that means you're thick, because the instructions are on the plug and if you can't do that, you are a moron. Then people say, "I'm very technically minded, but I don't know anything about writing and I can't do punctuation." I think, "No, you're just thick, because those things are quite simple." I'm sure people with properly developed brains can do a bit of both.' Perhaps googling 'how to top up a car battery' might be a good start if your not sure on how to do it. Just to edit from what I can make out the only difference between a sealed and non sealed is the style of the stopper. Sealed batteries still need topping up if the charging method over gasses the electrolyte.

I would be inclined to believe that most people are perfectly capable of unscrewing a battery stopper and topping up the electrolyte to just above the plates with distilled water.

There has been very little if at all mining in the Trench area which the canal runs through (at least till the Trench lock incline) The length between wappenshall and Trench lock is very swampy however, what being on the edge of Eyton on the Weald moor.

Try googling/ebaying 'buck boost regulator'

Loads of archive pictures on The Shrewsbury and Newport Canal Trust website: http://archives.snct.co.uk/default.aspx?aid=68 The guillotine locks on the trench arm have been recently cleared of vegetation by members of the trust this year. The chambers remain in remarkably good condition considering that they have received very little maintenance - if at all - since closure.

Type in 'simplex washer' into ebay. Will bring up versions of what I have under the kitchen sink and still use occasionally.

To contact the mod team: sitecrew@canalworld.net , failing that message us as a group.

I think what Tony is hinting at is that qualifications do not necessarily equate to 'skill'. My Dad used to be a plumber (no qualifications whatsoever) and was surrounded by young lads who had loads of paper qualifications but many of them had very poor practical skills.

If your knowledge of engines is limited, training courses are well worth the cost. Considering the lions share of any job is labour, the amount you will save in servicing and minor repairs will be many times the cost of the maintenance course.

They got their fingers burnt though! There are loads of stories of seriously rotten cars from the period. I think they sorted out the quality issues eventually but not before it damaged their reputation.

Oh well never mind. For the record if your thread is deleted contact the mod team.

You must start reading the thread properly mike: Well that's not strictly true is it? When I look at my email alerts for the aforementioned thread "Recent Events", it shows that you were the last poster, saying "I think that's quite enough" (way after I had left the forum and gone to bed). Then the thread disappeared. You have certainly not PM'ed me to inform, much less explain why it was pulled. Alyson