billh

Just come up from Brum, through Manchester to Ashton. Very few boats actually on the move anywhere. However, many boats were moored not moving particularly at Nantwich, seemed like miles of boats, many with people aboard .Perhaps " we can't go anywhere cos of water shortage" so staying put. Normal water levels on all canals except part of Rochdale 9 and summit of Ashton (about 6ins down). Slight delays at Audlem with slow boats.

A wood burner?

I visited the abandoned site of Mr Shackleton's boat yard in the early 1980s, I must be mistaken about its location , that is , it wasn't at the junction but further along adjacent to , as I recall ,derelict locks. It was certainly a boaty sort of place with engines and boat parts scattered around- some deal had been done with an aquaintance for purchase of the more valuable items. I see that a railway bridge over the canal was replaced with an embankment , cutting off the canal near the junction, when was this?.Perhaps this was reason for closure of the yard?

Am I correct in thinking there was a boatyard at the junction of this canal in the 1970's? I was told it was owned by a Mr Michael(?) Shackleton who was the grandson of explorer Earnest Shackleton. Can anyone confirm?

Original fuel filter is a felt /metal mesh canister on the side of the engine, it just needs cleaning out from time to time with paraffin or diesel. You would be unlikely to get a new element but doubt you need one.. I can't remember what happens with the oil, it might just have a perforated screen in the sump. I'll have a look at our 1941 vintage loco in a day or two.

The canal doesn't go under the station,though the trams & a couple of streets do. I do agree that the under ground bit of canal is not very pleasant, best to ignore any of the harmless lurkers there. Boating through there earlier this year I was pleased to see it was clean and tidy with most of the lighting in working order. One top gate on the lock (towpath side?) was out of use,stuck closed.

It was £6.50 each way in 1977. In those days you got to share locks with coasters from the ICI, so well worth the expense😀

Though fair to point out that neither place is under the control of Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority, they are in Cheshire, so different rules apply.

Pedestrian access is not permitted at our local (Greater Manchester) re-cycling centres, so turning up with your disposables in a wheelbarrow won't get you anywhere. For example. the huge Bailey Street site in Stalybridge is a couple of hundred yards from the Huddersfield Narrow, but you would have to have a car or van to access.

It will make a lot of different sounds depending on how you set those switches on the back.

Has anyone ever managed to re-fit these magnets to a Shurflo and get it running? They seem to have been glued in with the glue having a finite life. The magnets being magnetic(!) don't want to go where they need to.

AIUI,That water point is not provided by C&RT and you have no "right" to use it. Usually, there's someone around to ask and a polite request is unlikely to be refused.

That implies little or no feed from Rudyard Lake via the Leek branch of the Caldon. Has Rudyard been emptied for safety reasons as well?

No water point below Marple Locks and the secret one at Portland Basin is "unofficial". You might be ok at Portland Basin Marina off line but that could be a faff fo access. Nearest proper one is Fairfield Top Lock if you're heading for Manchester and Grove Road Services up the Huddersfield near lock 8. Facilities provided by C &RT in the area are minimal.🙁

Gearbox now working correctly, thanks to Tracy D's remote diagnosis being spot on.😊 Nil Points to me for incompetant re-assembly, first time round☹️ Thanks again

Aha! Very good suggestion, I didn;t realise it would fit either way, it doesn't look like it would? If it is that , problem is solved, thank you very much, your explanation makes complete sense!

Gearbox was working fine except for a leaking oil seal on the output shaft. decided to replace seal and removed shaft and drive coupling flange but thought I had to remove oil pump as well, this latter was not needed as I found out later. Put a new seal in , replaced shaft and oil pump topped up with oil to full on the dipstick, turning the shaft by hand ok. Start engine,ok, won't go into forward or reverse, the lever is working ok,plenty of travel. Have I got air in the oil system, if so how do I prime the pump? Is it something else I've done? Any suggestions gratefully received ,thanks in advance.

1261lbs with gearbox, I suspect somewhat lighter than eg a JP2M and more powerful. Hi from me,Tom_c 😀 Bill

Plenty of places to turn here: It's a salt works at Weston😄

Thanks both for the information. Here's a link to a cut away carb drawing: http://www.sky-net.org.uk/kelvin/petrol/ricardo/man/index.html Useless fact: The G4 (60HP) engine had 4 carburetors ,1 per cylinder, trying to balance that lot would be a bit of a job😄, I remember struggling with twin SUs on Austin A110 and Jag XJ6. I don't know if any G4s still exist?

The main jet size on this Kelvin carb is marked size "160" Anyone know what the units of size : thous, tenths of thous, mm this figure relates to? The jet appears to be between 0,5 and 1mm ( not measured). I suspect the jet is worn and therefore I'm considering making a new replacement but only if I can resolve "160" to a real life measurement. Any ideas? Thanks in advance.

A monorail system was set up on the Ashton & Peak Forest Canals exactly 50years ago this month. Used in connection with the Ashtac canal restoration event when 800 volunteers descended on the canal to clear it for navigation. Unfortunately, a quantity of the monorail track was stolen after it was dismantled and stored ready for collection by the hire company😧. A couple of weeks after the Ashtac event itself enabled maintainence motor NB Joel to navigate between Portland Basin and Fairfield top lock for the first time since 1962. The whole of the Ashton & Peak Forest was re-opened in 1974.

Hi, You won't be "spinning it on the handle" unless you're built like Charles Atlas. Even with the petrol start and low compression , it's a mighty heavy engine. It should just need to be brought over compression slowly so that the impulse start on the mag drive clicks and fires the petrol. It says something to that effect in the instruction book😀

As an aside, has anyone actually passed boats in Hyde Bank?Although width appears to be ok, the roof profile would be very limiting for modern boats with full length cabins. I have never seen it attempted, I always wait for any boats in the tunnel to emerge.

I have legged a boat through Hyde Bank dozens of times in the past . Getting the boat up to speed with the horse before casting the line off is the secret. The profile of the canal and a 1mph current from Marple means any momentum is soon lost. The leggers need to be ready to work as soon as they are in the tunnel, it is difficult to start the boat from a dead stand when legging. We never used a plank across the boat to leg, far too dangerous.Always from the roof.