Matt B

Update: Im going to lift the engine from the back and chock it up so the flange clears its opposite number on the prop shaft as the reduction box needs to come off. I have removed the shaft that engages forward/reverse and can now see that the problem is with one of the shoes which has broken near the hinge at the bottom. It looks like it has been repaired in the past as does the other one. It also looks like both the shoes have only around 1/3 of the lining that they should have, so not sure what that's about. Tim, I will PM re that box in your garden. Its never just a split pin is it!

Yes, sort of hoping that it was the pivot pin, awkward to fit but will only need a new split pin! The arrangement is very tight and when I had to remove the reduction box previously I had to notch out a V from the rudder and draw the prop back to give me room. I may be able to move the engine forward an inch and the prop back an inch so the reduction box can drop back just enough to clear the studs. Im no longer in tidal waters so cant get to the underwater parts. Wish I hadnt bothered welding the notch back in! Thanks for the offer of bits, will let you know how it goes. As the shoes need to come out I presume its worth replacing the friction material? It looks about 4/5mm thick but has presumably been slipping for a while? Matt

Hi, I have a problem with reverse on our 2UC box and wondered if anyone has any pearls of wisdom to offer. It looks like the hinge block that holds the two brake shoes (or the shoe itself) has broken as one of the shoes is loose and when I adjust them (as per the manual) I can see that the stbd shoe is not making contact at the bottom and is generally wobbly. Also its adjusting nut doesn't sit properly in the socket suggesting that it is misaligned . Port side shoe seems fine. Also noticed that the friction material doesn't go right around the shoes, covering just the top third. Pictures in the manual and common sense suggest that it should cover the whole shoe? Maybe they have been over-tightened to compensate for the lack of friction? Anyway, looks like the engine needs to come out as I think the reduction box has to come off to get the top half of the 2UC off. Unless there is a way to remove the brake shoes without removing the top of the box? - ever the optimist. Anyone been through this? Any advice, thoughts, comments welcome. cheers Matt

Thanks for that Matt

Hi Thanks all for your input. According to various definitions a Ryepeck Pole is either a pole used for mooring a punt or to mark the ends of a punt race course. Looking at the size of these the most convincing explanation seems to be that they were used, as described, for mooring maintenance barges. This also ties in with the French écoire. Magnetman, do you have links to said pics? There seems to be little information about the barges that worked the upper ends of the Thames. I've seen pictures of barges that look like oversized punts with various sail rigs or scaled down swim headed lighters/sailing barges, did one evolve from the other? cheers Matt

Hi Yes, no expert here but they look to me to be forged rather than cast. More photos here some of which show the back, My link From pictures, I think Stowers are a lot thinner than these poles would have been, these were obviously made for very heavy work/barges. I wondered if they were used by the Roebuck Ferry at one time or another. Seeing the River in flood today you can see the attraction of having such hefty poles to keep your barge away from the bank. Matt

Hi I have three quant pole ends that came out of the Thames around the site of the Roebuck Ferry. Here's one of them. Thing is they are huge, the largest being 26" long with a pole size of 4.75" The one in the photo is 20" with a pole size of 4.5". The third is smaller. They are all engraved with initials and on the right hand prong with Roman numerals. I have heard of similar sized ones being found but they seem very big to me, not that I have ever used a quant pole but did boatmen really wield 4.75" diameter poles around? I wondered if they were connected with the ferry? Anyway, thought they were quite an interesting find and would be interested to hear if anyone knows if poles of this size were commonly used, and how? Thought I might attach the smaller one to a pole and have a go. Matt