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Gotta get me a Keb


MoominPapa

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After struggling to remove a tyre from the cill of a lock on the Hanwell flight using a cabin shaft, I'm finally motivated to get a keb.

 

Any suggestions on the best way to obtain one, for CCers without a regular address?

 

I've seen suggestions that the thing to buy is a "manure drag", and there seem to be plenty of those on Ebay, but the maximum handle length is 1.75m, which strikes me as possibly a bit short. Keb owners, how long is your handle?

 

MP.

 

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Interesting, I noticed in the 80s that kebs were quite common at GU locks.  Then in the 90s they started disappearing, now they're quite lacking anywhere.

 

I imagine a combination of some people thinking "That looks useful!" and Waterways not replacing those that snap.

As to how to obtain one? No idea.

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29 minutes ago, MoominPapa said:

.................but the maximum handle length is 1.75m, which strikes me as possibly a bit short. Keb owners, how long is your handle

 

Well their greatest use is probably to be able to drag stuff out from behind lock gates that will not swing fully into the recess, or to clear stuff off lock cills that is stopping gates shutting against them.

 

Obviously it depends on the depth of a lock, but I'd say having one with less than a minimum of 12 feet of shaft would highly limit its usefulness.

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4 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Why not just buy the 'head' (£7.50) and put your own shaft on it ?

 

https://erichunter-tools.co.uk/ega-drag-fork-head-only.html

 

14099__.jpg

That's rather lightweight, as it is only designed for a 28mm shaft, (little more than 1"), which really will not be strong enough.

A "real" keb would have a shaft the same size as a standard boat long shaft, namely more like 2" diameter

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Hi,

 

I actually had a Keb, but that was Nb. named Keb! - real Kebs are useful, but bearing in mind 'H&S' difficult to store. You need a long one! and bearing in mind how often you would use it, I would try to make one which fitted on the end of a  Boat shaft or quanting pole.........and then removed when not needed. Bit like one shaft fits several garden tools (Wolf range?)......... Some umbrella fixing could be used for this.

l.

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1 hour ago, Scholar Gypsy said:

Last time I had this problem (coping stone on the cill on Tame Valley) I used my small anchor (one of those folding 4 prong jobbies) to move it.

So they do have uses then ;)

 

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4 hours ago, Scholar Gypsy said:

Last time I had this problem (coping stone on the cill on Tame Valley) I used my small anchor (one of those folding 4 prong jobbies) to move it.

Magnifico!

 

Credit to you for some lateral thinking! I tried a 'proper' keb left by a lock once and it was a pain to manipulate - even my agricultural home version is awkward. Let a length of line do the work of a heavy handle.

 

 

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I actually forged my Keb head from an old socket handled fork head, and fitted the longest handle I could find , which was about 8ft long, which are unfortunately no longer readily available, althioughi did find an aAgricyultural Tool Supplier in South Molton who stocked tem, but would only supply to trade customers.

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Keb came to rescue twice to day going down the Basingstoke.

 

Two 62 footers could not exit lock so ranger appeared with proper long Keb and swept the lower cill.

 

Saved us from refilling locks and singling out. Had 50mm aluminium pole.

 

Coming up, had three locks same... waste of water. Keb could have sorted.

Edited by mark99
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On 16/05/2019 at 13:48, alan_fincher said:

That's rather lightweight, as it is only designed for a 28mm shaft, (little more than 1"), which really will not be strong enough.

A "real" keb would have a shaft the same size as a standard boat long shaft, namely more like 2" diameter

On same site there are drags with 38 mm shaft

https://erichunter-tools.co.uk/standard-drag-fork.html

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15 hours ago, AndrewIC said:

And this site advertises long ash poles, but they ain’t cheap!

https://www.arthurbeale.co.uk/acatalog/Staves--Poles-.html

 

Snap 'em up before all the ash trees disappear!     Seriously though, over £70 for a 12 ft barge pole?  Many of my garden tools have home-made ash shafts - a bit rough and ready but perfectly serviceable.  The saplings behind the house are already showing signs of ash dieback, but I'm sure I could make a 12ft bargepole for the boat.  May be a problem on the train, though.

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Saw a diff keb yesterday.

 

Keb was armed not with fork tynes but a coal shovel bent at 90 degrees at the socket. Prob specifically for the Basingstoke where it removed out of the way the stuff used to caulk the gates which finds its way behind lower gates.

 

Anyway it worked well allowing both gates to be opened so boats could just about single out.

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We have a long keb. It lies along Rudd's cabin and engine hole with the the prongs going down the back of the back end rail. The shaft is a length of bannister rail which has a flat where the wall brackets would fit.

The wielder knows where the prongs are because the flat and the prongs are aligned. The wood is only softwood but when it degrades it isn't expensive to change.

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On 17/05/2019 at 23:19, AndrewIC said:

And this site advertises long ash poles, but they ain’t cheap!

https://www.arthurbeale.co.uk/acatalog/Staves--Poles-.html

I can't recall what the 12 to 16 foot ash poles, 2" diameter, cost that are being sold via Brinklow Boat Services, but trust me they are massively better value than this.

They would make ideal handles for a proper keb head, but would be too big for these much less heavy duty manure rakes that people are posting links to here.

Horses for courses, really, depending on expected use.  I personally have never thought of using a full sized keb to drag stuff off the blades.

2 minutes ago, TimYoung said:

The wielder knows where the prongs are because the flat and the prongs are aligned. The wood is only softwood but when it degrades it isn't expensive to change.

 

Useful!

Similar clues to "which was is the hook pointing" would be very useful on a short shaft as well.

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