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What size wheels for Shroppie?


nikvah

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Hi All,

I have recently moved my home mooring to the Shroppie Middlewich branch and need to buy some barrow wheels to keep me out from the concrete banks and underwater ledges.

What size wheels are best? I'd like to get the minimum diameter necessary but think 10" might not be enough.

Thanks for the useful replies.

Cheers, Nik

 

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4 minutes ago, Hudds Lad said:

we have a couple of gokart tyres that attach to the fenders, have worked in about 95% of the places we've moored on the Shroppie and its branches

This sounds ideal do you know what diameter they are? Meanwhile I will dig out my rubber fenders from the locker as suggested by DHutch - cheers.

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9 minutes ago, frangar said:

I’ve got normal wheelbarrow wheels and never had a issue mooring with them on a the shroppie....however here on the Huddersfield Narrow Canal I could do with some tractor wheels.....

just don't pop along to any cricket matches in Linthwaite and you'll be ok, although a few pints in The Sair and you won't really care either way :D

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The 'Shroppie Shelf' is not a regular step profile, but varies in the depth below the water, the thickness and the width.  Gokart tyres can be useful, as they sink, but they will often fall below the shelf or roll into a gap between a couple of projections.  Wheelbarrow wheels (8") work in most places, but are not wide enough for some.  They are easy to store though.  Car wheels will hold you off the shelf in most places, but are more cumbersome to deal with, and they leave quite a gap between the bank and the side of the boat.

 

My experience? I've moored on the Shroppie for about 26 years and have tried most things.  On piling the usual sort of rope fenders are fine, fitted with a variable length rope to adjust for variations, but nine times out of ten if I am on the shelf I use wheelbarrow wheels.  The other alternative is knowing where to moor; places to avoid and places that are good moorings.

 

On my mooring, which is on the Shroppie main line but on the offside,  I have some very wide tyres which I hang down on chains fixed to a pin buried just behind the concrete edge.

 

You can get plastic wheelbarrow wheels and tyres on eBay quite cheap.  Wide tyres can be got from a tyre place who will be pleased to have you take them away as they cost them about a £1 to dispose of (legally).  Tyres off a Range Rover Sport or similar should be big enough for your permanent mooring.

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Are you intending to use tyres on wheels,ie floating? Quite heavy and awkward to tie a rope to. Never had a problem on the Shroppy finding somewhere to moor that needed anything bigger than my mini tyres. Some bank edges would need at least 60/70mm to keep the boat away from the concrete.

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When we did it, we had some wheelbarrow wheels (8" with a normal size tyre) and it was okay for about 85% of the Shroppie mainline. The Llangollen and the Middlewich branch are a bit better, so probably 95% of those. At the mooring itself, it was one of the places they weren't big enough, so had 13" wheels + tyres there, which were fine. But we couldn't fit those into the front locker so carried the wheelbarrow ones instead. I'd say 13" wheels could do say 98% of the mainline. 

 

Remember on the mainline itself, there's tons of 48h visitor moorings, and these tend to have a prepared bank so normal fenders would be okay here most of the time - but those 8" wheels were handy for the times the fenders weren't quite big enough.

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We use the larger (10"?) wheelbarrow wheels. Fine at most places on Shroppie, but one or two places could do with bigger.
One geezer once had a go at me for using such floating tyres, as he claimed they were a nuisance where the canal was narrow. I pointed out that the wheels I used where maybe a couple of inches wider than the shelf that my boat would otherwise touch.  

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Thanks for the replies - all useful and even tho' there are plenty of 48hr moorings, many enhanced by the SCS with pic-nic benches and bbqs, we're those boaters who moor in splendid isolation, mainly because our cat is all too regularly chased up trees by passing dogs (last time stuck near Wightwick for 3 days on our way up).

So I think I'll go for these https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-x-10-PNEUMATIC-SACK-TRUCK-TROLLEY-WHEEL-BARROW-TYRE-TYRES-WHEELS-4-10-3-5-4-0/282485527788?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649

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9 hours ago, frangar said:

I’ve got normal wheelbarrow wheels and never had a issue mooring with them on a the shroppie....however here on the Huddersfield Narrow Canal I could do with some tractor wheels.....

They would be great. Your very own transportable mooring landing to get ashore.

8 hours ago, Ray T said:

Don't know what size these wheels are but should do the job.

Tunnel Tug.jpeg

Ah trainer wheels, They could be offered by hire companies as an option for first time hirers.

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On 11/08/2019 at 15:22, nikvah said:

Hi All,

I have recently moved my home mooring to the Shroppie Middlewich branch and need to buy some barrow wheels to keep me out from the concrete banks and underwater ledges.

What size wheels are best? I'd like to get the minimum diameter necessary but think 10" might not be enough.

Thanks for the useful replies.

Cheers, Nik

 

If its your home mooring why not just measure it

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1 hour ago, ditchcrawler said:

If its your home mooring why not just measure it

My home mooring has pontoons, no problem. I meant that now I'll be cruising in that area I want to keep off the ledges of towpath moorings and thought someone might suggest the smallest size wheels that would do the job. Sorry if the phrasing is not clear?.

Cheers.

Edited by nikvah
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