Help wanted near Kidderminster

[Tam & Di]

A heavy-duty Spyrobase ground anchor like this would probably be a suitable fixing point for a Tirfor winch - I don't think the hoop on this particular model would be up to it but there are others, or it could be left with a couple of inches above ground and the winch attached below the hoop. As they screw into the ground they don't disturb the ground as much as hammering something in. They are used for things like circus tents and have to be guaranteed not to shift (but can also be screwed out again when the time comes).

 

Tam

 

Edited November 4, 2022 by Tam & Di

[Alan de Enfield]

26 minutes ago, IanD said:

The problem isn't the thing to do the pulling, it's the lack of anything sufficiently strong (and close enough) to attach it to, see photo above... 😞

 

Maybe I misread, but he said he had already had a 'team of 3' on the other side pulling on a rope - add in the length of Tirfor wire-rope and he can reach the big trees (I'm sure he mentioned those)

[Tam & Di]

I can just imagine the ad in a month or two "For Sale - beautiful narrow boat on a permanent mooring"  😁

 

Tam

[bizzard]

Contact the RAF at Brize Norton or USAF at Milden Hall. They have Chinook jellycopters which should lift the boat enough to free it. Not joking, they sometimes want a challenge and something proper like this to do instead of just flying about wasting time, fuel and our taxes.

[IanD]

21 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

Maybe I misread, but he said he had already had a 'team of 3' on the other side pulling on a rope - add in the length of Tirfor wire-rope and he can reach the big trees (I'm sure he mentioned those)

If he can get up the 10' stone wall and find a big enough tree close enough you might be right. But I doubt that any anchor strong enough can be devised on the towpath opposite, which is what keeps getting suggested.

 

[photo removed at Andrew's request]

 

I can't help feeling that something like a jack which can push the boat away from the piled bank right next to it is going to be easier than trying to pull it from the opposite side of the cut -- never mind the hazard to any passing boats of a tight (wire?) rope stretched across the canal... 😞

Edited November 4, 2022 by IanD

[jonesthenuke]

31 minutes ago, IanD said:

 

But where would you attach it? Andrew has already explained the problem with this approach... 😞

There are large trees on the towpath bank. A tirfor should come with sufficient wire rope to reach.

Have CRT been asked to help, e.g. with raising the water level?

 

[bizzard]

19 minutes ago, IanD said:

If he can get up the 10' stone wall and find a big enough tree close enough you might be right. But I doubt that any anchor strong enough can be devised on the towpath opposite, which is what keeps getting suggested.

 

[photo removed at Andrew's request]

 

I can't help feeling that something like a jack which can push the boat away from the piled bank right next to it is going to be easier than trying to pull it from the opposite side of the cut -- never mind the hazard to any passing boats of a tight (wire?) rope stretched across the canal... 😞

Vehicle body Hydraulic hand operated PortaPower for example

[Ken X]

A manual Hi-Lift jack has a stroke of four or five feet and could drop down between the boat and the armco. The base could push against the boat with a timber spreader and the carriage hook press against the atmco, with a ratchet strap to hold it down in engagement if nervous about it jumping up. Max load is two tons which should be enough.

[IanD]

A couple of good and practical suggestions there... 🙂

[Graham Davis]

The suggestion by Bizzard of a Porta-Power hydraulic "jack" seems very sensible and would be easy to use. 

 

Edited November 4, 2022 by Graham Davis

[ditchcrawler]

How about calling RCR they are supposed to be experts at refloating boats

[matty40s]

Lots of rain again in the morning, that's how you got there, try the plank method, if you dont, don't bother to ask again.

[Slim]

9 hours ago, IanD said:

 

But where would you attach it? Andrew has already explained the problem with this approach... 😞

Would it be at all possible to dig in an anchor on the tow path side? Long story but I got a yacht off a mud bank (more a field) once. 

[Tracy D'arth]

Put a line of bricks on the weir top to raise the level.

[Slim]

9 hours ago, bizzard said:

Contact the RAF at Brize Norton or USAF at Milden Hall. They have Chinook jellycopters which should lift the boat enough to free it. Not joking, they sometimes want a challenge and something proper like this to do instead of just flying about wasting time, fuel and our taxes.

Nah! Suella Braverman got there first.

 

Apologies to OP 

[Stroudwater1]

I’ve pulled out large trees with roots using a tirfor attached to a rope then slung high round an ash tree 50 or more yards away. It’s looks remarkably unlikely to work but the power of tirfirs is very significant even in that set up.
 

You can hire them very cheaply. The rope sure “sung” under tension  a bit but we managed to pull 15 laurel trees 50 + years old out plus a very old conifer with all the roots attached. Keep your eyes shut just in case the rope snaps and pings into you and wear thick clothing plus gloves  goggles too but it’s fairly unlikely to snap overall. 

As others keep saying there must be a way of damming up the bywash by the next lock and simply raise the pounds water level. I don’t know which lock and bywash is nearest but IIRC the nice S&W weirs/bywash many locks have rely on a hole through which the water then flows into the bywash area with the grated circular or fan shaped weirs.
 

Polythene, wood and ash blocking that hole on the lock / main canal side should allow a fairly fast rise in water level to get you off even with a long pound. As we know water constantly flows down the S&W from Wolverhampton at a fair rate, just listen to it pouring in past Aldersley. 

[Victor Vectis]

Tirfors have a shear pin(s?) at the bottom of the handle and these are supposed to give before the rope does.

 

Well, thats what I was told when we used then at the pit.

[MtB]

What puzzles me in this thread is the way the OP steadfastly dismisses all proposed solutions due to the unusual location, whilst at the same time refusing to allow photos of said odd-sounding situation to be posted.

 

With a photo, the problem might be better understood and a practical solution developed.

 

 

 

[koukouvagia]

I do sympathise.  The only time I've really and truly got stuck was on the Leicester line.  I moved over to give an oncoming boat more room and got held firm on a great lump of concrete.  None of the usual methods worked, including using rocking, shifting ballast, using a cabin shaft as a lever (it broke) and a Tirfor  (because of the angle it simply pulled the boat over to an alarming degreee).  In the end it took the combined power of three passing boats to haul it off).

Not much help, I admit to the OP.  Best  of luck.

 

[MtB]

1 minute ago, koukouvagia said:

I do sympathise.  The only time I've really and truly got stuck was on the Leicester line.  I moved over to give an oncoming boat more room and got held firm on a great lump of concrete. 

 

I've had this to a lesser extent on several occasions, where I've moved over without realising I'm floating in the slightly deeper-than-normal water from the water surge ahead of the oncoming boat*. Then when the boat passes and water levels return to normal, I've settled onto the bottom and had the Devil's own job reversing off and getting under way again. 

 

It can pay not to be too accommodating in moving aside for a boat coming the other way! Just another of the more subtle things to be aware of when out boating. 

 

 

* Or it might be a combination of my own bow surge AND that of the oncoming boat. 

 

 

[Tony Brooks]

I think I read it is on a small arm with piling either side. If so then maybe a rope could be anchored to one side of the arm at the front of the boat, a rope passed around the boat (stern is back in, front bulkhead if front in) and tied off to a winch, vehicle or even more strong lads on the other side. That should allow a good pull on the boat to move it. Apart from rope friction I have a feeling it would be a 2:1 pull as well.

[Stilllearning]

11 hours ago, Tracy D'arth said:

Put a line of bricks on the weir top to raise the level.

That does sound like the simplest answer, with perhaps as I believe he reversed into the side arm that he has stuck the stern in, some heavy bods sat on the bows of the boat so as to raise the stern.

[MtB]

11 hours ago, Tracy D'arth said:

Put a line of bricks on the weir top to raise the level.

 

Good idea. 

 

The hardest bit for the OP will be finding enough bricks and carrying them <however far> to the overspill.

 

He might find enough bicks in his bilges. 

 

 

[haggis]

If the boat is stuck in mud would putting a rope under the bows and taking it along the boat with a sawing action to break the seal between mud and boat work?  It would need a couple of strong guys to work the rope along under the boat but might work

[MtB]

13 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

I think I read it is on a small arm with piling either side. If so then maybe a rope could be anchored to one side of the arm at the front of the boat, a rope passed around the boat (stern is back in, front bulkhead if front in) and tied off to a winch, vehicle or even more strong lads on the other side. That should allow a good pull on the boat to move it. Apart from rope friction I have a feeling it would be a 2:1 pull as well.

 

 

This seems a good idea, if that is the actual situation. 

 

Greasing the rope where it passes around the stern would substantially reduce the rope friction you mention.