How much weight is it safe to store on a narrowboat roof?

[Tony1]

23 minutes ago, tree monkey said:

That means either your invite to the goose grease gang has been lost in the post or more unfortunately you have been found lacking in moral fiber by the committee and you will never be able to enter the special restricted areas of the forum

 

What a man (or Morlock) does with his goose grease is his own affair, but I will not have it stuck in my face (or anywhere else). 

 

 

 

 

34 minutes ago, IanD said:

 

The goose grease you put on underneath your undergarments in winter...

 

My first reaction was disgust, but if Putin invades anyone else this winter then I might have to stop using the stove and buy a big tub of goose grease. 

 

[MtB]

2 hours ago, Machpoint005 said:

 

And if the CG gets above the metacentre, very bad indeed..

 

 

Isn't that the head office of FaceBook?

 

 

 

 

 

2 hours ago, tree monkey said:

lacking in moral fiber

 

 

Some sort of vegan food suppliment, is that? 

 

 

[robtheplod]

4 hours ago, Tracy D'arth said:

Get a camel and some straw.....

Buckaroo!    

[cuthound]

7 hours ago, Tony1 said:

 

Winter is coming, as so many people are fond of saying with a Winterfell accent (which it turns out is identical to the modern Sheffield accent).

 

Anyhoo, bags of coal will soon start appearing on the roofs of boats all over the place, and so the question has arisen (in my mind anyway) of how many bags it is safe to store up there. 

In a heated debate with another boater, I decided to plump for 10 x 25kg bags as my own estimated safe-ish limit, but this reckless fool was insistent that he would be fine with 25 bags on his roof, adding that he will not be cruising through any locks or busy locations this winter. 

The discussion was tragically cut short by a lack of beer, but I feel it may be taken up again before too long.  

But before I can tell him he is a blithering idiot (as he richly deserves) I need some scientific data from the experts here, ideally with clever sounding phrases like 'righting moment'- that sort of thing.

A few horror stories of boats capsizing because of weight on the roof would be the icing on the cake.

So over to our experts- how much coal is too much? 

 

 

Swap your boat for an unconverted ex-working boat. That way you can carry up to 20 tons of coal without having to put any on the roof...

 

[Tony1]

21 minutes ago, cuthound said:

 

Swap your boat for an unconverted ex-working boat. That way you can carry up to 20 tons of coal without having to put any on the roof...

 

 

It might be quite romantic to sleep on top of a pile of coal under the stars etc, but with those boats its mandatory to wear a waistcoat, neckerchief, and boatman's cap from the 1930s, and I'm allergic to cosplay. 

 

Edited September 12, 2023 by Tony1

[TheBiscuits]

9 hours ago, Mad Harold said:

If you can afford one, would a Reflex diesel stove be better for long term fuel storage?

 

Nah, you'd only get two or three bags of coal on top of a Refleks ...

[Tony1]

10 hours ago, Mad Harold said:

If you can afford one, would a Reflex diesel stove be better for long term fuel storage?

 

I would like a diesel stove as it would remove the need for coal (and all the resulting dust), but for me personally, the price of them is so high that its not really worth making the change.  

 

[adam1uk]

21 hours ago, Tony1 said:

 

I like the plan, but I'm wondering if my wife might be persuaded to conduct the rocking tests whilst I stand on the bank recording the results with a clipboard.

One slight snag is that I don't currently have a wife, but given my immense charm and good looks, that should be solvable. 

How much does it cost to insure a wife these days? 

 

 

But have you got a clipboard?

[Tony1]

39 minutes ago, adam1uk said:

But have you got a clipboard?

 

Yep, got the clipboard ready- just need the wife.

I have considered using the approach of Papa Lazarou to acquire a boat wife, but I dont think it would work on female boaters. 

 

[Hudds Lad]

1 hour ago, Tony1 said:

 

Yep, got the clipboard ready- just need the wife.

I have considered using the approach of Papa Lazarou to acquire a boat wife, but I dont think it would work on female boaters. 

 

That's a tricky one, there's a high likelihood that "Dave" actually would be there, plus it must be tempting to use all those pegs as kindling in the meantime.

The old caveman approach of clubbing them with a Calder & Hebble Handspike and dragging them back to your boat is also troublesome.

You could always take a leaf from the birdlife of the Amazon and wear your bestest and brightest clothing and enact an elaborate dance on the roof of your boat, taking care not to trip over any solar panels or vast stacks of coal. A well-placed teapot may also help  

[Tony1]

16 minutes ago, Hudds Lad said:

 

You could always take a leaf from the birdlife of the Amazon and wear your bestest and brightest clothing and enact an elaborate dance on the roof of your boat, taking care not to trip over any solar panels or vast stacks of coal. A well-placed teapot may also help  

 

 

Alas, I am in such a poor state that the teapot would have to be filled with military-grade hallucinogenic drugs for this idea to work. 

There are also some H+S concerns, i.e.  as soon as the drug wore off I would be beaten to a pulp by the female boater. In an ideal world I would prefer to survive the encounter. 

 

Edited September 13, 2023 by Tony1

[IanD]

1 hour ago, Tony1 said:

 

Alas, I am in such a poor state that the teapot would have to be filled with military-grade hallucinogenic drugs for this idea to work. 

There are also some H+S concerns, i.e.  as soon as the drug wore off I would be beaten to a pulp by the female boater. In an ideal world I would prefer to survive the encounter. 

 

 

I suspect the teapot is more likely to attract another gaudily attired male boater... 😉

[blackrose]

I've had nearly a full tonne on the roof of my 57' X 12' widebeam but I've got able 8 tonnes of ballast in the bilges. For a narrow boat of the same length I probably wouldn't put more than about 15 X 25kg bags on the roof but if you want to calculate it you'd need to know how much ballast you've got.

[Tony1]

23 minutes ago, IanD said:

 

I suspect the teapot is more likely to attract another gaudily attired male boater... 😉

 

To be honest, I can't stand tea. I can only drink coffee. So I don't think a spouse attracted by this method would be in any way compatible. 

It's not that I don't trust tea drinkers, obviously. I'm not tea-ist. I just wish they'd do it in private. 

I wouldn't rule out a relationship with a tea drinker who converted to coffee, but I feel it would be a rocky road.... 

 

Edited September 13, 2023 by Tony1

[IanD]

Just now, Tony1 said:

 

To be honest, I can't stand tea. I can only drink coffee. So I don't think a spouse attracted by this method would be in any way compatible. 

It's not that I don't trust tea drinkers, obviously. I'm not tea-ist. I just wish they'd do it in private. 

I wouldn't rule out a relationship with a tea drinker who converted to coffee, but I'm not sure I could ever trust them.... 

 

 

I think you're missing the (alleged) significance of a teapot on the roof... 😉

[Tony1]

5 minutes ago, IanD said:

 

I think you're missing the (alleged) significance of a teapot on the roof... 😉

 

Ah. Oh I seeeee.....

Even though I'm straight, I'd say that a gay male wife would be preferable to female tea drinking wife, if my back was to the wall.

Which it would be for a lot of the time. 

 

Edited September 13, 2023 by Tony1

[IanD]

2 minutes ago, Tony1 said:

 

Ah. Oh I seeeee.....

Although, I'd say that a gay male wife would be preferable to female tea drinking wife, if my back was to the wall.

Which it would be for a lot of the time. 

 

Ooh, I hope you're wearing asbestos underpants... 😉

[Tony1]

1 minute ago, IanD said:

Ooh, I hope you're wearing asbestos underpants... 😉

 

I have several pairs on order anyway, they will be mandatory for lithium battery owners next year. 

 

[nicknorman]

It’s interesting the difference a bit of weight on the roof makes. Our boat is deep drafted and perfect in nearly every way(!). But it is surprisingly tender. Certainly so compared to other Hudsons. I put this down to having an extra 2” on the cabin sides to give 6’5” internal headroom so that I could stand up in it. And Steve liked plenty of reinforcing steel framework for the roof.

When we put 6 troughs /pots of flowers on the roof in the summer, it makes a noticeable difference. All this bearing in mind the % of extra weight is minimal for a near- 20 tonne boat. We have never had coal on the roof but I would try to keep it to a minimum, not so much so that it doesn’t capsize but so it is not annoyingly tender in deep water.

[dave moore]

As  staunch traditionalist, I far prefer to keep the cabin top free of everything but essential bits of kit. Bags of fuel, planters etc are a no no for me. As far as the coal bags are concerned, unless they have air space beneath , are a prime culprit for causing paint failure. I’ve seen it more than once. Just saying….

[Tony1]

17 minutes ago, dave moore said:

 As far as the coal bags are concerned, unless they have air space beneath , are a prime culprit for causing paint failure. I’ve seen it more than once. Just saying….

 

Yep, I found out the hard way that coal bags on the roof will damage the paint, if you don't have some sort of thick protective sheet in place. 

 

[blackrose]

2 hours ago, Tony1 said:

 

Yep, I found out the hard way that coal bags on the roof will damage the paint, if you don't have some sort of thick protective sheet in place. 

 

 

I think Dave was talking about water being trapped between the bags and the roof and lifting the paint but the coal bags will also scrape the paint if you're not careful. I used to use those rubber scraper mats with holes. They prevent trapped water and also the paint from being scraped.

Edited September 13, 2023 by blackrose

[nbfiresprite]

Simple rent a mooring next to a coal yard, One available at the moment In March by the railway bridge next to the coal yard. These moorings are not owned by the loon with the T54.

[Tony1]

9 hours ago, nbfiresprite said:

Simple rent a mooring next to a coal yard, One available at the moment In March by the railway bridge next to the coal yard. These moorings are not owned by the loon with the T54.

 

That brings back memories- I went through March about a week after I got my boat in 2020.

I remember thinking it was a really nice little town, but didn't stay long as I was on a long trip up to the Northwest.

I'm not looking for a mooring, but just out of interest, do you know roughly how much they are asking for that mooring spot in March?