Heavy lifting onboard

[Slim]

14 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

I guess it depends on your definition of 'older age'.

I've reached the "3-score years and ten" bracket and the bones creak and groan but it surprising how you can adapt the way you do things, it may be a slower method, ie use a sack truck to carry your gas cylinder rather than sling it over your shoulder, but its easier on the body.

From personal experience things just seem to accelerate rapidly after that point. 10 years ago, bag of coal in each hand, 5 years ago bag of coal in one hand. Now, the firelighters to go with the coal.  Come back in 5-10 years with an update. 

[Sea Dog]

Coal and gas are the only regular handling issues aren't they?  Any other heavy lifts are rare enough to get help with rather than fitting ot carrying specialist equipment other than a sack barrow.

 

Our gas locker is in the form of a side hatch, for which I regularly praise Piper boats. I think avoiding the hole in the foredeck gas locker solves one of the most awkward lifts aboard, but a retrofit solution is probably impractical.

 

Last week took delivery of a tonne of Oxbow Red at home on a pallet of 100 x 10kg bags. That made such a difference to handling, and would be a real boon aboard for that and for storage too, but I've not seen that option on the coal boats I try to give my business to, but it's such an improvement I may have to look at that option a bit further. Not the petrol station 10kg bags though - they always seem both exorbitant and poor quality.

[ditchcrawler]

I don't have coal, gas or a cassette to lift in and out of the boat, all would be a problem

[Laurie Booth]

On 27/11/2023 at 22:26, GUMPY said:

Get coal in 10kg bags 

And gas in 10kg Flogas lite cylinders

🤔

Yep, Aldi do good 10kg bags of coal, which I use.

[magnetman]

14 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

Coal and gas are the only regular handling issues aren't they?  Any other heavy lifts are rare enough to get help with rather than fitting ot carrying specialist equipment other than a sack barrow.

 

Our gas locker is in the form of a side hatch, for which I regularly praise Piper boats. I think avoiding the hole in the foredeck gas locker solves one of the most awkward lifts aboard, but a retrofit solution is probably impractical.

 

Last week took delivery of a tonne of Oxbow Red at home on a pallet of 100 x 10kg bags. That made such a difference to handling, and would be a real boon aboard for that and for storage too, but I've not seen that option on the coal boats I try to give my business to, but it's such an improvement I may have to look at that option a bit further. Not the petrol station 10kg bags though - they always seem both exorbitant and poor quality.

 

Indeed if a coal boat sold 10kg bags and just cruised around all the time I think they would shift a lot of coal. I suppose there would be more pilfering...

 

I really like the 10kg bags. I have used Homefire and Brazier both a bit rubbishy but 10kg bag is the way to go. 

 

A side hatch gas locker is a Good Idea. 

 

 

Edited November 29, 2023 by magnetman

[wakey_wake]

On 28/11/2023 at 11:23, blackrose said:

Personally my approach is to exercise regularly and keep myself physically fit so I'm still able to lift the things I need to. [...]

I can still unload a tonne of coal from a pallet [...] Afterwards I'm knackered but it's like doing a good workout. 

 

People on this forum have scoffed at me for having exercise equipment onboard my boat. I know it's not really practical on a narrowboat but I get the feeling that fitness isn't really a priority for most boaters who seem to think that doing a few locks will keep them fit.

To me this seems sensible, even necessary. Humans don't function properly if they don't get off the sofa. I would interpret scoffing as the next steps on the path of disapproval of others for no valid reason and/or denial of one's own need for exercise. 🤦‍♂️

 

More weirdly, this gym membership lark?!

In the past one might be paid a little for doing heavy labour, unless it's DIY work.

Now it's "normal" to pay a gym to go and labour there. For athletes like the big chap posted above that is necessary, but it seems pretty specialised to need that?

Yes I've been a gym member in places but really never got into it...  I don't like it.

 

Currently I'm using lack of headroom in the narrowboat as an excuse for not lifting these here dumbells. I'm trying to break out of that by keeping 10kg near the kettle, which I use regularly 😁 - a tip from this chap https://www.youtube.com/@DrChatterjeeRangan/ who I would recommend listening to.

@blackrose I would appreciate any suggestions for compact strength maintenance.

 

 

On 28/11/2023 at 11:23, blackrose said:

Since this is a thread about the decline of physical strength and ability I'm surprised nobody has mentioned regular exercise as a way of retarding physical decline. Once you've reached a certain age and let it go it's quite difficult to get that strength and fitness back.

Not just physical decline, but mental decline. I don't understand the details, I'm not sure modern science fully understands the details, but the link is getting clearer. Keeping the muscles reduces brain decline.

WP: Brain-derived neurotrophic factor

Probably there is more to it than that, but BDNF is getting scrutiny or maybe becoming the fashionable thing to talk about in some circles.

 

On 28/11/2023 at 02:27, wakey_wake said:

People is still a really handy technology for moving things, as long as you can get enough of them / a big enough one to do it!

Here I was trying not to say "if you're too old to move your gas bottles, then you should have exercised more" because that's really not helpful.

 

If the joints & heart will take it, I believe strength exercises are beneficial at any age (I'm not a doctor) but that won't get everyone back to full independence.

Having other people around willing to help is the oldest assistive technology and one of the strengths of humankind.

 

 

On 28/11/2023 at 11:41, Jen-in-Wellies said:

Go green and replace your engine with the bike. Either with some Heath Robinson set of pulleys to the prop shaft, or on the tow path and a rope to the boat. You'll need some very low gears and grippy tyres for towpath cycle boat towing.

I'm sure you're joking about towing by bike. The gearing ratios & balance problem are impractical for bicycle towing, never mind the grip.

But the towing... I was thinking about using the Mark 2 feet i.e. with a protective shoe, like a horse but smaller -

  

On 27/11/2023 at 13:40, wakey_wake said:

I wondered whether I could tow the boat (55ft steel nb) myself, thereby giving exercise some purpose, and so I had got as far as wondering about steering and stopping. [...]

 

Bicycles are designed for velocity ratio i.e. bringing groceries back from the village shop. Just pick the right tech for the job. 😁

[Jen-in-Wellies]

13 minutes ago, wakey_wake said:

I'm sure you're joking about towing by bike. The gearing ratios & balance problem are impractical for bicycle towing, never mind the grip.

But the towing... I was thinking about using the Mark 2 feet i.e. with a protective shoe, like a horse but smaller -

If you found that post weird, you'll love this one.

 

[Mad Harold]

On 28/11/2023 at 11:32, IanD said:

 

You're lucky having enough space on your wideboat to fit exercise equipment in, as you say it's not really practical on a narrowboat.

 

If not for the fact it would probably result in abusive posts in response, I'd suggest that one of the easiest ways to preserve some fitness with ageing is to do what I did during lockdown and take up cycling (again) -- canals provide a ready-made facility for doing this, and there's no traffic to worry about... 😉

Really Ian, use your imagination.

What is is the most efficatious excersise a gentleman should take?

 

A clue.It usually involves a woman.😛

[wakey_wake]

23 hours ago, Sea Dog said:

Our gas locker is in the form of a side hatch, for which I regularly praise Piper boats. I think avoiding the hole in the foredeck gas locker solves one of the most awkward lifts aboard, but a retrofit solution is probably impractical.

I haven't noticed a side hatch gas locker - gas lockers are not among the things I ogle of other people's. 😁

At the stern with a cruiser deck, opening above the gunnels, or some other pattern?

Seems like it could be more inconvenient if if the opening side is not where you want it - either to the towpath or the fuel boat.

But yes, mine's stuck under the pointy end, with the nice glossy paintwork to stand on. 🏊‍♂️

 

11 minutes ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

If you found that post weird, you'll love this one.

Ooh nice. It's a long thread, it's in my reading queue (which grows faster than it shrinks).

My first thought is, if you have a rope out to the tractor then might as well run the electricity down it too. No point having expensive batteries on the tractor; but it will need to weigh well over 50kg just for grip.

[IanD]

2 minutes ago, Mad Harold said:

Really Ian, use your imagination.

What is is the most efficatious excersise a gentleman should take?

 

A clue.It usually involves a woman.😛

 

I assume you mean cycling on a tandem with her, since the other obvious exercise candidate makes very little difference to fitness?

 

Some might even find a ride on a tandem more enjoyable, if only because it lasts a lot longer... 😉

Edited November 30, 2023 by IanD

[magnetman]

@wakey_wake

 

If you are seriously interested in slowing down mental decline I can suggest not living on a narrow boat. 

 

I did it for 13 yars before I fully understood the terribly detrimental effects. Now I have actually been living on non narrow boats for longer than I lived on narrow boats and its all starting to sort itself out. 

 

 

There is light at the end of the tunnel ,(Thinking Blisworth not Standedge). However don't get a generic wide beam or it will make it even worse. 

 

 

 

[wakey_wake]

3 minutes ago, Mad Harold said:

What is is the most efficatious excersise a gentleman should take?

On a point of disorder, the word should be effingcacious. It can also mean "really quite surprisingly efficacious". 🤣

[magnetman]

There were towpath tractors back in the day. 

 

 

[LadyG]

On 29/11/2023 at 09:29, Sir Percy said:

Sorry to hear that. I was starting to doubt my original thought that it would have been a problem for some boaters facing older age until your reply. 

I'm 77 and won't be leaving my warm cosy and peacefull tiny home for a while. I don't want to have to sit in a cold brick house wrapped in electric blanket for a few years yet.

[Jerra]

I am 77 and live ashore but I don't sit in a cold brick house wrapped in an electric blanket.  I wander all over the house in my shirt sleeves often having to turn the heating down.

 

The house is well insulated and so keeps nice and snug.

[Graham and Jo]

I built a crane to get my gas bottles out as it was cheaper than employing my physiotherapist. It consists of a standard scaffolding jib, a pole, a winch and some clamps to clamp it to the front deck, there is also a socket in the front seats. 

 

Downside, assembly is a bore, the pole itself is a bit on the heavy side and the winch strictly speaking is not cleared for lifting. The picture shows the first winch which was actually a puller, I replaced it with the sort of thing you use to winch a dingy onto a trailer.

 

It works and I have saved a fortune.

 

Cheers Graham

[Sir Percy]

24 minutes ago, Graham and Jo said:

I built a crane to get my gas bottles out as it was cheaper than employing my physiotherapist. It consists of a standard scaffolding jib, a pole, a winch and some clamps to clamp it to the front deck, there is also a socket in the front seats. 

 

Downside, assembly is a bore, the pole itself is a bit on the heavy side and the winch strictly speaking is not cleared for lifting. The picture shows the first winch which was actually a puller, I replaced it with the sort of thing you use to winch a dingy onto a trailer.

 

It works and I have saved a fortune.

 

Cheers Graham

There you go, I knew it was possible. Nice one.

 

I looked around at swing jibs and price was in the hundreds.

Edited November 30, 2023 by Sir Percy
add

[magnetman]

That is wicked, or as the kids these days would say 'hey thats so sick'.

 

 

[ditchcrawler]

There has been one on the bows of Elizabeth for years, I dont know if it was for lifting gas bottles.

[GUMPY]

10 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

There has been one on the bows of Elizabeth for years, I dont know if it was for lifting gas bottles.

It was for lifting Jim's motorbike on and off. 

[David Mack]

15 hours ago, Graham and Jo said:

I built a crane to get my gas bottles out as it was cheaper than employing my physiotherapist. It consists of a standard scaffolding jib, a pole, a winch and some clamps to clamp it to the front deck, there is also a socket in the front seats. 

 

Downside, assembly is a bore, the pole itself is a bit on the heavy side and the winch strictly speaking is not cleared for lifting. The picture shows the first winch which was actually a puller, I replaced it with the sort of thing you use to winch a dingy onto a trailer.

 

It works and I have saved a fortune.

 

Cheers Graham

Did you have sockets both sides of the boat?

[Slim]

18 hours ago, Jerra said:

I am 77 and live ashore but I don't sit in a cold brick house wrapped in an electric blanket.  I wander all over the house in my shirt sleeves often having to turn the heating down.

 

The house is well insulated and so keeps nice and snug.

I was going to reply in a similar vein. 

[Jerra]

8 minutes ago, Slim said:

I was going to reply in a similar vein. 

The idea of cold houses IMO ranks alongside the gongoozlers who think boats are cold and damp in winter.

[magnetman]

If anyone asks me is the boat cold in winter I say "Yes if there is no heating but I light the fire as a way of dealing with this problem".

 

 

[Graham and Jo]

1 hour ago, David Mack said:

Did you have sockets both sides of the boat?

Yes. So I can load either side. Cheers Graham