Ham Baker paddles/Hatton Lock 34 Open Day Merged

[X Alan W]

1 minute ago, john6767 said:

The rod is there on all the locks, with varying amounts of white paint.  Someof them also have a U shaped piece of metal on the end of the rod, also painted white, so there is more to see.  It is not that hard to spot when one has been left up, like when we followed 2 hire boats down Stockton and the left both bottom gates open and both paddles up, nice work.

 

2 minutes ago, john6767 said:

The rod is there on all the locks, with varying amounts of white paint.  Someof them also have a U shaped piece of metal on the end of the rod, also painted white, so there is more to see.  It is not that hard to spot when one has been left up, like when we followed 2 hire boats down Stockton and the left both bottom gates open and both paddles up, nice work.

At one time the "diddy"on the Rod end was painted red When BW restored some of Hattan locks & replaced the broken lock ing device with the " Crow foot" piece & chain the "diddy" was painted BW blue guess the paint brush has been weilded a time or two since then

[ditchcrawler]

10 minutes ago, john6767 said:

 , like when we followed 2 hire boats down Stockton and the left both bottom gates open and both paddles up, nice work.

Obviously there dads were working boatmen and told them how to do it.

[john6767]

1 minute ago, X Alan W said:

 

At one time the "diddy"on the Rod end was painted red When BW restored some of Hattan locks & replaced the broken lock ing device with the " Crow foot" piece & chain the "diddy" was painted BW blue guess the paint brush has been weilded a time or two since then

Not seen any of them in anything but white, but some have not been painted for a long time, except the ones near the top off Hatton to make them look nice fore the tourists.

2 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

Obviously there dads were working boatmen and told them how to do it.

Scandinavians I believe, they were in the Two Boats when we eventually got there.  I did not thank them for their help, or for their diligence in sticking to traditional practices.

[ditchcrawler]

18 minutes ago, john6767 said:

 

Scandinavians I believe, they were in the Two Boats when we eventually got there.  I did not thank them for their help, or for their diligence in sticking to traditional practices.

Maybe they have just been reading about working waterways then 

[Iain_S]

On 29/06/2018 at 21:36, RLWP said:

I tend to brake them with my hand

 

For me the problem isn't the ones that drop to quickly, it's the ones that don't drop at all!

 

Richard

You must have tougher hands than mine! (or gloves  )

We didn't find any this time that didn't drop, but a lot that would slam shut if allowed.

 

I noticed that on the round bit of the housing, there is what appears to be an access hatch with a square socket in the centre, with a "open" direction inscribed next to it. Is this for adding oil to provide a braking effect as the cogs spin in it as the paddle descends?

[Tacet]

The paddles seem to drop faster (or at all) in warmer weather; maybe the grease is less viscous.

 

But even when a paddle appears to be falling rapidly - as evidenced by a spinning pinion/windlass square, it is not that quick when you look at the relatively low rate of descent of the indicator rod.  Even allowing for these being big sluices, with the paddles rising/falling a bit further than most locks, the rate of descent of a gravity dropping paddle could well be less than a controlled winding down a more typical rack-and-pinion (only) ground paddle.

[furnessvale]

1 hour ago, Tacet said:

The paddles seem to drop faster (or at all) in warmer weather; maybe the grease is less viscous.

 

But even when a paddle appears to be falling rapidly - as evidenced by a spinning pinion/windlass square, it is not that quick when you look at the relatively low rate of descent of the indicator rod.  Even allowing for these being big sluices, with the paddles rising/falling a bit further than most locks, the rate of descent of a gravity dropping paddle could well be less than a controlled winding down a more typical rack-and-pinion (only) ground paddle.

IMO people may think a Ham Baker is dropping fast but, because it is attached to gears, it is nothing like the speed that an uncontrolled ungeared paddle on standard gates or ground gear can descend.  THAT is where damage can occur.

 

George

[ditchcrawler]

And all the people who think they are hydraulic for some reason