Pawls

[BWM]

1 hour ago, philjw said:

It's interesting that all of the castings seem to be broken in the same place. This looks more deliberate than accidental to me and I would have thought that it would have needed something heavier than a windlass to break that thickness of cast iron, brittle as it is.  The gear was designed to drop slowly so once the ratched was released there would be no need to en-engage it again. Another one of those mysteries lost in the past.

I'm sure you are correct, and would hazard a guess that as the cog that engaged with the pawl wore out, replacing it would be expensive and involve stripping down to remove as it appears to be part of the entire spindle arrangement. 

[jenevers]

4 hours ago, Rob-M said:

I always leave them down and like to hear the click.

Me too. A sound I am sure was heard throughout the Canal world over a hundred years ago. A link to the past.

[BWM]

2 hours ago, jenevers said:

YouTube “Canals in Britain in the 1950’s Flm 5749”  12.40 minutes .......pawls engaged.

The difference being that when these waterways were in commercial use the maintenance would have been reactive, many of those lifting pawls to save wear and tear would have experienced canals in decline. A situation that has in many areas is returning, with breakages not being addressed and a more likely solution being a bag taped over the paddle gear for a couple of years. 

[X Alan W]

The first time I boated work wise on the GU with Ham Baker gear there were still half dozen or so still with original pawls that would have been early 1958

[Ray T]

Difficult to make out but doesn't appear to have the chain & claw.

Could be wrong as the second picture does.

 

Pictures from CRT Archive.

Edited January 23, 2019 by Ray T

[Dorlan]

11 hours ago, jenevers said:

How many of you lift a pawl as you wind a paddle up?

I always leave it alone. To me the whole idea is to stop a paddle dropping if the windlass slips of while winding, but I see lots of boaters and staff hold it away from the mechanism until the paddle is fully up.........why? Don’t they like the clicking sound?

The 'Waterways Code for Boaters', published by BWB and reprinted in 1992, has the following "safety advice"...

Quote

"On the rack and pinion type (of paddle gear) always engage the safety catch before winding up the paddles. This stops the gears slipping back down."

Edited January 23, 2019 by Dorlan

[nikvah]

There are quite a few locks on the system with an adjacent lock cottage, now an idyllic private residence, where I think that idyll must pall with the repeated rattle of pawls.

[jenevers]

31 minutes ago, nikvah said:

There are quite a few locks on the system with an adjacent lock cottage, now an idyllic private residence, where I think that idyll must pall with the repeated rattle of pawls.

Bit like those annoying church bells that village newcomers sometimes complain about?

[blackrose]

16 hours ago, alan_fincher said:

I very much doubt working boatmen always put the pawl on before winding, but I haven't got the time to go searching for photos that proved they didn't.

 

 

 

Where does this notion come from that we should be seeking to emulate everything that working boatmen did? I think we need to question that premise because they engaged in some practices that are simply not acceptable anymore, so let's get over this idea that everything they did was correct.

Edited January 24, 2019 by blackrose

[GUMPY]

For my part I just wind up paddles as I find them pawls on or off it doesn't matter.

If possible I always flip pawl off  before lowering paddle and leave it off.

Most times I will lower bottom gate paddles with no windlass using my hand as a brake on the shaft.

I used to lower ground paddles the same way but age now prevents that.

[jenevers]

4 hours ago, blackrose said:

 

Where does this notion come from that we should be seeking to emulate everything that working boatmen did? I think we need to question that premise because they engaged in some practices that are simply not acceptable anymore, so let's get over this idea that everything they did was correct.

Which practices aren’t acceptable anymore?

[dave moore]

I’m interested too......

[Boater Sam]

Ramming open lock gates, stealing vegetables from fields, looting the cargo..................

[BEngo]

Leaving gates open and paddles up?

Boring the top gate with the motor stem, or taking a run at it to get the gate open earlier?

Lifting paddles before shutting t'other end gates?

N

[Naughty Cal]

Emptying the gusunder into the ditch.

[Boater Sam]

Gates left open was normal on most canals.

Letting paddles drop, a cardinal sin, my crew has to walk to the next lock if they accidentally do that.

[jonathanA]

I think that all lock operations need to be approached with care and eyes open. 

 

Personally I always like to engage the pawl when lifting, but holding it off whilst winding up does mean you have a method of control.  Winding up / down with the pawl completely off seems foolhardy to me. 

 

I was always shown and always instruct others to hold the pawl in one hand ready to engage it when lowering paddles. Broken jaws and missing teeth being a tad inconvenient if a spinning windlass hits you in the gob.

[RLWP]

18 hours ago, furnessvale said:

This is an extremely dangerous modification which CRT has agreed should never have been fitted.  However, CRT have also said they cannot find the Manpower (money) to remove those already fitted.  Sadly, the word does not seem to have reached all parts of the empire and the occasional new one still appears.  Fortunately for CRT, civic minded boaters are gradually doing the job for them and removing these appendages.

 

George

[alan_fincher]

18 hours ago, furnessvale said:

This is an extremely dangerous modification which CRT has agreed should never have been fitted.  However, CRT have also said they cannot find the Manpower (money) to remove those already fitted.  Sadly, the word does not seem to have reached all parts of the empire and the occasional new one still appears.  Fortunately for CRT, civic minded boaters are gradually doing the job for them and removing these appendages.

 

George

Yes,

Highly dissapointing that CRT have said they will stop doing this, but new paddle gear continues to actually manufacture and fit some paddle gear having them.

 

I've not actually taken a hack saw to any, but it wouldn't seem an unreasonable thing to do.

[RLWP]

6 minutes ago, alan_fincher said:

Yes,

Highly dissapointing that CRT have said they will stop doing this, but new paddle gear continues to actually manufacture and fit some paddle gear having them.

 

I've not actually taken a hack saw to any, but it wouldn't seem an unreasonable thing to do.

I can't imagine anyone has hooked the end of their windlass over the tag and bent it back out of the way...

[alan_fincher]

3 minutes ago, RLWP said:

I can't imagine anyone has hooked the end of their windlass over the tag and bent it back out of the way...

 

Probably with a steel windlass, but having had a head or two snap off of alloy ones, I'm not sure Iwould!

[X Alan W]

10 hours ago, nikvah said:

There are quite a few locks on the system with an adjacent lock cottage, now an idyllic private residence, where I think that idyll must pall with the repeated rattle of pawls.

Buuuuuuuut the rattling paddle gear was there long before the cottage became an idylic hidey hole

[Keeping Up]

Personally I always let the pawl rattle on the ratchet while winding a paddle up. That way I know that if the windlass should slip the shaft will not spin and the paddle will not fall all the way back down.

 

When I lower a paddle, if possible I flip the pawl right back so that I have two hands available - one for the windlass and one free (for extra effort if required, for holding on to a railing if required, for keeping people out of the way if required, etc etc). I was always taught that it is best then to leave the pawl in that position because it helps ensure that the paddle remains fully lowered. However, I have had numerous arguments with lockies (usually the vollies) who insist that the pawl must be re-engaged when I have finished "in case the next user forgets to do so". As far as I am concerned it is their responsibility to do that, not mine

.

[Theo]

20 hours ago, furnessvale said:

This is an extremely dangerous modification which CRT has agreed should never have been fitted.  However, CRT have also said they cannot find the Manpower (money) to remove those already fitted.  Sadly, the word does not seem to have reached all parts of the empire and the occasional new one still appears.  Fortunately for CRT, civic minded boaters are gradually doing the job for them and removing these appendages.

 

George

Battery powered angle grinder?  It would only take a minute or two.

[bizzard]

7 minutes ago, Theo said:

Battery powered angle grinder?  It would only take a minute or two.

An angle grinder would be too high geared with little torque. A very low geared drill would probably work