Hauling on an angle…. But solo….

[JAA]

Some slightly awkward bucket wrestling has made me wonder if anyone with a more mechanical mind than the one I possess has found a way to haul a bucket so that its path up the shaft is angled for the first 10m following “lift off”? It only needs to be held about 1 foot out from vertical…
The obvious answer is someone else at the bottom to use a line to guide its ascent but is there a way of rigging it up so it can be achieved by one person hauling on their own?…..

 

[mikem]

Not if it's only for part of the haul without significant hangup potential. An angled guidewire can work though

 

[georgenorth]

I think you need to work on your marketing skills to attract more people to TH Jamie.

I hear that on a chums dig you have to queue up to have a chance at hauling a bucket.

 

[JAA]

I think you need to work on your marketing skills to attract more people to TH Jamie.

I hear that on a chums dig you have to queue up to have a chance at hauling a bucket.

I believe @Badlad’s treadmill to no where has folk queuing up you’re quite right @georgenorth! Bob tells me sometimes they get to touch his planks. Lucky devils. I can only dream of such things over in the bad lands of kingsdale.

 

[Pie Muncher]

Some slightly awkward bucket wrestling has made me wonder if anyone with a more mechanical mind than the one I possess has found a way to haul a bucket so that its path up the shaft is angled for the first 10m following “lift off”? It only needs to be held about 1 foot out from vertical…
The obvious answer is someone else at the bottom to use a line to guide its ascent but is there a way of rigging it up so it can be achieved by one person hauling on their own?…..

Yes there is! At least it should work.
You'll need two ropes and a fixed point above the first haul to give a clear lift. Attach a pully and have one rope(Rope One) from the surface down through the pulley to the bottom attached to the bucket. Attach another rope(Rope 2) to the bucket fed direct from the surface.

Load bucket, pull on Ropes 1 and 2, when Rope 1 gets to the pulley, continue pulling only Rope 2. Rope 1 will feed back down through pulley.

Never tried it but the theory works for me

 

[aricooperdavis]

I'm not sure I understand Pie Muncher's suggestion... can we have a diagram?

The easiest way that I can think of to achieve this would be to rig some fixed ropes as guiderails that would hold the bucket in the right place as it travels up. If these ropes move apart as the bucket ascends they would at some point naturally release it.

I think it would take an awful lot of fiddling to get this to work as intended though (you'd want minimal rope stretch, so very static cord under great tension would work best) and it wouldn't work on the way back down (I'm not sure if that is important?).

How long is the haul in total?

 

[Pie Muncher]

 

[aricooperdavis]

I see, that makes sense, as long as you can get an anchor in to give a clear haul for the bottom 10m

 

[Maj]

What is the reason for wanting 1ft off vertical? Is it to clear an obstruction or to prevent dislodging debris from the walls?
What are you hauling up - skips of spoil, boulders in a boulder net or more delicate things like tools or diving bottles?
If just to pass an obstruction, can you put whatever you're hauling into a streamlined skip that will more easily pass the obstacle?
Who's loading the rope with the item to haul if a single person operation? Would it be easier to do the haul in two stages?
One of the problems we have found in the past is too much time and effort wasted on coming up with engineering solutions to make making hauling operations marginally easier only to find the time would've been better spent actually getting on with digging/hauling.
KISS applies!

 

[Maj]

To add - we use 20/25 litre containers with a window cut out of the side. The rounded corners of the skip allow it to slide over most obstacles. They are light weight, easily sourced, minimum of fabrication (cut hole in side), crab easily attached to handle, when worn out just replace with another.
Prefer to use opaque non white ones. White ones suffer more from ultraviolet light degradation - although most of the time they are kept in the dark underground.

 

[alanw]

Pie Muncher's solution also addresses the problem that while hauling up past a ledge with a single rope might work, albeit with some rub, the bucket can get stuck on the ledge on the way back down. Providing the pulley is above the ledge, a tug on rope 1 will unstuck it.

 

[braveduck]

I do a drag and lift bucket ,that would probably work .

 

[Steve Clark]

Drop a traffic cone over the bucket. Rope through the hole.

 

[mikem]

Pie Muncher's set up will suffer when trying to get rope 1 back down through the attachment. If there was a bottom anchor, then a continuous loop of rope could be fixed off vertical, but that does depend on the relative dimensions of open width to height available - neither are perfect if you wish to avoid dislodging the walls.

Presumably you want to free up the lower person to collect the next load, as hauling your drill etc up could be simply achieved by having a rope with knot at bottom and another at point where angle changes, you lower stuff on higher knot, then climb down to it, switch to bottom knot and lower rest of way, then reverse it for exit.

 

[Badlad]

I believe @Badlad’s treadmill to no where has folk queuing up you’re quite right @georgenorth! Bob tells me sometimes they get to touch his planks. Lucky devils. I can only dream of such things over in the bad lands of kingsdale.

You have to make digging fun, open to all and have the prospect of caverns measureless to man. Not to mention some success every now and again. Kingsdale has great prospects still. Forget technical nonsense and start offering bribes such as free beer, cake, medals etc

 

[cavemanmike]

Everyone loves a badge

 

[JAA]

You have to make digging fun, open to all and have the prospect of caverns measureless to man. Not to mention some success every now and again. Kingsdale has great prospects still. Forget technical nonsense and start offering bribes such as free beer, cake, medals etc

A medal made of cake!

 

[TheBitterEnd]

You have to make digging fun

 

[mikem]

Obviously not if you're at the bitter end, but further back it can be...