You Need a Head for Heights...
- Thread starter Mint
- Start date
Thinking of coming out of retirement for 2 days a year mate
Not a chance Andy, I don't think I could do it for any moneyThinking of coming out of retirement for 2 days a year mate
I don't mind heights mate but that's just on a different level. I'd have 'disco' legs half way upNot a chance Andy, I don't think I could do it for any money
They would have to double the money for me Andy, it would take all day to get up there, sleep the night and come down the next day .............. 
Tony.
Tony.
I don't think I could do a pit descent to those depths. I'm a bit claustrophobic and would need to be sedated
I couldn't be a miner
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- Feb 18, 2016
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- Model of Z
- Z3M Imola and Z4 (e89)
I used to go down to 1020m at the pit I was at, and 4 miles into the coal face.I don't think I could do a pit descent to those depths. I'm a bit claustrophobic and would need to be sedated
I couldn't be a miner
Can't stand heights but depths never bothered me, I suppose once I was down, I wasn't going to fall up....
The first mine I was at, the coal face was 27inches high and about 300ft long. that was a long crawl with a tool bag to fix the shearer.
here's a look at similar height, (probably higher actually):
I should cocoI used to go down to 1020m at the pit I was at, and 4 miles into the coal face.
Can't stand heights but depths never bothered me, I suppose once I was down, I wasn't going to fall up....
The first mine I was at, the coal face was 27inches high and about 300ft long. that was a long crawl with a tool bag to fix the shearer.
here's a look at similar height, (probably higher actually):
View attachment 94914
I used to go down to 1020m at the pit I was at, and 4 miles into the coal face.
Can't stand heights but depths never bothered me, I suppose once I was down, I wasn't going to fall up....
The first mine I was at, the coal face was 27inches high and about 300ft long. that was a long crawl with a tool bag to fix the shearer.
here's a look at similar height, (probably higher actually):
View attachment 94914
Last face I was looking after had these as roof supports..
Agree Andy, I'd rather go up the mastI should coco
Dad has been talking about his days down the pit recently. Frighteningly difficult and dangerous work. Makes doing stuff above ground look like child’s play by comparison.
Just can’t comprehend some of the things, like for example, changing a 300hp electric motor on a conveyor several miles down a roadway, 500 feet underground with about three feet of headroom. These motors weigh about two to three tons because of the metal casing that prevents explosions caused by sparks. This is in the dark, hot and dusty subterranean world.
They ended up changing lots of these motors after he identified a problem with one. A metal bar in the motor on the rotor had fractured. If it had been shed at full power the consequences don’t bare thinking about.
Give me the rope. I’ll climb the tower any day of the week.
Just can’t comprehend some of the things, like for example, changing a 300hp electric motor on a conveyor several miles down a roadway, 500 feet underground with about three feet of headroom. These motors weigh about two to three tons because of the metal casing that prevents explosions caused by sparks. This is in the dark, hot and dusty subterranean world.
They ended up changing lots of these motors after he identified a problem with one. A metal bar in the motor on the rotor had fractured. If it had been shed at full power the consequences don’t bare thinking about.
Give me the rope. I’ll climb the tower any day of the week.
That is off one very deep seam.
Bugger that! Not a Scooby of getting me down there! I was working at Maltby pit in 2010 as driver trainer and used to see the guys coming up from the shaft black as night and always wondered what it must be like. They offered to take me down several times but I'm claustrophobic and could never have managed it.I used to go down to 1020m at the pit I was at, and 4 miles into the coal face.
Can't stand heights but depths never bothered me, I suppose once I was down, I wasn't going to fall up....
The first mine I was at, the coal face was 27inches high and about 300ft long. that was a long crawl with a tool bag to fix the shearer.
here's a look at similar height, (probably higher actually):
View attachment 94914
To me it was just how it was, it was just 'work' and I knew no different having gone into it straight from school.
The thing is we had no forklifts or cranes, no electric or battery tools, even drills ran on compressed air,
No welders, no oxy-acetylene. You cut things with a hammer and chisel, or sledgehammer and set.
Shearer motors and gearboxes weighing up to 5 tonnes, and having to get them into position and line them up using chain blocks, pull-lifts and toe jacks. Everything was extremely heavy, due to the thickness of metal used to endure the conditions down there. we would put down and drag them over steel plates or sometimes if the conditions allowed you could move them on conveyor rollers across the floor.
Usually if a hydraulic hose burst under a tracked machine, I had to jack it up and crawl into the oily slurry underneath, with a 30 tonne machine above. Somedays I would strip to just my pants, do the job, and then the others would hose me down using the fire hydrant hose.
I would then got dressed and carry on the rest of the shift.
and you try telling that to the young people of today.....
The thing is we had no forklifts or cranes, no electric or battery tools, even drills ran on compressed air,
No welders, no oxy-acetylene. You cut things with a hammer and chisel, or sledgehammer and set.
Shearer motors and gearboxes weighing up to 5 tonnes, and having to get them into position and line them up using chain blocks, pull-lifts and toe jacks. Everything was extremely heavy, due to the thickness of metal used to endure the conditions down there. we would put down and drag them over steel plates or sometimes if the conditions allowed you could move them on conveyor rollers across the floor.
Usually if a hydraulic hose burst under a tracked machine, I had to jack it up and crawl into the oily slurry underneath, with a 30 tonne machine above. Somedays I would strip to just my pants, do the job, and then the others would hose me down using the fire hydrant hose.
I would then got dressed and carry on the rest of the shift.
and you try telling that to the young people of today.....
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the seam is 8m and we took just 4.3m out the middle of it.If we cut too far into the roof coal it collapsed. one hole we had was 15m high and shut the face down for a few days whilst we dealt with it.
As @gookah says all part of the job .The coal cutter that went with those supports came down the shaft in 3 pieces the largest was 10m long and weighed 45 tonne. Electric supply to it was 3300V and 1000 hp. They were the fun times when it all went well. Warwickshire Coal was known for catching fire underground and those were the hard work times getting under control..
Love the photos.
Must have been a walk in the park to work in such cavernous seams
And those working oil rigs thought that was dangerous.
Saw a documentary recently about slave labourers doing tunnelling work for the Third Reich. PPE not required!