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Post by John on Jun 17, 2010 13:42:31 GMT -5
OK who has seen one of these beasts in operation?? Closest I came to one was during my first years training with the NCB. And that was the NCB Film Planned Preventative Maintenance. So how did they "turn" that beast around??? As I understand it, it was a Bi Di machine. Which would mean that bloody great back cutting thingymajig would be wrong to cut in the opposite direction?? I've heard about a "hinged section"  Even someone mentioning the machine had to be split?? I'm aware it was a fitters nightmare with riffle bars cutter chains and an odd conveyor. |
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Post by John on Jun 17, 2010 13:43:19 GMT -5
And, also, was it ever used with powered supports??
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Post by eleceng on Jul 7, 2015 18:52:34 GMT -5
OK who has seen one of these beasts in operation?? Closest I came to one was during my first years training with the NCB. And that was the NCB Film Planned Preventative Maintenance. So how did they "turn" that beast around??? As I understand it, it was a Bi Di machine. Which would mean that bloody great back cutting thingymajig would be wrong to cut in the opposite direction?? I've heard about a "hinged section" Even someone mentioning the machine had to be split?? I'm aware it was a fitters nightmare with riffle bars cutter chains and an odd conveyor. |
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Post by eleceng on Jul 7, 2015 19:48:51 GMT -5
The first face I worked on as an apprentice mech-elec was with this machine, at Bestwood Colliery South Notts. They was an incredible m/c. They were built as 2 sections. The haulage section had 2 motors. 1 to power the rope haulage & cutting jibs. There were 2, 5' bottom undercut, 6'6" on top of m/c to provide split in coal section being cut. 2nd to power the side cutting jib & short loader belt to deliver cut coal onto face c/v belt, there was also a "ripple bar"(with picks to break the coal). To turn around the beast it was split in two. The haulage section was turned round in the stable, using the ropes & derrick props. When this was in position the loader section was pulled forward. The haulage section repositioned and connected up. (The loader was "double ended"). The side cutting jib was then flipped over and the m/c was ready to cut. Hope you can understand this. Sounds complicated but teams did well. The hardest job was changing the top jib due to it's weight. The loader belts were a problem because of them breaking. On 1 shift it broke 7 times, each time it had to be changed. They could not be repaired. The breakdowns resulted in us working about 18 hour shift. The m/c was powered by 2 cables, 1 from each gate. |
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Post by John on Jul 8, 2015 7:53:19 GMT -5
Mick, if you got to the video board, near the bottom of the home page, I posted a video link to pre NCB Gedling when they were "modernising the pit, great shots of a Meco-Moore being tested on the surface, still makes me cringe seeing the fitter so close to the operating jibs and picks..
Correction, 1948. And here is the video.coalmine.proboards.com/thread/880/gedling-colliery-1948
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Post by eleceng on Jul 8, 2015 14:51:36 GMT -5
John, the only place on the face to get that close to the jibs was when the m/c was cutting out into the stable. There wasn't powered roof supports on this face. The year was 1960 & they were only being installed on new floor mounted Trepanner faces. Don't know if other pits used powered supports on Meco faces. The one I was on finished around end 1960. it had been in production for a few years until then, long before I was put on it. This was the last Meco at Bestwood. I also worked on them in surface workshop. Stripping down gearboxes & switches & re-furbishing them. Good experience for an apprentice.
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Post by John on Jul 8, 2015 16:00:16 GMT -5
John, the only place on the face to get that close to the jibs was when the m/c was cutting out into the stable. There wasn't powered roof supports on this face. The year was 1960 & they were only being installed on new floor mounted Trepanner faces. Don't know if other pits used powered supports on Meco faces. The one I was on finished around end 1960. it had been in production for a few years until then, long before I was put on it. This was the last Meco at Bestwood. I also worked on them in surface workshop. Stripping down gearboxes & switches & re-furbishing them. Good experience for an apprentice.
Ironic, a few thousand of these machines were made over the years and not one single one has survived the scrap merchant. |
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Even someone mentioning the machine had to be split??
