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Post by John on Feb 8, 2007 14:37:11 GMT -5
Anderson Boyes. AB15 cutter, AB16 shearers, AB heavy duty trepanners, ABDECMT.
BJD Magnamatic Shearer, Treppaner, trepan shearer.
Dawson Miller stable hole machine.
Samson cutters.
Huwood slicer loaders etc.
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Post by abdaz on Feb 10, 2007 16:03:51 GMT -5
(UK used) Face Shearers and cutters;
Dosco, (In Seam Miner as used in stable holes and thurling)
Eikhoff,
Joy, shearers and stable hole machines.
Pitcraft (Contra-rotating Shearer Gearhead, Rack a Track)
Mavor and Coulson.
Westfalia Lunen, coal plough.
My memory is failing quickly these days but I did see design drawing proposals for a Pitcraft complete shearer, but I can't recall if it was ever made, the Contra rotating gearhead applied to an AB 16 SERDS was tried at Hatfield 25s face, if I remember correctly.
Dowty made a short - long reach adaptation of an AB 16 (make sense of that one if you can)
A 'Mutation' of an AB and Eickhoff shearer was used at Park Mill colliery.
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Post by dazbt on Jul 19, 2007 13:29:33 GMT -5
Here's a snippet to cause confusion, perhaps;
The AB 16 shearer and coal cutter were in my opinion (and I think one or two others here) the most successful mainstay of the British coal mining mechanisation program from the 1950s and probably up until the 1980s, maybe even longer than that. The term AB16 immediately conjures up amongst most of us, one specific type of machine the AB16 Mk1 hydraulic haulage that gave tractive power to a shearer, the main body of the machine that this haulage unit was attached to becomes a little bit more obscure and varied, some will recall the UniDi gearhead, others the BiDi, later the vast variation of ranging gearheads that then provided alternative descriptive terminology to the AB 16, such as, Single Ended Trepanner, Trepan Shearer,MK1, Mk3 RDS, AMBROAS, FIDD, Limited Ranger, Extended FIDD and a multitude of other machine configurations all under the title of AB16 and capable of being hauled by the AB16 MK1 hydraulic haulage .......... but !!! the same machine range title (AB16) was then also applied to a further vast range of machine units, configurations and haulage units, the simple explanation at this point was that the AB16" title was given as a result of the maximum dimensional height of the electric motor, but the motors themselves were also named by their HP, ie 125, 200 and 270 HP (and I think I recall that the originals were 50, 60 and possibly 75HP, not sure about that though.) What followed on as a natural development progression from the original AB16 MK1 Hydraulic haulage powering a UniDi single ended shearer was the design of a double ended shearer and obviously a new type of haulage power unit was needed. These new double ended haulage units were then titled by the unit maximum height and some descriptive word relating to their function, so there was a Double Ended 17" Mechanical Haulage, a Double Ended 22" Servo Haulage, 22" Mechanical Haulage all of these were driven by the AB16" electric motor ............ so for the benefit of adding total confusion in my opinion, Anderson (who had also been named Anderson Boyes/ Mavor/Strathclyde etc) were producing machines machines in the AB16" range that were compiled of various dimensioned haulage units and such machine descriptions as;
AB16 200hp 22"Servo Double Ended MK1a Ranging Drum Shearers with Two Speed Gearbox, or AB16 17" Mechanical Haulage AMBROAS. DERDS.
totally different machine configurations but all based on the original AB16" electric motor dimension and all still called AB16s, a night-mare at times.
So when I see the title AB16" the MK1 Haulage comes to mind initially but then visions of a Generation Game type conveyor belt with a hundred different machine configurations drift past, (pretty much blurred these days by the way)
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Post by John on Jul 19, 2007 15:19:46 GMT -5
Gee, you know how to hurt a bloke, don't you!
Yeh the earlier motors were air cooled lower horsepower, never saw those, but probably on prop and bar faces where the shearer had downtime to cool off.
I worked with the AB16/125 and 200, plus the T/G stableless faces using a sumping shearer, thats one you didn't mention!! Fixed outboard gear head. All the faces at Cotgrave, five in number, had those. Found it very odd working on faces with two shearers on them.
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Post by dazbt on Jul 19, 2007 16:03:11 GMT -5
Gee, you know how to hurt a bloke, don't you! Yeh the earlier motors were air cooled lower horsepower, never saw those, but probably on prop and bar faces where the shearer had downtime to cool off. I worked with the AB16/125 and 200, plus the T/G stableless faces using a sumping shearer, thats one you didn't mention!! Fixed outboard gear head. All the faces at Cotgrave, five in number, had those. Found it very odd working on faces with two shearers on them. Hurt  gerrart yer wimp. What do you mean by sumping in shearer John? Most of the shearers, not just the AB16" range, at some time or other were tried with sumping drums, the old style of stableholing was eliminated in several different ways many moons ago. ............... errrrrr and as I tried to say there were many, many more types and styles of AB16" variants, plenty I didn't mention like the AB16" Dickie Weatherill Limited Ranger (ever see one of them??), Ripper Rangers, the Ab16" MK2, or MK4, MK5 and on and on and on ad nauseam (or even ad nauseum.) Wait till we get to discuss AM500 variants and Buttock Shearer permutations, now there's a laugh to look forward to !! |
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Post by John on Jul 20, 2007 16:17:23 GMT -5
Wimp?? WIMP!! I'll 'ave yer know I've ridden out of mines in mid winter on drift belts with icy winds around me nether regions, slept on trannies that were so hot, no fitter would come near! Even used cables hung on "bulls horns" as hammocks! Wimp?? deffo not! ;D ;D
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Post by linbylad on Aug 7, 2007 16:04:20 GMT -5
Here's a new one for you. How about the Mushchamp(sp) Coalwinner? This machine was installed in the early sixties at Linby Colliery, South Notts. It had a similar layout to the Anderton shearer but had a different cutting head. This consisted of two ripple bars connected by a cutting chain on the faceside. It had an hydraulic haulage but no steering.
It cut quite well and seemed much faster than the Anderton shearer with the AB15 haulage. It was withdrawn for some reason after about a week or so. A shame really because it looked a good machine. If it had been equiped with steering jacks and a means of rotating the the cutting head a few degrees to increase/decrease the section cut it would of been a real "coalwinner"
Has anyone else heard of this machine and what happened to it?
Linby Lad.
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Post by John on Aug 7, 2007 21:15:32 GMT -5
Rings a bell, but never seen one.
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Post by jimmarsh on Nov 5, 2007 23:56:53 GMT -5
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Post by John on Nov 6, 2007 8:25:02 GMT -5
Thats a bad link Jim, I tried variations of Chinese coal safety net and all I got was sites in Chinese.  |
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Mick
Shotfirer.
Posts: 163
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Post by Mick on Mar 20, 2008 8:58:40 GMT -5
Wot about this one,Anderson boyes 10-12 shearer.
Hydraulic haulage at both ends of face,we had one at Gomersal coll on Blocking bed 11s.
We used to have to do 2 strips for one cut of coal,we would cut a strip of coal then come back
and cut the floor out wot a pain.
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Post by dazbt on Mar 20, 2008 9:11:36 GMT -5
Wot about this one,Anderson boyes 10-12 shearer. Hydraulic haulage at both ends of face,we had one at Gomersal coll on Blocking bed 11s. We used to have to do 2 strips for one cut of coal,we would cut a strip of coal then come back and cut the floor out wot a pain. The same machine was used in the Blocking Bed at Woolley on a ROLF face, I think that continual problems with the nucleonic auto steering system led to its downfall. There was also a version of that same machine with integral haulage, a fitter's nightmare. |
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Mick
Shotfirer.
Posts: 163
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Post by Mick on Mar 20, 2008 9:45:09 GMT -5
Hi dazbt, are problem was we went under 2 old mine shafts that were full of water.
So the board closed us down no more coal was cut at gomersal after that
We didnt have the nucleonic system on are shearer.
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Post by dazbt on Mar 22, 2008 20:22:39 GMT -5
Hi dazbt, are problem was we went under 2 old mine shafts that were full of water. So the board closed us down no more coal was cut at gomersal after that We didnt have the nucleonic system on are shearer. The Neucleonic steering was a part of the ROLF 'Fantasy' at that time, about 1967 I think ......... I seem to recollect that it was being developed based on principles born of top secret submarine steering systems, I reckon it should have remained top secret. I can't recall exactly what happened at Woolley but a fitter was killed on that face, crushed by the shearer and that tragedy along with the fact that it was impossible to maintain the machine cutting within section as a result of steering systems not working as they should, caused its abandonment. What section did you work the Blocking Bed at Gomersall, I think Woolley was about 26 inches? In the 1970s that same thin seam shearer design was re-looked at with a view to implenting it to cut a 15 - 19inch coal seam in Northern Spain, again if I remember correctly, the machine installation cost proved to negate expected returns ............ thank God. As an aside, I worked at Wheldale in the late 1960s on the old AB 70hp and 120hp Heavy Duty trepanner there, our paths may have crossed. |
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Post by plantfit on Apr 13, 2009 4:27:27 GMT -5
 Not face machinery I know but thought you might like a picture of it on this site Rog |
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Post by John on Apr 13, 2009 6:39:44 GMT -5
Not face machinery I know but thought you might like a picture of it on this site Rog A Doscoe Roadheader! They were using the MK1A at Cotgrave when I was there in the late 60's to drive roads with. CPL bought one for Boulby, the lads had never operated one in their lives but broke several road advancement records in the first few weeks driving roads around the West Links area. Next one I came across was at Wongawilli Colliery NSW, it was used, well at least they tried! to drive through a sill, was so bloody hard it shook a Heliminer to pieces, but the Doscoe, although slow going, stood up to it. |
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Post by coalfire on Apr 13, 2009 16:37:35 GMT -5
That is one ugly piece up equipment! It might look better in Joy orange. ;D
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Post by dazbt on Apr 13, 2009 17:35:39 GMT -5
"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder",
or as Benji Franklin ‘definitely’ said;
"Beauty, like supreme dominion
Is but supported by opinion"
or as Micky. Jackson ‘reputedly’ said,
“With slight modifications to my outward appearance and alteration of colour, I will change the world”
White, orange, red or blue, that ugly animal pioneered the double ended shearer concept for Longwall coal production throughout the world, better came later once it had shown the way.
DARK HARVEST
Snarling, growling, banging, even screaming
Smashing, crashing, spewing always teeming.
Two hundred horses together in violent storm
And in its gigantic thundering form
It thrashes through the long dark tunnel
Destroying all resistance, creating rubble
Devastation precedes its tearing jaws
Careless of nature’s ancient laws
Vicious teeth set in open spiralled threat
A murdering ogre with intentions set
Surging forward blindly, ravaging all
Trampling below it all that fall
This malevolent destructively driven force
Has little control of its preset course
Inflicting cruel violence with one intention
Releasing energy from prehistoric retention
This shearing power under man’s command
Plundering carbon’s worth beneath this land.
If you thinkit was a 'bugger' to look at, you should have tried working on it .....................
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Post by John on Apr 13, 2009 19:01:23 GMT -5
That is one ugly piece up equipment! It might look better in Joy orange. ;D All equipment was painted white in UK and Oz collieries Lannie, prior to about 1967 AB machines were red, BJD were blue, Joy was orange, Belmos switchgear was a dark blue, Metropolitan switchgear was red. After the mid 60's our employer decided to standardize all machinery and switchgear to white, easier to see in the dark with poor lighting. Australia followed suit. |
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Post by John on Apr 13, 2009 19:03:56 GMT -5
BTW Lannie, those Doscoe's were great to work on from an electricians point of view! There's a feller who has one in California, he uses it to drive underground wine cellars in the Napa Valley! He has the Mk1A version of the one above,
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Post by coalfire on Apr 13, 2009 19:44:05 GMT -5
I don't know if its the same one but, I saw that on dirtiest jobs. I bet that thing would do good in the anthracite mines due to the way the vein lies at different pitches.
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Post by John on Apr 14, 2009 6:18:21 GMT -5
I don't know if its the same one but, I saw that on dirtiest jobs. I bet that thing would do good in the anthracite mines due to the way the vein lies at different pitches. That was the one Lannie, basically the Doscoe is a road heading machine, wasn't designed to cut coal as a production machine but to drive roadways. In UK mines the roads have to have a minimum height, and as roads were always arched with steel rings, these were standardized to 10ft by 12ft and main gates were 12ft by 14ft. Main roads were 12ft by 14ft too. Although could be 20ft full circular with the base filled in to form a flat road. So road heading machines were ideally suited. |
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Post by dazbt on Apr 14, 2009 6:56:07 GMT -5
"In UK mines the roads have to have a minimum height, and as roads were always arched with steel rings, these were standardized to 10ft by 12ft and main gates were 12ft by 14ft. Main roads were 12ft by 14ft too. Although could be 20ft full circular with the base filled in to form a flat road."Well I didn't know that ? 
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Post by John on Apr 14, 2009 8:17:19 GMT -5
You wouldn't thinks so though looking back on some of the tail gates. ;D
Remember Daz, Lannie is stateside!
I should have said "minimum statutory height"
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Post by shropshirebloke on Apr 14, 2009 10:24:47 GMT -5
these were standardized to 10ft by 12ft and main gates were 12ft by 14ft. Main roads were 12ft by 14ft too. Although could be 20ft full circular with the base filled in to form a flat road. I never measured them, but in our tailgates (late 1970s) the rings were known as "11 x 11s". |
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Post by John on Apr 16, 2009 8:56:18 GMT -5
these were standardized to 10ft by 12ft and main gates were 12ft by 14ft. Main roads were 12ft by 14ft too. Although could be 20ft full circular with the base filled in to form a flat road. I never measured them, but in our tailgates (late 1970s) the rings were known as "11 x 11s". Probably a cost cutting measure.  |
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Post by dazbt on Apr 23, 2009 16:02:14 GMT -5
That was the one Lannie, basically the Doscoe is a road heading machine, wasn't designed to cut coal as a production machine but to drive roadways. In UK mines the roads have to have a minimum height, and as roads were always arched with steel rings, these were standardized to 10ft by 12ft and main gates were 12ft by 14ft. Main roads were 12ft by 14ft too. Although could be 20ft full circular with the base filled in to form a flat road.
So road heading machines were ideally suited.
I know that there was a minimum legal travelling road height for UK mines, I think I recall from long past ‘tutorials’ that this was something in the order of a statutory 5’6” clearance height, but like you and many others here I know that this ruling was very often ignored or at best given exemption not only in tailgate return roadways but often in main gate and even trunk roads, main planes and boards. If coal could be conveyed through it, either in tubs, mine cars or scraped through on conveyor belts then many miles of British coalmine underground roadways were ‘tolerated’ in absolutely abysmal condition, return roads were often even worse but as long as supposed air flows were deemed adequate travelling clearance heights were often ignored.
I hadn’t realised that there had been standardisation in roadway sections, possibly it was a Nottinghamshire local ruling that wasn’t applied nationally because I’m fairly sure that I can’t remember Yorkshire ever having standardised arch section ring sizes, I don’t pretend in any way to be a mining engineer but I know that certain seams were found to be better worked with differing roadway sizes, some ’allegedly’ impossible to support above a certain minimal size. There was of course a great swing towards in-seam mining systems during the 1960s, particularly within the relatively thin Yorkshire coal reserves, Ridding’s Drift Mine perhaps being the best example, a mine developed completely within a 5’ coal section, all roadways within section (other than the surface drift), world records were achieved and sowed the seeds for many relatively thin, within section retreat coal mining Longwall face projects as well as several other completely new mines developed as within-seam mines at less than the supposed 5’6” statuatory minimum roadway height.
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Post by John on Apr 23, 2009 17:47:58 GMT -5
Eventually, as time permits, I'll be adding more photos of Notts and Derbyshire pits to the Terry Blythe section of my website. There are quite a few underground pictures among them, some of main roads, manriders etc. I think it's on the Clifton Colliery board, but there is a photocopy of a photo of 15's centre gate, to our American friends, that's the main gate of a double longwall unit. Gives some idea what Daz is on about with roadway height after weight has "attacked" the road. The top picture is 15's centre gate, the bottom one is the South Main Return drift to No2 pit bottom. It was 1:4 for nearly 3/4 of a mile. The structure in the roof is the old ski lift supports.  Just an addition, the bottom photo states "Stone Head Return" That's wrong, it's the South Main Returns. The reason it isn't "arched" at that point is due to it going through the "Bunter Sandstone" strata. It was strong enough, even at that depth, around 2000 feet below the surface, to support itself. The Bunter, now known as the Sherwood Sandstone, outcrops in Nottingham, it has an extensive man made cave system under the main streets of the older parts of the city. Nottingham Castle and St Mary's Church on High Pavement are both built on the outcroppings at two of Nottingham's highest points. |
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Post by coalfire on Apr 26, 2009 21:31:19 GMT -5
That is totally different than anything I have ever seen. I guess that would be safe, just seems like it would take ages to develop anything. What ever happened to good ole roofbolts. Also kinda like the "false top" or steel sets we use here in really really really and yes I mean really bad top.
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Post by John on Apr 27, 2009 6:50:04 GMT -5
That is totally different than anything I have ever seen. I guess that would be safe, just seems like it would take ages to develop anything. What ever happened to good ole roofbolts. Also kinda like the "false top" or steel sets we use here in really really really and yes I mean really bad top. Different strata Lannie, most coal seams in the UK are in mudstones that don't hold together well with roofbolts. When I worked in OZ, our roof was mostly sandstones, some exceedingly hard! All roofbolting and wooden props and half round bars were used in roadway supports. I only ever saw roofbolts used once in a UK colliery, and that was an experiment in the early 60's, although from what I have been reading they are used more nowadays, but I'd hazard a guess that the roof isn't mudstone where it's bolted. Mudstone when it gets wet forms a sticky gooey mud! It has little strength when dry. |
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gerrart yer wimp. 
