THE BIG WHEEL

Series

Series Name: Mining Review 8th Year

Issue

Issue No.

Date Released

Jun 1955

Stories in this Issue:

Story

Story No. within this Issue

2 / 4

Summary

BFI synopsis: Koepe winder, Snowdown Colliery
NCB Commentary - At Snowdown colliery in Kent there are the usual two frames but with a difference.
The left-hand winder is the traditional British type but the right-hand frame is a continental Koepe installation. You’ll see the two wheels set one on top of the other.
Here’s how the Koepe winder works.
Instead of two ropes winding in opposite direction round a big drum there’s only one rope connecting up the tops of the two cages. The winding drum doesn’t coil up the rope, it frives it. At the bottom of the shaft a balance wheel keeps the two cages in tension.
One big advantage of the scheme is that you don’t store cable on the surface, a big point in deep collieries and Snowdon is a deep one, over 3,200 ft. down.
Here’s the big grooved wheel that dirves the rope. 23 ft. in diameter, it’s electrically powered by a 2,500 horse-power motor, and the whole system is bang up to date.
Winding man Steve Palmer finds that a lot of his job’s being done for him. When he moves his levers an automatic controller takes over the action and adjusts the winding speed of the load being raised. The outer ring on this dial shows where the cage is in the shaft.
As with all winding gear, the rope is the heart of the system. This one is built up of 347 strands and is about as thick as a man’s wrist.
The installation at Snowdon is just one of a number working in British coalfields to-day. They may vary in detail, but the principle’s the same.
As the cage nears the surface the automatic controller starts slowing down its travel. But winding-man Palmer still has to know just the right moment to put on the massive brakes. As the cage comes into position, the hinged ramp drops to let the loaded tubs come out.
There are three decks on the Snowdon cages. On after the other they discharge their burdens. Not quite year old yet, Snowdon’s Koepe winder is a concrete example of the exchange of mining ideas between Britain and the continent.

Researcher Comments

Commentary recorded 9 May 1955.

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