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UER Forum > Archived UE Main > Don't mess with giant gears, or; How Freak almost broke a historical landmark (Viewed 675 times)
Freak 


Location: Usually Alaska, now MSP.
Gender: Male


Hypocrite

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Don't mess with giant gears, or; How Freak almost broke a historical landmark
< on 9/12/2004 4:46 AM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
So recently a group of us are exploring an old Gold Dredge (huge floating mine processor) that's probably 60-70 years old. Of course there are tons of awesome levers, pulleys, gears bigger than houses, and other fun machinery to look at, and of course we just had to pull some levers and spin a few gears and marvel at how well lubricated and mobile some of these ancient parts are.
25453.jpg (63 kb, 687x514)
click to view


Then it happens: I'm idly turning a belt-drive wheel and looking at the system of interlocking gears that it causes to turn, and not really paying attention to what those gears are connected to. I let go of the wheel and smile at how it keeps turning on its own. Man they made this well! The wheel starts spinning a little faster, and a little faster, and the gear assembly begins making a "jet engine powering up" type noise. My first thought is "Wow, there must be a counterweight somewhere that's not all the way down", but as the gears spin faster the noise gets louder and louder, and the grease box under the gears starts smoking! I'm thinking "Uh... this could fly apart and kill us!" so I yell "She's goona blooow!" and all of us duck behind various cover. I then decide this is just too cool to ignore, so I run over closer and start filming it with my digital camera.

(http://freak.minimanga.com/oops.MOV) (The smoke is barely visible coming from the far side of the gears, unfortunately I didn't film the driveshaft wheel which was going 1000 times faster, I didn't want to get too close to that part).


Suddenly I realize just what I'd done, as the gears spin up into overdrive, the huge tailings stacker boom is descending! In the video you can see me freaking out when I realize what's going on.
25456.jpg (40 kb, 640x480)
click to view



The integrity of the dredge itself isn't at stake, but the aesthetics and historical value are! If that thing falls into the water it won't look cool anymore, and the rednecks at the nearby historical roadhouse/bar will probably string me up for breaking their dredge! Also, this thing is on the register of National Historic Places, so I would feel like a total asshole if I screwed it up. I grab a big board and throw it into the gears, but the gear simply chews it up and spits it out the other side. I grab a bigger board, which is thrown back at me. Finally I pitch in a board with a chunk of metal on it, which manages to jam the gears and prevents the destruction of the tailings stacker.
25454.jpg (75 kb, 687x514)
click to view


The gear ratio of the blocks holding the boom only let it lower about 3 feet at the top end in the 5 minutes or so that this happened, so it still looks pretty much the same.
25459.jpg (44 kb, 687x514)
click to view


I made sure to jam another board elsewhere in the gears so the next kids to wander through wouldn't start it up again. I don't know why it hadn't fallen before with only a barely stuck gear holding it, I think there used to be a dirve belt to a motor that raised and lowered the stacker, and the motor provided the locking/braking mechanism until the belt rotted away.


So the morals of the story are:
A: Don't screw with machinery unless you know what it does, even if it's 70 years old.
B: Filming old equipment going nuts may be worth more than saving your ass, or I may just be retarded.
C: I'm retarded.

Fortunately everyone lived and nothing was destroyed other than some loose boards.

Turn off the internet and go play outside.
http://spamusement...hp/comics/view/137
andrea 


Location: Baltimore MD
Gender: Female


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Re: Don't mess with giant gears, or; How Freak almost broke a historical landmark
<Reply # 1 on 9/12/2004 5:25 AM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
hehehehe, we need to get you something else to play with ? How about a steam engine to run that drive shaft ?



I am glad you were smart enough to know what you did and how to stop it !

This isn't boot camp and you are not a ninja. But you sure look like an idiot in that outfit.
eidolon 


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Re: Don't mess with giant gears, or; How Freak almost broke a historical landmark
<Reply # 2 on 9/12/2004 6:11 AM >
Posted on Forum: Infiltration Forums
 
Is that that dredge with the resturaunt like right next to it? I poked around there a bit a few months ago. Pretty freakin' cool. Though it's probably a different one, I don't remember any graphitti.

Freak 


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Re: Don't mess with giant gears, or; How Freak almost broke a historical landmark
<Reply # 3 on 9/12/2004 6:17 AM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Posted by eidolon
Is that that dredge with the resturaunt like right next to it? I poked around there a bit a few months ago. Pretty freakin' cool. Though it's probably a different one, I don't remember any graphitti.


Nah, it's another one up farther north. It's the "slut" dredge, because everyone knows about it, it's easy to get to, and it gets visited by teenagers a lot. I think the one you're talking about is the touristy one that's been refurbished.

I just got a lead on another local dredge I haven't been to yet (5/7 so far ) so I'll try not to touch anything on that one.

Turn off the internet and go play outside.
http://spamusement...hp/comics/view/137
Indigenous Insurgent 


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Re: Don't mess with giant gears, or; How Freak almost broke a historical landmark
<Reply # 4 on 9/12/2004 7:14 AM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Take only pictures, leave only smoldering piles of rubble

Those who make peaceful change impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.
The Gunslinger 


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Re: Don't mess with giant gears, or; How Freak almost broke a historical landmark
<Reply # 5 on 9/12/2004 7:40 AM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Hehe, that is why we let Freak hang out with us. Always something interesting with him. He has some balls though, when that thing started smoking and making scary noises, I investigated and marveled. When it started speeding up and SCREAMING, I ducked and ran. Especially since if the gears decided to blow up, or the belt wheel came off its base, both were aimed directly at where I was standing. Wow. That was some scary/fun though. Not the first close call I've ever had with Freak. Although this was by far the coolest/dumbest thing he has done on an exploration. Goes to show that even the places you have been to many times can still surprise you.

I can hear the voice, but I don't wanna listen
Strap me down and tell me I'll be alright
I can feel the subliminal need to be one with the voice
And make everything go right!
Caput_58 


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Re: Don't mess with giant gears, or; How Freak almost broke a historical landmark
<Reply # 6 on 9/12/2004 10:23 AM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Wow.. thats just amazing. Good job risking life and limb to save it, though according to Murphy's Law, that just means that vagrants will burn the whole thing down next week.

Caput_58

Heartless 


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Re: Don't mess with giant gears, or; How Freak almost broke a historical landmark
<Reply # 7 on 9/12/2004 12:06 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Posted by Indigenous Insurgent
Take only pictures, leave only smoldering piles of rubble


That should be in the "Official Ethics" section of the uefornoobs.com site that should be built.

"I hope that I find you in heaven, because I'm so lost without you down here..."

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MatC 

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Re: Don't mess with giant gears, or; How Freak almost broke a historical landmark
<Reply # 8 on 9/12/2004 3:00 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Posted by Freak
(http://freak.minimanga.com/oops.MOV)


The link's not working...? In fact, it won't load the minimanga site at all. :-\

-- Mat

"We shall not cease from exploration / And the end of all our exploring / Will be to arrive where we started / And know the place for the first time."

- T.S. Eliot, excerpt from "Little Gidding"
Jesus Jones 

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Re: Don't mess with giant gears, or; How Freak almost broke a historical landmark
<Reply # 9 on 9/12/2004 4:49 PM >
Posted on Forum:
 
That happens, the servers net connection will go for a bit then come back. its online right now.

[11:23:20] * nightbird looks at jj's crotch in amazement
[19:48:06] <Freak> YOUR TOAD A SPLODE
[22:04:21] <keti> in fact, im rather robotic Virginity does not collect intrest. -Andrea [15:44:19] <Kellogs> i'm part of a complete breakfast you know =P wait...that sounds so wrong
BigPoppaMikey 

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Re: Don't mess with giant gears, or; How Freak almost broke a historical landmark
<Reply # 10 on 9/12/2004 6:31 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Let it to Freak to cause a 'freak' accident and "almost" destroy a historical landmark...


BPM

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MatC 

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Re: Don't mess with giant gears, or; How Freak almost broke a historical landmark
<Reply # 11 on 9/12/2004 6:52 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Yay, the video is working again!

Posted by Freak
the rednecks at the nearby historical roadhouse/bar will probably string me up for breaking their dredge!


I can just see them coming out at the end of the day and saying, "Hey there, Bubba... d'you think that thar piece looks a'bit lower than it's been?" "Naw, couldn't be..."

-- Mat

"We shall not cease from exploration / And the end of all our exploring / Will be to arrive where we started / And know the place for the first time."

- T.S. Eliot, excerpt from "Little Gidding"
TurboZutek 

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Re: Don't mess with giant gears, or; How Freak almost broke a historical landmark
<Reply # 12 on 9/14/2004 12:56 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Well done on having the presence of mind to stop it's motion.

And nice one on the video!!

Chris...


We all had ostriches. My dad had an ostrich farm! I remember one day someone came in and said the high altitude bombing of Kosovo had been a limited success, so we all went out and celebrated… by killing an ostrich and boiling it in kiwi fruit.
RevSM 


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Re: Don't mess with giant gears, or; How Freak almost broke a historical landmark
<Reply # 13 on 9/16/2004 8:58 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
You know, I wonder if one of the levers you were playing with was what released the previous tension on those gears and once you got it going, it kept going. I wonder if you were to put the levers back in their original positions would it lock those gears in place?

I'm always tempted to push buttons and operate leavers but try to resist.

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The Gunslinger 


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Re: Don't mess with giant gears, or; How Freak almost broke a historical landmark
<Reply # 14 on 9/16/2004 11:29 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
No RevSM, nice theory, but it is wrong. All the belts were removed or rotted away, and the lever system and the boom were not connected to the workings of the Dredge.

I can hear the voice, but I don't wanna listen
Strap me down and tell me I'll be alright
I can feel the subliminal need to be one with the voice
And make everything go right!
'Dukes 

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Re: Don't mess with giant gears, or; How Freak almost broke a historical landmark
<Reply # 15 on 9/16/2004 11:52 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
I was laughing during the entire story. Reminded me of a movie; Freak pulling levers, hears quiet noise, no big deal. After about a minute, the noise is a roar and there is a giant stone ball rolling at Freak ala Indiana Jones, and the whole group ends up running and jumping off the edge of the Dredge, and then it explodes (uhh, well I guess it wouldn't explode). Funny stuff; I could get a visual in my mind while reading the story; just hope noone is upset more by the fouled gears than they would be by a conveyor is the water, after all it sounds like it could have fallen of it's own accord.

I got your tour winner right here pussies, at least he'd crash out trying.
Asylunt 


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Re: Don't mess with giant gears, or; How Freak almost broke a historical landmark
<Reply # 16 on 9/18/2004 4:27 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Freak, I Love the stories you tell! I have to get up to Alaska soon, well maybe in the summer. Nice save!

Asylunt

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." Mark Twain
UER Forum > Archived UE Main > Don't mess with giant gears, or; How Freak almost broke a historical landmark (Viewed 675 times)



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