In operation, No.5 runs with both its buoyancy tanks, clamped onto each side. As the boat pitches and rolls, these can clank around with quite some impact and stresses imposed on the fixings.
To help absorb some of these transitory loads, we devised a shock absorbent rope which will fill the gap. Made up of heavy duty steel rope covered by two layers of tubing it has been suspended in two locations along each tank.
We designed and machined a ferrule to push onto each rope end and then performed a crimping operation using the 10 Tonne hydraulic press to secure them. The result worked very well. Each end was then welded permanently onto the side of the tanks and given a coat of paint.
Later, we fired up the engine, which has not been run for a while. The primary purpose was to assess the hose lengths coupling the rotating grab bucket and ensure that damage could not occur. As suspected, there is a position which could cause a problem and adjustments will be needed. Other extremes of movement were checked, without any issues.
More running trials will be conducted on Wednesday.
