New Zealand Gold Prospecting & Metal Detecting Forums Archive

Hi fellow members.
I have a handy “TIP” (excuse the pun) for moving boulders (which dosen`t involve carting heavy jacks/levers/crowbars or winches into the bush etc, ) if you want to clean out underneath these large rocks, but as I don’t now how to send pictures or sketches you`ll have to accept this longhand description version.
I called this my shanghai/slingshot method:

Firstly, you need two 5 metre lengths of fairly strong rope , ( clothes line size nylon is good, ( BUY at least 4, or 6 of these clothes lines)
Lay these out side by side about 1 mtr apart.
At the center, tie a rope across the two lengths so it forms a sideways “H“.
Half a mtr away from these knots and to either side of them, tie other ropes across, and repeat this with two more ropes between these.
Finish by tying ropes from either side so as to form a “NET” like structure.
This forms the “SLING”
You should now have this sling with 2 mtrs of rope stretched out to each side on the top and bottom of the sling, so that it looks somewhat like the below scenario ?
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XXXXXXX
XXXXXXX
XXXXXXX
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Note--The other sides half,looks like this too, but the "review" program wouldn`t print it all out.

Now knot the ends of the 2 mtr lengths together at each end, to form an “APEX’ at each side of the sling.
TO USE THIS SLING in a creek, put it “BEHIND THE UPSTREAM” side of the boulder, getting the bottom ropes as FAR under the boulder as you can do “SAFELY“ by clearing smaller rocks away.. ( “Carefully” move some away from the front too, if needed. )

Then tie one ( or 2 ) of the spare clothes lines ropes to the “APEX” knots on each side of the sling, and take each one “SOMEWAY” down each side of the creek to a convenient tree, pass it round the tree and back to the sling tying it to the “APEX” knot again.
If there`s two of you and the rock is not too big, just both pull in the “CENTER” of this looped rope back towards the creek, thus shortening it and creating pressure on the rock, other wise, once set up, slide the loops up their trees approx one and a half mtrs, grab a short branch, insert between the two strands of looped rope and start twisting it up. If your alone, twist one side up fairly tightly, secure the twist branch by tying a rope from the pressure end of it to another tree, then go and do the same to the one on the other side of the creek until the boulder comes free. “DO NOT STAND” in front of the rock ,as sometimes it comes free like a missile!!! ( I have shifted rocks the size of a small car with this method.)

I am sure that once you try this method you will use it, as the ropes and sling are very energy saving to carry in to a remote site.( or you can make whole thing up on site if needed by just carrying in a few nylon clothes line ropes.)

NOW an easy way. I finally bought myself a mesh net “HAMMOCK” which had a steel ring bound into each end, and used this hammock as the sling!( worked a treat too.) plus I ran two complete clothes line lengths from each ring and tied these spaced a mtr apart to the trees, twisting them this way creates tremendous forces and uplift on the boulder.

"Practice makes perfect".
Cheers---Colin.

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A lot lighter to cart around too Gavin, as you never know when you might need it. The ropes come in enxtremely handy in lots of situations anyway, as you may need to lower yourself or some gear down a tricky incline/drop etc, which can be dangerous to do loaded down with a heavy pack etc.

Glad you liked it. I dont feel so bad now about the time it took to type, and hopefully explain in a way that was regognizable.

You`ll also get "Top marks" for intuition if you can figure out this "Spot" that I mention.

Catch up again later.---Colin.

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Hi Steve,
Great to see somebody else knows what I was burbling about.
Im an old guy too! and may have mentioned this in my travels somewhere,because as far as I am aware my method came from my own think tank, but it could have been distributed by a grapevines word of mouth years ago.
Not to worry though,if fellow diggers can get some use from this, I`m happy. :)
Your right that there are factors that need to be present ( Like convienient trees ) but a good Kiwi usually makes do with whats available ehh.( like bigger bloody boulders ).

Kind Regards---Colin.

Hello Steve.
Your quite correct about a Spanish Windlass existing.
Slightly different method of operation, but could be quite effective in moving rocks.
I think that care would be of the utmost importance in its use,due to the instability of the winding post pole!but with a bit of practice it could save some sweat.
Heres a link to the site that explains its operation:

http://www.inquiry.net/o.../skills/b-p/windlass.htm

Cheers---Colin.

Hi Steve, yes its a great place to live.
Gold is available if you know where to look.
I have a 2010 PI detector,(Finally)and am trying to come to grips with this technology.

Cheers Colin.

Hi again Steve.
Before I got my PI,I owned a real "OLD" TR/rec detector which was awkward to cart around in the bush due to its handle, which caught every branch you passed. I finaly got hacked of with it and cut it off,plus the sensitivity meter,battery check,and the discrimination pot etc, etc,discarded the old headphones and got a $2 set of ipod phones and a phone jack reducer.The difference this vandalism did was to give the old thing about another 10 centimeters of DEPTH,(Hows that,I was as surprised as hell).
Next move is to chop the coil and wires out,put on a BNC connector so that it will mate with the PIs one and give it a whirl(might be better than the PIs original coil),worth a try anyway.

Dont worry about those typos,its so easy to make them. (unless you want to proofread all the time).

Xtra Cheers---Colin.