What sort of olde machinery is this?

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#2601442 10-Nov-2020 23:20

SomeoneSomewhere:

The well-dressed guy could just be a PR piece - "Joe Bloggs observed the installation of X with his company's new X-inator, which is 3x as fast. Or similar with government ministers or the first/last/half-way point on some project like a new long-distance phone line.

Which would lead me to believe that it's probably electricity or telegraph wires - something significant enough to attract a VIP and photographer.

MikeAqua

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#2601532 11-Nov-2020 09:24

The machine seems to be the object of the photograph. If it had been about power or telegraph lines or similar, then surely that would have been featured in the photo. Also, if lifting a pole or similar, you would normally lift close to the winch. Alternately you could fix the cable to a fixed post and lift poles at the mid-point. The angle of cable make this unlikely for me as it wouldn't run very far before it ends up below pole height.

I think it's probably dragging something.

Guy in suit could just be the landed gentry, rather than a public official or politician.

Mike

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#2601600 11-Nov-2020 10:53

MikeAqua:

I think it's probably dragging something.

Yep - I think they’re dragging stones to clear a field. If you look behind the gent there seems to be low stone wall there. Maybe the stones are being dragged from the field and piled to make the wall. This also fits with the rocks on the tray adding weight to stabilise it.

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frankv

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#2601613 11-Nov-2020 11:05

I thought behind the gent was a ditch, with the dirt excavated heaped on the far side. If you had a wall, you wouldn't also have a fence.

I disagree with dragging rocks, because the worker isn't working very hard or particularly muscle-bound, and surely you would drag multiple times, so would stay in place a long time, so would unhitch the horse, and you would use the horse to do the dragging, and really there's no benefit from the tall rig, and the cable doesn't look strong enough.

Glider-launching winch?

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#2601619 11-Nov-2020 11:11

frankv:

I thought behind the gent was a ditch, with the dirt excavated heaped on the far side. If you had a wall, you wouldn't also have a fence.

I disagree with dragging rocks, because the worker isn't working very hard or particularly muscle-bound, and surely you would drag multiple times, so would stay in place a long time, so would unhitch the horse, and you would use the horse to do the dragging, and really there's no benefit from the tall rig, and the cable doesn't look strong enough.

Glider-launching winch?

All fair. A winch like that can have a huge mechanical advantage so the operator may not have to work overly hard and not necessarily get muscle-bound. Also maybe his first day on the job and the photo was taken before he got muscly. 😀

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outdoorsnz

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#2601622 11-Nov-2020 11:15

Has to be for telephone poles (possibly even early days of morse code) or electrical power line poles.

Def not dragging rocks as horse is parallel to the cart. Wheels are braced and poles stayed to counter pull from top line. Also horse would be hitched and pulling in opposite direction if under heavy load.

Most likely to hold something up while the position / anchor.

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#2601625 11-Nov-2020 11:20

outdoorsnz:

Has to be for telephone poles (possibly even early days of morse code) or electrical power line poles.

Def not dragging rocks as horse is parallel to the cart. Wheels are braced and poles stayed to counter pull from top line. Also horse would be hitched and pulling in opposite direction if under heavy load.

Most likely to hold something up while the position / anchor.

Yes - looks like a linesman raising a pole - the next in line to those in the background.
Looks like there's a couple of piking-poles supporting the lifting arm.

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#2601631 11-Nov-2020 11:33

Sidestep:

Yes - looks like a linesman raising a pole - the next in line to those in the background.
Looks like there's a couple of piking-poles supporting the lifting arm.

Yeah, I'd go for that also. Behind the rocks on the cart you can see other poles in the background without any wires strung between them.

I think he's installing the next pole in the sequence

Stu

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#2601636 11-Nov-2020 11:39

The Franklin area had telegraph/telephone lines installed from around 1880, I think. Certainly could be an early pole erector winch. I've seen them on rather old trucks before, but not as a horse-drawn unit. Certainly makes sense.

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#2601637 11-Nov-2020 11:39

frankv:

Glider-launching winch?

Nah, you couldn't get up enough speed to get the glider airborne.

Stu

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#2601638 11-Nov-2020 11:40

Well, if you replaced the cable with Bungy cord... This could get messy.

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#2601665 11-Nov-2020 11:56

kiwi_64:

Sidestep:

Yes - looks like a linesman raising a pole - the next in line to those in the background.
Looks like there's a couple of piking-poles supporting the lifting arm.

Yeah, I'd go for that also. Behind the rocks on the cart you can see other poles in the background without any wires strung between them.

I think he's installing the next pole in the sequence

This gets my vote.

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