• Philip Pratt
    34
    Does anyone know an approved way of tying bells that are "up"?

    I would normally not condone the practice as I am unaware of any accepted process of doing so, but I thought I'd ask to see what the response is. I dare say it's not uncommon for ringers to do it throughout the country.

    I'm aware there's at least one tower that has padlocked 'steel bolt type systems' holding the stays against the sliders, and another with gate hooks on the frame that goes into eyes screwed into the stay to hold the bell 'up'. All of these systems rely on the stay and slider holding the bell up but I'm not specifically talking about these systems, more the roping type tied by ringers.

    Do bells get tied 'up' very often, has it reduced the risk/hazard, or has it increased others by doing so, have there been situations where it's caused damage? Do you tie the rope around the spokes and to the frame to one side or the end of the pit, do you tie the bell to the frame, tie the stay to something, or tie one wheel to another bell wheel (that may be up)?

    Does it give an actual improvement in reducing the hazard, or is it a perceived reduction that when tested fails and allows the bell to break free?

    In many industrial applications, a fail-safe mechanism with a secondary backup is required particularly if someone is put to work below the supported load. I.e. it's a system that doesn't just rely on one system or rope etc. For example, double isolation (two valves) are required in pressurised systems for 'safe isolations'. A single tied-off rope around some part of the bell/wheel/stay doesn't fulfill that.

    Logically if you step back and look at the situation, to even go and start tying a rope around an 'up' bell, would probably be a higher risk than not doing it at all, so is this something that's done that really shouldn't be nowadays?

    If it isn't an accepted way of doing it, how does one go about distributing information about this practice?
  • John de Overa
    485
    I've done it when there was no other option, to reattach pieces of shrouding that were inaccessible when the bell was down. I looped climbing slings through the spokes of the wheel and then used rope to tie the slings off to the frame. I did this on both sides starting with the side that resulted in the stay being held against the slider, then the opposite side. So even if the stay went the wheel wouldn't move. I also did all the work from the side of the wheel, keeping out of the the bell pit.

    Because I was drilling the wheel there was a risk of accidentally pushing it off the stay, so tying it was definitely the lower risk option.
  • Philip Pratt
    34
    You've probably done the right thing by keeping out of the pit even though it's tied up. I've heard of one scenario where something akin to this was done, and the bell was pulled/pushed off, the spokes stayed put but the bell broke free destroying the wheel in the process. This is why I wonder if anyone has tested it or put together any advice in what to do or not do.
  • Barbara Le Gallez
    82
    Hello Philip, a bell hanger recommended us to tie the stay to the frame using a ratchet strap. A second operative should hold the bell back at set. Both operatives should lean away from the bell as much as possible.
    The argument for recommending this was that, for the top bells in our two-tier frame, this was actually safer than balancing precariously on an insecure footing on top of the lower tier.
    Regards, Barbara
  • John de Overa
    485
    stays are designed to break, and are sometimes either not bolted in properly or cracked but not visibly so. I certainly wouldn't use this method.
  • Barbara Le Gallez
    82
    Thank you John, that is a good point.
  • Richard Norman
    13
    I REALLY DO NOT ADVISE it!!! We used to ‘tie’ the larger bells up to get under them to clean. The dead birds and sticks etc could just about be dragged out with a broom handle/broom with the bells down but to get the rest and sweep we could not get to do it otherwise.
    We had some blocks of 2 x 2 deal cut to length that were jammed tight between the end of the stay and the notch of the slider box.
    We also tied ropes from the wheel spoke and also around the clapper slid up against the thistle to the frame but the jammed wood did the job and the ropes never came into play and if they did I guess there would have been damage to the set up. I hope.it should have given whoever (me!) time to get out The system worked but was in itself risky to set up so really only in extremis,
  • Roger Booth
    98
    One of our local towers has enough space to walk round the bellframe, so we can safely turn rubber motor cycle tyre muffles through 90 degrees in a few seconds. Wouldn't even consider tying them with the bells up https://ringingteachers.org/application/files/1015/4788/9242/Motor_cycle_tyre_-_bell_silencing.pdf
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