(13) Constructing A Mining Ore Skip Cart

Constructing A Mining Ore Skip Cart

Mining ore cart skips were used on shafts that were incline. The incline could be anywhere from a 30 degree angle to greater than an 80 degree angle. The skips were constructed differently than the regular back dump and side dump carts that you are use to seeing. They were open on one end and could have the top partially covered. They would bring the ore up to the surface and then dump the material in an ore bin. The picture below shows an incline shaft cart in operation.

There are many different sizes and shapes of incline skips, but they all have a front end open with some coverage on the top of the cart.

I designed an incline skip to be used with certain size restrictions and the drawing below shows the basic size of the sheet steel parts for the construction of the box.

The drawing below shows the construction of the skip, including the overall dimensions for the skip.

The side view of the skip shows the bail. This device is tied to the back of the winch and controls movement of the cart. It is made from approximately 16 feet of 2" X 1/4" strap steel listed on the additional parts list. The 3 views of the completed skip towards the end of the lesson gives you a better perspective of the additional minor materials to construct the cart. You need to find (4) approximately 8" wheels and (2) 16" axels to fit the wheels to complete the parts for the skip.  

The pieces of the skip were made from 1/8” steel plate. There were over 100 cold rivets used to assemble the skip with no welding involved. This is patterned after skips made in the 1800’s. The more recent skips do not use rivets and are welded together.

I have some pictures of the skip during construction below that show how the skip was assembled. You have to be careful assembling the skip so that you can hammer the rivets without problems with clearance. You will need about 15' of 1 1/2" light wall angle iron to assemble the skip.  The first step was to install the angle iron and rivets on the back side of the box as shown below:

You will need about 6' of 1 1/2" flat steel to complete the front sides of the cart. The next step was to install the sides of the skip:

Once the side was riveted together I installed the bottom plate and installed the rivets on the final side of the box.

The picture below shows three views of the skip box completed. I had to install the small top cover and it was assembled with carriage bolts so that the top could be removed for maintenance. The last steel to be placed on the box was the bail. This allows you to pull the skip up from the mine and gives you flexibility to dump the skip.

Once the skip box assembly was completed we installed the wheels and axels on the bottom of the skip. The picture shows the assembled skip on an incline. The incline is still being constructed in this picture as well as the placing of the crusher over the skip.