This gadget comes from my dad's collection of old tools. He is fascinated by the stories behind all of these tools and how they were built to last, many outliving the need for their function. He can remember his parents using many of the tools in his collection around the farm when he was growing up, and he likes to imagine how the others may have been used and who may have used them. He doesn't collect tools for their dollar value- he collects them because they are interesting. I suppose he also likes giving an appreciative home to things that may have otherwise been buried in the dirt, forgotten in a rotting shed or left to rust in a tree.
This particular gadget was used before modern plumbing was common. A well was dug, and a small little structure was built over the deep hole. This gadget hooked onto the structure over the well. A long length of rope ran over the wheel with a bucket on one end, and people used this pulley to lower the bucket and retrieve water. This pulley is very heavy- it is made of solid steel.
Is it a pulley?
ReplyDeleteYes! You got it right. A very bad ass pulley!
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