Quote Originally Posted by bkh1914 View Post
Overshoot gives more power for a given amount of water because gravity is doing most of the work instead of the current flow. And you have plenty of drop for overshoot wheels.
And I've been wondering why you have two wheels, one for each side of the cage. This creates problems from an engineering point of view. The water wheels won't be turning at exactly the same rate, which will cause the cage to become canted in its tracks. And possibly get stuck. And then something will break. A primitive technology solution is to tie the shafts of the two wheels together. Or better yet, have only one larger wheel. And a single large chain will avoid issues with the chains winding unevenly on the drums. Then split the chain into four parts to lift the corners of the cage. Or if the cage has wheels to keep it aligned in the shaft you can lift the cage from a central point in the cage's top frame (like modern elevators).
Thanks bkh1914, many excellent points. I'm already in the process of dropping the wheels down for the over shoot, you guys have convinced me it's the way to go. I have been trying to work out some of your other points and your suggestion of one larger wheel is such an obviously good idea and solution. I think sometimes it's easy to get stuck in a initial idea of how its going to look and never bother to change that first image in your head. Certainly going to make those changes. It's also going to open up more space on the ground floor, which is something I've been trying to get more of. Wheels on the lift cage should also help with windy conditions, snow and other forms of bad weather. many thanks.