A historic hoisting machine consisting of a large vertical drum turned by horses walking in a circle. As the drum rotated, it wound a rope that pulled buckets of ore, waste rock, or water up the shaft. It was the standard method for deep winding before steam engines became widespread.
Heard on the job
The old shaft collar is still surrounded by the circular track where the horses drove the whim.
Insider tip
You can often identify the site of an abandoned whim by a large, flattened circular area adjacent to an old shaft collar.
Also heard as
- whim-gin
- horse whim