ModernMuscleCars.net - Modern Muscle Cars Archive

Pages: 1

The Z is gone :(
(Click here to view the original thread with full colors/images)

Posted by: 1LowCav

AAA came and picked it up today. Now I gotta find me a 4-wheel drive for winter. Here's my 'other' winter beast.

3400 feet long, 570-foot elevation gain

Here's the motor room:

Posted by: LS1JAY

Sorry to hear that. I know you loved that car.

Posted by: bl3wbyu

What the heck IS that?!

Posted by: 1LowCav

I take it you've never been to a ski area before? It's just your basic chairlift. The big blue thing in the middle is the gear reducer. To the left of that is the electric drive motor. It's connected to the reducer by a large vee-belt. The radiator on the right is for the diesel auxillary. It's used when the power's out. The disc behind the reducer is the service brake. It's operated by air pressure. Most lifts have hydraulic brakes, but this beast has air brakes. "YAN" is the make. There's different makes of lifts like there are cars. This one was built in Carson City, Nevada, in 1986. Lifts are big, complex machines and there's a lot involved in running them. Here's the logo for this manufacturer. Interesting fact I learned the other day: the same company that built the rocket boosters for the space shuttle, Thiokol, also built ski lifts at one point.

Posted by: bl3wbyu

Wow, that's very interesting. But you're right, never been skiing or had anything to do with it.

What kind of power is that motor putting out?

Got A/C in the cab?

Posted by: 1LowCav

It runs on 600 volts DC and puts out 200 hp. The speed is controlled by varying the field voltage to the motor. It's high RPM/low torque so the reducer has a 100 to 1 ratio. Yans are pretty much the Volkswagen Bug of the chairlift industry--they aren't made anymore, there's lots around and they're easy to run.

Posted by: bl3wbyu

Yeesh! 100:1?! What kind of RPM does this beast turn?

Posted by: 1LowCav

Here's the full specs: it's a triple-seater so each carrier holds three people

MANUFACTURER Lift Engineering (Yan)
INSTALLED 1986
LENGTH 3350 feet
VERTICAL 570 feet
SPEED 450 feet per minute
NUMBER OF CARRIERS 148
TYPE OF MOTOR DC SCR
HORSEPOWER 200
TYPE OF DRIVE Multi-vee belt
GEAR REDUCER MFG Yan model 250
REDUCTION RATIO 100.18 to 1
LINE GAUGE (WIDTH) 13 feet
ROTATION Clockwise
MAX ALLOW STOP DISTANCE 25 feet
TENSION SYSTEM Pneumatic
NON-STOP RIDE 7 minutes
NUMBER OF TOWERS 18
HAUL ROPE DIAMETER 1 ½ inch
AUXILARY Cummins C230 inline 6
SERVICE BRAKE Pneumatic disc on high speed shaft
EMERGENCY BRAKE Pneumatic clamp on bottom bullwheel
BACKSTOP BRAKE #1 Ratchet on high speed shaft
BACKSTOP BRAKE #2 Falling dog on bottom bullwheel

Posted by: bl3wbyu

Wow, that's quite interesting. Sure does have a lot of brakes, back-up brakes, and back-up back-up brakes! I guess they're necessary, though. At any given time, how much weight is on the rope? Is it a rope? I guess it'd be some kind of twisted metal wire that actually supports the lifts?

When the power goes out and you have to use the Cummins, does it perform just as well as the motor?

Posted by: 1LowCav

fully loaded, I'd say around 37,000 pounds with each carrier at its max capacity, which is 500 pounds. An empty carrier weighs around 300 pounds, and there's 74 to a side (only the uphill side is loaded). Most of the weight though is supported by the line machinery. All in all, hardware and people, I'd estimate about 40 tons, plus or minus a few hundred pounds.

The haul rope is twisted strands with a fiber rope core, to hold rope lube. Here's more info on the rope: http://www.skilifts.org/tech_facts_haulrope.htm

The Cummins is good; there's a glitch in the control circuit (it's got a new computer; all the bugs aren't out yet) that won't let it run above 55% speed capacity, which rounds out to around 220 feet per minute. It's very easy to hook up though.

Here's the line machinery:

Posted by: 1LowCav

Here's a Google Earth view of Badger Pass, the little ski area in Yosemite. It's California's oldest ski area.

http://www.skiliftforum.com/index.p...e=post&id=11900

Back to the Forums