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Hi. I was browsing through my images library and found that there are 2 styles of DS grips used on lifts up where I live.
The 1st Photo shows the Gondola at Loon Mountain, NH. This uses the more commonly seen DS grip.
The 2nd Photo shows the Bethlehem Express at Bretton Woods, NH. I haven't seen a DS grip like it before.
If you can't see it too well (Sorry, Poor Quality) basically, the Bethlehem Quad has a rubber knob on the end of the grip, compared to a white wheel on the gondola. (I know it's rubber, I got to see one up close before) Is there a reason why these lifts have different grips?
By the way, the Gondola is a 1989 CLD, while the "Beth" is a 1989 UNI.
Here's a video on the Bethlehem Express : (https://www.youtube....h?v=qHVKWBLcwcg)

What you see on the chair lift is a DS-104 grip. I believe what you see on the Gondola is a DS-108 grip. Keystone has something similar on the Outpost Gondola. I'll try to get a couple of photos for comparison.

The "Beth" looks like a ET terminal in the video. As I understand it UNI terminals are for DT style grips.

They are both DS-104 grips. The Bethlehem Ex uses the older style "cone" instead of the newer style wheel. I believe the older grips are upgradable to the wheels, but the guide rails in the terminals need to be changed to accept the different setup.

2milehi, on 26 October 2014 - 06:08 AM, said:

I was wondering why there was 2 different designs, but I dunno.
According to the ID sheet the UNI's after 1995 were fitted for DT Grips, but the UNI's from 1989-1994 were fitted for DS-Grips.

DS spring applied and DT uses a torsion setup correct me if I'm wrong but that's what I take from info I've seen. Why they use different types I don't know heard DT grips are not used in some places cause of certain concerns.

DT and DS grips where prohibited in some countries because the grip uses an over-center design,the grip holds itself open in the terminal. I think at the time (pre EU) when these regulations where in place, it was more for market protection of local producers than actual performance issues with the DT or DS grips.

I always thought is was cool that the DS grip had a self testing feature, in that, if the spring pack is not providing enough force a lever lowers from the underside of the grip into a path along the primary rail where it strikes a break fork shutting down the lift therefore requiring immediate inspection and usually removal of suspect grip from the line.
This post has been edited by vons: 26 October 2014 - 08:55 AM

The rubber knob you refer to is still plastic, just different-coloured. Rubber wheels don't hold up to the impact of entering a terminal.

liftmech, on 26 October 2014 - 02:37 PM, said:

You're probably right. I just thought it was covered in something like rubber, but it's not like I actually reached out to touch it :P
Looked a lot like it though.

Loon's Gondola originally had the black, cone shaped guide roller. The flared cone is a rubber shock absorber. I guess they didn't work too well because we changed over when the lift was only a few years old. We still have a few of the black rollers, I could get a picture of one. A coil spring dampener was added to the trumpet portion of the guide rail to absorb the cabin swing.

Otherwise the Loon & Bretton Woods grips are identical.

Loon's Gondola is a 1988 MGD-4 (Mono cable Gondola Detachable- four passenger)
The Bethlehem is a 1989 CLD-4 (Chair Lift Detachable - four passenger) it's also a UNI
This post has been edited by SuperRat: 29 October 2014 - 03:17 PM

DS-108, looks a lot like a DS-104.

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That's a good shot of it. Looks comparable to that on the bethlehem quad.