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What do some of you folks use for load testing a lift
This post has been edited by liftmech: 12 October 2007 - 04:58 AM

Unusually enough, we ordered over 300 bags of 1/4 inch gravel, it was easy to put on and take off, it wasn't particularly messy and we can use it afterwards

snowbird45, on Oct 1 2007, 03:44 PM, said:

We were able to get our beer supplier to provide us half kegs filled with water to load test our gondola. I have also heard that pepsi or coke provided the ballast for the gondola load test at Whiteface in the form of bottled soda.

Many places use garbage cans filled with water, others use cardboard boxes lined with plastic and filled with water.

sandbags by the hundreds

I don't know how Badger does theirs.

I know that Beaver Creek has a trailer full of trash cans for this purpose seems the seven year requirement and the number of new lifts or lift modifications justified the cost. They where talking about renting them out to get even more bang for their buck

vons, on Oct 2 2007, 11:03 AM, said:

I presume Vail Resorts' other resorts use them as well since they're so close.

thanks,i'll pass the word,many options

Managers, marketing staff, ski school instructors, ski patrollers and as many snow makers as you can gather , as they are all exppendable, and easily replaced by mentally challenged children from a local institution. Cinder blocks are great if you have a project at the top of the hill , otherwise, go with the wet set and use water as described above.

Plastic trash cans with a hole drilled near the bottom that a cork is inserted from the inside. This way you just push the cork in and the water runs out. Try and team up with any local ski areas to help reduce the cost and possibly share the storage of the trash cans. With the seven year load test requirement, it is nice not to have a big trash pile after every test.

We have garbage cans that we line with bags - we used to use corks but as the cans get older they start to crack. Now with the bags in them - they poke out the cork hole a bit and you can just stab them with something on the way by and they drain on the way down!

This would work too :)

That lift has alot of sag in the cable. The only lift I've seen that had that was a '88 Riblet triple, Sliver Fir at Ski Acres.

The Paradise chair and Red chair do that here, the new lift didn't really look like it did it too much.

We used cardboard boxes, double lined with liners. On the bottom of the side of the box we drilled a 1"ish hole with a hole saw to drain them easily. We were able to reuse most of the boxes for multiple load tests and we passed on the liners to facilities maint. for use during the season. We still have enough boxes left to do a couple of more lifts. It was easy to use snowmaking hydrants for a water supply, much easier than sand bags, concrete, etc... You never have to pick up the 'weight', just the hose!
Then you puncture the bag and let the weight drain. As for getting your weight right, measure one box exactly then make a dipstick to measure when you fill the rest on the lift.

What happens to the garbage cans or whatever once they get to the top? Does the lift go at full speed in a load test?

floridaskier, on Oct 4 2007, 12:53 PM, said:

We poke holes in the garbage bags and send the cans back to the bottom where the truck is. Yes the lift is brought to full speed - it's also allowed to roll back into the rollback device.

Well, Breck was load testing the Colorado from what their webcam shows.... It looks lie they use garbage cans with water.

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cjb, on Oct 3 2007, 08:17 PM, said:

That's exactly how we do it as well. I think I like this method best, the only issue is when you have a lift with no snowmaking nearby. We once ran 500' of hose to get the job done, but it was a thrash. For poking holes in the liners I've built a quick-and-dirty tool; an 8' stick of bamboo, a spike from snow fencing, and lots of electrical tape. That way you're out of the way of (most) of the water when it gushes out of the box.

liftmech, on Oct 5 2007, 05:58 AM, said:

If we don't have snowmaking nearby then we don't have a lift so that isn't a concern here.