Jump to content


How Much Do You Like Yan Lifts ?


31 replies to this topic

#1 Eric

    Established User

  • Member
  • 252 Posts:

Posted 23 November 2003 - 04:46 PM

I find yan lifts o.k but it's too bad they had major problems with their lifts. The look of theirs chairs and towers are cool. I also like theirs terminal.(Yancake)
-ERIC

#2 SkiBachelor

    Forum Administrator

  • Administrator II
  • 6,242 Posts:
  • Interests:Hi, I'm Cameron!

Posted 23 November 2003 - 05:03 PM

Well, it's hard to say. Yan had some great ideas that Ryan B has mentioned on the forum, but some things kind of annoyed me. It was more of a quality issue I guess with me, like ride comfort and design. I really like Yan double chairs, but the triple chairs were uncomfortable and the operator booths seemed pretty cheap and ugly in my opinion. But Yanek changed that in the later years of making lifts and that was a plus. But the triple chairs had a nice design, the backrests were very annoying I thought. I think they should have gone with a flat backrest. The same thing goes for their HSQ's. The tear drop chair design has to be one of the oddest chair designs I have ever seen in my life! Other than what I mentioned I thought they were pretty good lifts, but design to me plays a great role in if I wanted to buy a lift or not.
- Cameron

#3 liftmech

    lift mechanic

  • Administrator II
  • 5,916 Posts:
  • Interests:Many.

Posted 23 November 2003 - 05:32 PM

I agree about the lift shacks, although it's always the area's option to build their own. If any of you have ever seen Yanek's early 80's sheave assemblies, you may agree that they were cool looking. Unfortunately they were also poorly designed and most areas have replaced them with Doppelmayr or Poma assemblies- just shows that if it looks good, it doesn't always work well. You have to admit that most of Yan's lifts are reliable, if not exactly well thought out.
Member, Department of Ancient Technology, Colorado chapter.

#4 floridaskier

    Established User

  • Administrator I
  • 2,814 Posts:

Posted 23 November 2003 - 05:36 PM

It's those backrests that get me- they're on all the lifts. I think the chairs don't really look as modern as Yan wanted them to look, on the contrary, I think the chairs from the other companies of that time looked much better and were certainly more comfortable. Also, the Yancake was pretty awful, although it looks great next to this year's Poma Omega drive terminal
- Tyler
West Palm Beach, FL - elev. 9 feet

#5 SkiBachelor

    Forum Administrator

  • Administrator II
  • 6,242 Posts:
  • Interests:Hi, I'm Cameron!

Posted 23 November 2003 - 05:46 PM

I think Yan was actually starting to come out with more reliable and better designed lifts in its later years. They improved the backrests, lifts shacks and a few other things, but things from older projects came back and hurt them. I think if those things didn't happen, Yan would actually still be in business today unless they merged with a lift company by now.
- Cameron

#6 floridaskier

    Established User

  • Administrator I
  • 2,814 Posts:

Posted 23 November 2003 - 05:50 PM

Thats true, in that Yan ad on Coskibum's page, it shows a padded backrest on the chair
- Tyler
West Palm Beach, FL - elev. 9 feet

#7 Allan

    Maintenance Manager

  • Administrator I
  • 2,745 Posts:

Posted 23 November 2003 - 05:53 PM

OK, it must just be me, and the fact I've never really rode a truly comfortable lift, but YAN's triple seats are fine for me, I mean if you sit between the contours of the back rest, it's not comfortable at all!
- Allan

#8 Allan

    Maintenance Manager

  • Administrator I
  • 2,745 Posts:

Posted 23 November 2003 - 05:58 PM

And I like the looks of the triples, I like the newer FG drive terminals over the ones we have, but if we painted them black - they would be fine. There's lots of room for doing work in the drive room, most things are easily accessible.

Oh and to the lift mechanics out there - you may want to drill a drain hole or two in the frame of the yanboxes, we drilled into ours to put a heater in, and about 30 gallons of water came out.
- Allan

#9 Eric

    Established User

  • Member
  • 252 Posts:

Posted 23 November 2003 - 06:03 PM

When I when to Lake Louise last winter, I found the 3 Yan lifts comfortable.
-ERIC

#10 coskibum

    Established User

  • Industry II
  • 596 Posts:
  • Interests:Skiing, Running, Mountain Biking, Baseball, Hiking, ski history, and Chairlifts.

Posted 23 November 2003 - 07:44 PM

i agree with liftmech, the yan sheave assemblies are really cool. coppers r & s lifts had some of the strangest, but coolest assemblies before they were retrofitted by poma.

btw: lovelands chair 2 still has the yan sheaves (the same models that have been replaced by other areas). does anyone know the exact reasons why these sheaves are so bad? just curious?

#11 KZ

    Multipurpose Machine

  • Industry II
  • 2,087 Posts:
  • Interests:Howdy folks, Im Zack and I live in California.

Posted 23 November 2003 - 07:51 PM

Sierra just got rid of the cool yan sheaves assemblies. I will find them and get pictures soon.

As far as their lifts, they were good. Looked good, and from a meintenince standpoint, you guys seem to like them. If the accident didnt happen, they would still be around, and probably an industry leader. THey wouldnt have merged. It also seems some of the accidents were due to poor care of the lifts
Zack

#12 Allan

    Maintenance Manager

  • Administrator I
  • 2,745 Posts:

Posted 23 November 2003 - 08:43 PM

Apparently these newer style of sheave assemblies are made of aluminum, or it may just be the Super Compression assemblies. Apparently, they are prone to breaking, so that's why these new assemblies are being replaced.
- Allan

#13 Allan

    Maintenance Manager

  • Administrator I
  • 2,745 Posts:

Posted 23 November 2003 - 09:47 PM

Ryan B may no more - I'm just reading off one of the service bulletins.
- Allan

#14 floridaskier

    Established User

  • Administrator I
  • 2,814 Posts:

Posted 24 November 2003 - 02:47 PM

DV still has two lifts with the old black sheaves. They are actually pretty smooth [Sterling (82) & Mayflower (85)]
- Tyler
West Palm Beach, FL - elev. 9 feet

#15 KZ

    Multipurpose Machine

  • Industry II
  • 2,087 Posts:
  • Interests:Howdy folks, Im Zack and I live in California.

Posted 24 November 2003 - 06:28 PM

If kirkwood didnt change them on cahirs 10 and 11, they still have them
Zack

#16 Eric

    Established User

  • Member
  • 252 Posts:

Posted 24 November 2003 - 06:48 PM

This chair is comfortable

Friendly Giant

Attached File(s)


-ERIC

#17 lastchair_44

    Established User

  • Administrator II
  • 1,159 Posts:

Posted 24 November 2003 - 07:23 PM

That's right, Sterl, and Mayflower have the aluminum cast sheave assemblies, a very poor design. These are prone to cracking, and are a pain to replace. I just helped with one today. It took us 2 days because the plastic bushing in the assembly kept cracking when we put it on the axle. We actually had to take the axle out, take everything back to the shop and tinker with it. We finally got it on today and she's running like a champ. I have found that with these aluminum cast assemblies, there is a lot of play with the "two banger" part of the assembly. What I mean is there is one sheave bolted on the part of the assembly that is pressed onto the axle. Then there is another seperate assembly which bolts on to the other that holds two sheaves. I don't know why but on a lot of these style assembly's there is a lot of play. But once the rope is back on the sheaves, all you need to do is a little adjusting and the rope goes right down the middle and you have a happy ski lift. (sorry for the confusing explanation)
-Jimmi

#18 liftmech

    lift mechanic

  • Administrator II
  • 5,916 Posts:
  • Interests:Many.

Posted 24 November 2003 - 08:10 PM

I've found that the plastic bushing you're talking about is also present in the chair heads. It's made from a material called Turcite, and once it's been pounded into place, it's practically indestructible and requires no greasing. As long as you spray the chair head out with Powersolv or something similar once a year, the bushings last practically forever. They do crack, though, if you pound on them too hard. Turcite is once of Yan's better ideas, in my opinion.
Thanks for the tip about the frame of the Yanboxes, Allan.
Brad, sorry to correct you, but R and S lifts were retrofitted by Doppelmayr, not Poma. We got a great deal of beer funding from those old sheaves, since they weighed a ton.
Member, Department of Ancient Technology, Colorado chapter.

#19 coskibum

    Established User

  • Industry II
  • 596 Posts:
  • Interests:Skiing, Running, Mountain Biking, Baseball, Hiking, ski history, and Chairlifts.

Posted 24 November 2003 - 08:17 PM

haha, beer is a good payment, thanks for the correction i was just assuming poma!

#20 Kicking Horse

    Established User

  • Industry I
  • 3,071 Posts:
  • Interests:Chairlifts

Posted 24 November 2003 - 10:19 PM

if the yan fg chairs was a lil faster i would like yan better.
Jeff





1 User(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 1 guests, 0 anonymous users