20 replies to this topic

[woofydoggie]

Has anyone else seen or heard of BMF? Their detach grips are alot different and they angle thrir bubble chairs afew degrees
Http://Bmf-seilbahnen.ch

[Peter]

I believe SkyTrac has an agreement to sell BMF products in North America although I don't know of that actually happening yet.

[Yooper Skier]

Here's a promotional video of one of their installations.
https://www.youtube....h?v=fTYF66kwLeo

[woofydoggie]

Anyone know why they angle their bubble chairs??
https://www.youtube....hC6k-Hv556_r4Rw

[woofydoggie]

Oh wow, quay noticed that when they go into the station, they rotate back to face stratight, then on the line, they turn.
Sort of odd.

[Backbowlsbilly]

I think those are angled to have a better view, the chairs themselves are designed by Porsche and have race car seats so that whole lift was built for comfort. I think its kind of unnecessary but if people like it, then it works.

[woofydoggie]

Interesting....

[mikest2]

woofydoggie, on 08 September 2014 - 05:00 PM, said:

Anyone know why they angle their bubble chairs??
https://www.youtube....hC6k-Hv556_r4Rw

Looks to me like the line gauge is narrower than my 6pack, it could just be for swing clearance. or maybe you can retro your quad to a six ?

[Lift Dinosaur]

mikest2, on 09 September 2014 - 07:49 PM, said:

Looks to me like the line gauge is narrower than my 6pack, it could just be for swing clearance. or maybe you can retro your quad to a six ?

But the downhill chairs don't rotate so I would not think swing clearance.

Dino

[brad82]

The angled chairs serve no other purpose than a marketing gimmick. Theres no technical reason behind the angling such as line width etc; when the carriers were designed by Porsche they felt it would be a good to angle the chairs so that the 'scenery could be better enjoyed'. As Backbowlsbilly said, the lift was specially designed, standard BMF chairs aren't like that, although the standard ones are still very comfy!

Ridden the lift in Yoopers video; Le Marmottes Express in Val D'Isere, a couple of times, the BMF lifts are very smooth. Interestingly they use a laser scanner on the first tower to detect whether the restraint bar is still raised. If you don't close it it causes a illuminated sign to flash and annoy the hell out of you. I don't know if its connected to the lift control in any way past the annoying sign.

From what I gather from various documents floating around Remotee Mechaniques, the BMF Grips are designed so that it requires very little force to close the grip, and the springs do not actively oppose closing the grip, but reopening the grip requires considerably more force.

Theres a few BMF lifts in Val D'isere and further around the valley which its situated in. They seem to be picking up traction in the market; Val D'Isere had a new BMF lift built last season to get skiers back up to the Dopp 3S they have there, replacing an old yan quad which was constantly out of service.

RM has a few articles on the BMF lifts for anyone that has the patience to decrypt google-translated french (or speaks french!)

http://www.remontees...liste-6-24.html

[Phalanger]

The grip design is from Wopfner (Austrian) which still has detachable devices running today. However after the company finished in the 1990s the derivatives of their designs were deployed by LST and BMF.

Also the Porsche chairs are going to be used for another lift over in eastern Europe, however the brand name will be slightly altered.

[vons]

Phalanger, on 24 September 2014 - 07:44 AM, said:

The grip design is from Wopfner (Austrian) which still has detachable devices running today. However after the company finished in the 1990s the derivatives of their designs were deployed by LST and BMF.

Also the Porsche chairs are going to be used for another lift over in eastern Europe, however the brand name will be slightly altered.

I believe that Wopfner grips used on the few LST lifts came from perviously removed Wopfner lifts.
Tatralift http://www.tatralift...uct/type-slo-6/ is using a redesigned version of the grip on their new detachable lifts (designed to met EU regs) their carrier is similar to the Porsche version. There is also a Turkish company, STM http://www.stmteleferik.com.tr/en/ using the Wopfner grip design.

[NHskier13]

Did Doppelmayr buy a chair patent or something from BMF? This lift (thumbnail below) looks like it uses a chair similar to the one in this video. (https://www.youtube....h?v=fTYF66kwLeo)

Attached File(s)

•  Chondola Line.jpg (168.18K)
  Number of downloads: 82

[Yooper Skier]

NHskier13, on 14 October 2014 - 04:25 PM, said:

Did Doppelmayr buy a chair patent or something from BMF? This lift (thumbnail below) looks like it uses a chair similar to the one in this video. (https://www.youtube....h?v=fTYF66kwLeo)

Not to say there isn't some sort of patent sharing, but look close and you will see several differences. The BMF utilizes a shock for lateral swing dampening. The Doppelmayr (Chondola at Sunday River) uses two horizontal and two vertical rubber "marshmallow" springs that are not visible in the picture.

[SkiLiftsRock]

Yooper Skier, on 14 October 2014 - 05:48 PM, said:

The Doppelmayr (Chondola at Sunday River) uses two horizontal and two vertical rubber "marshmallow" springs that are not visible in the picture.

Here is a video that shows the grips in the terminal of the Chondola at Sunday River, Maine. Youtube video credit to abl3956.

http://youtu.be/qU-NTHeFAzI


 grip.JPG (45.43K)
Number of downloads: 27

[Yooper Skier]

SkiLiftsRock, on 14 October 2014 - 09:28 PM, said:

Here is a video that shows the grips in the terminal of the Chondola at Sunday River, Maine. Youtube video credit to abl3956.

http://youtu.be/qU-NTHeFAzI


grip.JPG

The marshmallow springs I referenced are in the bail to hanger assembly that are for swing dampening, and of course the grip springs are coils. I know because I am one of the wrenches that works on it. Also, the video is mine ;)

[Nate214]

Does this company make the grips for SkyTrac I heard something about the grips for Kachina Peak were being made somewhere else. The President of the Ski Valley seemed a little upset that they might not be made in USA. Does anyone know anything else about this? Of course the haul rope was from Switzerland Fatzer cable good stuff.

[liftmech]

I've heard several times that Skytrac is in cahoots (to what degree, I don't know) with BMF but only for detachable technology. Very similar to their predecessor CTEC-Garaventa. As far as I know Skytrac builds and fabricates all parts here. I suspect we'll see BMF detaches here in the States within a couple of years, assuming Skytrac continues to grow their business.

[Nate214]

That's what I thought just detachable technology. Sound like they were waiting for grips to arrive in or from NY???? That's where we started getting confused.

[vons]

I am pretty sure that Skytrac outsources the grip production to a US firm that specializes in casting these parts, this firm may also do some of the machining work on the grips.

SkyTrac is the north American distributor for BMF. From what limited info I have SkyTrac does not currently use any components from BMF and they only plan on possibly using the BMF detachable grips when they eventually build a high speed lift.

I could be wrong and everything has changed, as I haven't worked for them or been by the shop in a year .