10 replies to this topic

[brad82]

Hi All,

I've noticed on the newer Dopp lifts, towers with compression sheave trains on have a somewhat lowered lifting frame compared to normal support towers, whith what appears to be the reverse of a cable-catcher attached that deflects the haul rope should it jump from the sheave train

From what I can deduce, the lifting frame is shortened in height purely to accommodate the attached cable catcher, but is there any other technical reason behind this?

(original image thanks to backbowlsbilly)

Attached File(s)

•  dopp.jpg (162.31K)
  Number of downloads: 134

This post has been edited by Kelly: 13 October 2014 - 03:39 PM

[vons]

I think you are talking about the lifting frame being shorter than on a normal support tower.

[brad82]

vons, on 13 October 2014 - 02:13 PM, said:

I think you are talking about the lifting frame being shorter than on a normal support tower.

Indeed I am

[Backbowlsbilly]

I think that they are a trait of European built Doppelmayr towers. Beaver Creek's new chondola, like all of Beaver Creek's lifts, was actually built in Austria and shipped over so it doesn't have the American tower design. Durango purchased their six pack during the Doppelmayr-CTEC merger so it received the European designed towers, stations and chairs like Beaver Creek. In the attached image of the Purgatory Village Express, the first tower shown has the shorter lifting frame. However, Vail's Mountaintop Express, which received American designs since the UNI-GS wasn't offered, doesn't have the shorter lifting frame, go to about 3:40 on the video. (Thanks to Donald) Keystone's gondola has the shorter lifting frames too, it was also a European design since the UNI-GV is only a European design.

Attached File(s)

•  durango_m06_0004.jpg (144.45K)
  Number of downloads: 68

This post has been edited by Backbowlsbilly: 14 October 2014 - 02:22 PM

[vons]

I am guessing that its to deal with the load of the rope pushing up on the catcher during a deropement.

[DonaldMReif]

Hey, that's my video. Should give credit where it's due.

As for the Beaver Creek lifts, I don't think all of them were built in Austria. I think the Garaventa CTEC high speed quads were built in Utah or somewhere out west.

This post has been edited by DonaldMReif: 14 October 2014 - 08:24 AM

[Backbowlsbilly]

DonaldMReif, on 14 October 2014 - 08:22 AM, said:

Hey, that's my video. Should give credit where it's due.

As for the Beaver Creek lifts, I don't think all of them were built in Austria. I think the Garaventa CTEC high speed quads were built in Utah or somewhere out west.

Sorry about that, I put your name up there and I know that not all of Beaver Creek's lifts were built in Austria, just the new Doppelmayrs were. (Larkspur, Rose Bowl, Buckaroo, Birds of Prey, Riverfront, Upper and Lower Beaver Creek Mountain Express and now Centennial) Should have added those in there

[Peter]

Backbowlsbilly, on 14 October 2014 - 02:25 PM, said:

Sorry about that, I put your name up there and I know that not all of Beaver Creek's lifts were built in Austria, just the new Doppelmayrs were. (Larkspur, Rose Bowl, Buckaroo, Birds of Prey, Riverfront, Upper and Lower Beaver Creek Mountain Express and now Centennial) Should have added those in there

I believe regardless of design (Euro-style or American) all Doppelmayr towers for North America are fabricated in St. Jerome, Quebec. Donald I think CTEC detachables were built in Sacramento, California.

[SkiDaBird]

Eagle at Solitude has the short frame on all 3 compression towers. It's an 89 VonRoll/CTEC so it isn't exactly a newer Dopp but I have always wondered why that is.

[DonaldMReif]

I think some of the Storm Peak Express lift's towers might have short frames. I have videos of that lift, too, on my YouTube page.

[liftmech]

From a maintenance perspective the shorter lifting frames are there because a standard-height is unnecessary on a compression tower. To pull the rope off the sheaves you obviously go down, not up, so you don't need the headroom for rigging that you would on a support tower. Having all towerheads the same seems to be an American thing-- less production expense when you have only one style to fabricate rather than two.

Depending upon what you're building and what the backlog is, some Doppelmayr steel does come from Europe. Both our surface lifts did.