How Much Do You Like Yan Lifts ?
Bill
25 Nov 2003
I have one of those YAN sheaves that are aluminum and has that plastic bushing.
SkiBachelor
25 Nov 2003
I think the Mt. Hood Meadows maintenance department is missing one of those. :---:
liftmech
25 Nov 2003
Jeff- I hate repeating myself, but you seem to forget that it's not the lift, it's a combination of operational conditions and what the lift is used for that determine speed. Try to remember this before slagging a lift, please. Yan fixed grips run just as fast as any other fixed grip if the conditions are right.
Kicking Horse
25 Nov 2003
well it seems every yan chair i'm on is slower then all other fg's on the mountain.
KZ
25 Nov 2003
I will be gaining possesion of one of the aluminum sheaves soon. I found a few, and just need some help getting them loose :)
Kelly
25 Nov 2003
YAN features.
One has a tendency to compare which came first, the chicken or the egg. The lifting frame or the gearbox? He had some good ideas - here's a few that he had and a few that his competitors were still refining while YAN was on to his next idea.
One piece embedment tower
Towers that had a large enough diameter that they did not sway with the wind
Ladder rungs that didn’t need a tip guard
Cross arms with foot stirrups and lift frame attachment points
Single adjustment bolts for main axels
One size of bolt/nut for adjustments
Solid body sheaves
Sheave assemblies with bushings that worked
Tower axels that did not rust
Counterweight that did not need form work built when poured
Covered counterweight
Counterweight travel equal to carriage travel
Pneumatic counterweight
Bullwheel loading and unloading
Adjustable terminals
Chairs that didn’t swing if a grasshopper farted
Chairs that had bushings that worked
Chairs that did not need swing dampers
Chairs that lasted twice a long as the competitors before cracking
Fool proof brake systems
Lift line profiles with consistent tower loads
Grips that had a failsafe mode
Single stage planetary gearbox
Cast aluminum sheave assemblies
Motor rooms instead of machinery enclosures
Bullwheel shafts that lasted for more than 7 years
Elimination of long drive shafts
Bullwheel spokes that didn’t crack
Motor room roofs that worked as a roof
DC drive system that an area personnel could trouble shoot
*The joke with the sheave assemblies was that Doppelmayr said his guys could fix an assembly with only one hit, (it was a 10 lb. hammer) Yan said his guys took 2 hits to fix an assembly, (it was a 5 lb. hammer) so Doppelmayr had a better design. YAN's idea of a one piece cast unit was a step in the right direction.
Ok YAN had a few problems but so did other manufactures. Check out this forum scroll about halfway look for posts on POMA tram accident.
www.skipass.com/ubbvf/Forum1/HTML/001778.html
liftmech - Last chair 44
Bushing tips.
Use an adjustable long reamer to straighten parallel and angular misalignment that is common to a 2 bushing system. Doesn't take much time and they go on a lot easier. Using plenty of heavy grease in the space between bushings will displace water and dirt and increase the life of bushing. If you have hold-down or trap assemblies or chair grip shafts, greasing is a must for any type of longevity even with turcite.
Allan
A water separator was common equipment with most boxes. It seems most filled up with water, froze then cracked, then leaked. Most mechanics just removed the whole unit to fix the problem. I suspect that you have already checked, but with that water gone the oil level could be lower and not getting to some upper bearings. Also cracked planet gear teeth and or damaged planet bearings can occur with ice in the lower portion of the box. An oil sample that is tested is an easy way to start trouble shooting
One has a tendency to compare which came first, the chicken or the egg. The lifting frame or the gearbox? He had some good ideas - here's a few that he had and a few that his competitors were still refining while YAN was on to his next idea.
One piece embedment tower
Towers that had a large enough diameter that they did not sway with the wind
Ladder rungs that didn’t need a tip guard
Cross arms with foot stirrups and lift frame attachment points
Single adjustment bolts for main axels
One size of bolt/nut for adjustments
Solid body sheaves
Sheave assemblies with bushings that worked
Tower axels that did not rust
Counterweight that did not need form work built when poured
Covered counterweight
Counterweight travel equal to carriage travel
Pneumatic counterweight
Bullwheel loading and unloading
Adjustable terminals
Chairs that didn’t swing if a grasshopper farted
Chairs that had bushings that worked
Chairs that did not need swing dampers
Chairs that lasted twice a long as the competitors before cracking
Fool proof brake systems
Lift line profiles with consistent tower loads
Grips that had a failsafe mode
Single stage planetary gearbox
Cast aluminum sheave assemblies
Motor rooms instead of machinery enclosures
Bullwheel shafts that lasted for more than 7 years
Elimination of long drive shafts
Bullwheel spokes that didn’t crack
Motor room roofs that worked as a roof
DC drive system that an area personnel could trouble shoot
*The joke with the sheave assemblies was that Doppelmayr said his guys could fix an assembly with only one hit, (it was a 10 lb. hammer) Yan said his guys took 2 hits to fix an assembly, (it was a 5 lb. hammer) so Doppelmayr had a better design. YAN's idea of a one piece cast unit was a step in the right direction.
Ok YAN had a few problems but so did other manufactures. Check out this forum scroll about halfway look for posts on POMA tram accident.
www.skipass.com/ubbvf/Forum1/HTML/001778.html
liftmech - Last chair 44
Bushing tips.
Use an adjustable long reamer to straighten parallel and angular misalignment that is common to a 2 bushing system. Doesn't take much time and they go on a lot easier. Using plenty of heavy grease in the space between bushings will displace water and dirt and increase the life of bushing. If you have hold-down or trap assemblies or chair grip shafts, greasing is a must for any type of longevity even with turcite.
Allan
A water separator was common equipment with most boxes. It seems most filled up with water, froze then cracked, then leaked. Most mechanics just removed the whole unit to fix the problem. I suspect that you have already checked, but with that water gone the oil level could be lower and not getting to some upper bearings. Also cracked planet gear teeth and or damaged planet bearings can occur with ice in the lower portion of the box. An oil sample that is tested is an easy way to start trouble shooting
Allan
25 Nov 2003
Hey RyanB you misunderstood me (well and I worded it funny!!) - I meant the steel beams that make up the frame for the motor room, not the gearboxes :)
liftmech
26 Nov 2003
We don't have any more cast-aluminum sheave assemblies, but we do have plenty of turcite chair head bushings- thanks for the tip. As far as the one-bolt assembly adjustments- didn't Poma copy those? All of our mid-70s Yans have those, but our 1981 Pomas don't.
edmontonguy
26 Nov 2003
Wow yan had some good ideas but unfortuatley they didn't last
Allan
26 Nov 2003
I especially like the one about the chairs not swinging if a grasshopper farted :) It's true - it takes quite a strong wind to really affect the YAN chairs, whereas the Thiokols swing waaay up and then violently bounce off the chair guide
Kelly
28 Nov 2003
lift mech and others:
A copy of a copy_
If you can find an old POMA platter lift you will see where Yan "borrowed" his adjustable axel feature from. I suspect U.S. patent rights to that design were in effect until mid 80s.
It's an interesting quirk that different people can have patents on same design in different countries. This does affect design of lifts from manufactures outside of the U.S. to some extent; however with the industry maturing especially with regards to detachable design the patent issue becomes less important.
Ryan B
A copy of a copy_
If you can find an old POMA platter lift you will see where Yan "borrowed" his adjustable axel feature from. I suspect U.S. patent rights to that design were in effect until mid 80s.
It's an interesting quirk that different people can have patents on same design in different countries. This does affect design of lifts from manufactures outside of the U.S. to some extent; however with the industry maturing especially with regards to detachable design the patent issue becomes less important.
Ryan B
