17 replies to this topic

[Snowflake]

Hi all,

We were going up the ski lift yesterday (Falcon Chair at Big White - an old 2 seat non-detachable), and started wondering about the cable. So a few questions for you - and sorry I don't know all the technical terms...

1. Is the cable one length with one splice in it? Or is it several lengths? (We looked hard but couldn't see any joins)

2. How do you get the cable on to the towers? Presumably you need many people and heavy lifting gear / helicopter ?

Thanks...

[floridaskier]

Welcome Snowflake
The cable is usually one length with one splice. It comes on a big spool. I don't think you can see the splice (or at least I can't)

[Allan]

Depending on the length of the lift, there can be more than one splice (Motherlode has two, one starting at chair 1 and another at 103). There's a good explanation on splices somewhere on the forum. Splices must be marked according to code, we mark ours with yellow paint, one mark on each side of each tuck. Generally you wouldn't be able to notice them when riding a lift - unless you know what to look for. If you're riding a lift and it's vibrating more than normal near the towers, you're probably near the tucks. (The tucks are where the ends of the rope are "tucked" back into the core of the rope). When you say get the cable onto the towers - do you mean when the lift is built? If so - a smaller wire rope (a straw line) is run around all the towers, bullwheels etc and attached to the normal rope and is pulled with a winder which holds the spools for the straw line and the haul rope.

[Snowflake]

Thanks for that explanation - think I'm getting the idea... I did read one of the threads on splicing.

Some more questions...

So, you have a long length of cable (with maybe 1 splice in) and wind it round the towers etc. Do you then splice it when it's in place? If so is there not a lot of tension there, or is there a different method?

Thinking of the lengths of some chair lifts, there must be a considerable weight involved. How do you get round that?

Also...can you use the lift motor itself to get the cable around the system, or do you have to use an external motor?

[Kelly]

Splice(s) are suppose to start at or near chair #1.
Alan's past Avatar did have a lifting frame for hoisting the haulrope. This method is used often in the industry. Perhaps he could post the image for you.
Sand lines start at the top and are pulled downhill on both sides of the lift.
Helicopters can be used for the sand line but it's very difficult to control the unspooling speed so it's often not used.
Under certain conditions like a heavy haulrope or a crummy spooler, lifts are used to pull sand line and haulrope around the lift if the construction of the drive terminal is finished. Unfortunately this is usually not the case.
Outback construction built about 80% of the lifts last year in the U.S. perhaps he would post an image of a spooler if you emailed him.
Tension on the haulrope is controlled by the tension terminal. It can be adjusted for splices and to control the final tension on the haulrope.

Ryan B
Ski lift cable is what liftmech has bootlegged into his shop so he can watch the super bowl.

[edmontonguy]

You might have noticed on the falcon chair that overtop of the loading area there are a series of cables that run into the trees nearby. I beleive these have yellow tubes around them due to the low clearance. These cables are what provide the tension in the lift. They lead to a large concrete which provides the tension to keep the cables on. when the lift was originally tensioned the terminal would hev been ajusted by pulling on these cables.

[liftmech]

http://www.skilifts....?showtopic=1235

A thread I started a few months ago. Here are a few pictures of a splice I took part in a few years ago. The first is a picture of the 'marriage', or where the to ends of the rope come together. The second is part of the rig we use to pull the rope tight. You wondered about the tension being overcome to perform the splice; this is how it's done.

Attached File(s)

•  splice_marriage.JPG (33.99K)
  Number of downloads: 77
•  C_2_splice_rig.JPG (53.9K)
  Number of downloads: 85

[Duck]

Thank you very much for this great description!

-Iain

[Snowflake]

Thanks chaps - that's answered my queries nicely!

[poloxskier]

I have a question regarding things I have noticed rescently on haul ropes on a couple of lifts.

1. Is it normal for the core to work it's way out of the cable?

2. What is the core made of?

[Aussierob]

1. No
2. Various - Nylon and polypropylene are common.

This post has been edited by Aussierob: 18 March 2005 - 09:57 PM

[poloxskier]

So if it were coming out it may look like a frayed rope on older lifts?
And on newer lifts could it look like a piece of black plastic?

[Aussierob]

Yep, I guess so. The only possible place you would see it is at the tuck and even then the splice would have to seriously pulled apart for that to happen. It would give me great cause for concern.

[liftmech]

What you are seeing could also be bits and pieces of rope lube. Over the years, as more and more lube is put on the rope, it builds up in the valleys (the space between the strands) and packs together almost like it's solid. It collects dirt and flakes of rubber from the sheave liners as well, which gives it a black colour. I would hope you're not seeing actual core.

[poloxskier]

What I have observerved the last few days on two different lifts was on an older lift what looked like a frayed natural fiber rope sticking out from between the braids of the haul rope. On the newer one it looked like long piece of black plastic or ruber that was about 18" long hanging down, I was also wondering if maybe that was a sheave liner that got stuck to the rope?

[Aussierob]

Might have been a grip finger but is would fall off at the next sheave assembly.

[liftmech]

If you're describing an older lift, and if it's the Riblet I suspect it is, you might be seeing the former locations of clips. If the clip movement is done sloppily or in a hurry, the core fringes in the old location aren't trimmed properly and they stick out. I know this from experience You learn to pack a handheld torch after a while to clean those up :)

[Dr Frankenstein]

Quote

The cable is usually one length with one splice. It comes on a big spool. I don't think you can see the splice (or at least I can't)

If you watch the downhill side during all the ride you'll finally find the splice. Of course you need good eyes.