17 replies to this topic

[vons]

I have noticed that large percentige of the lifts built in the US lately have fatzer ropes while there are three other makes that I know of off hand (Trefileurope, Redaelli and Teufelberger) I have only worked on lifts at copper with trefileurope and never seen a lift with the others.So I will ask what factors does the resort or manufacturer use to choose? Each producer has good pruduct that will be built to speck so is price it or is there more?

and has anyone seen or worked on a lift with fatzer's new jota rope?

[SkiBachelor]

I'm pretty sure that Craig Loop of Outback Construction has worked with Fatzer's new jota rope when he replaced the Village Parking gondola's haul rope this past summer at Telluride. I remember him telling me that it was a brand new type of haul rope from Fratzer.

[Lift Dinosaur]

I think in the U.S. market it is primarily hooked to Europe. Doppelmayr generally uses Fatzer (Swiss), Poma uses Trefil (French), Leitner used Redaelli (Italian), and Tuefelberger has just recently (2-3 years) entered the U.S. market. Customers generally do not specify a rope unless they have had a long time relationship with one type/manufacturer. It makes sense for the manufacturer to stick with one supplier as they get a volume discount on tonnage plus better service.
Ski lift wire ropes in the U.S. are a very small percentage of the total volume that these companies do. You will notice that NONE of them have an office in North America.

[SkiBachelor]

Does anyone think that one of the big lift manufacturers will buy a rope manufacturer? Doppelmayr/Garaventa seems like it's starting to enter ito other markets rather than just lifts so I could see them buying Fratzer in the future, but who knows.

[vons]

trefileurope supplied ropes on Super Bee, Excelarator, T-rex and Flyer at Copper. On T-rex I know it was spec'ed by the resort because one of my Doppelmayer co workers who had to do many a service call because said it was. It is a rope not normally used by Doppelmayer and it caused some vibration issues on T-rex. Another co worker of mine Grady Ham helped Mr. Loop install that rope. I had heard rumor that it was difficult to splice but that its low vibration and strech made it very easy on line equipment and was curious to see if anyone had more knowladge about it

[SkiBachelor]

I'm going to e-mail Craig later tonight to see what's wrong with the carriers on the new Liberator Express at Mission Ridge since they don't meet the current ANSI code and modifications have to be made before the lift can open to the public. I'll shoot him a side note about this topic and hopefully he'll write back about it.

P.S. I'm guessing that the third leg footrest had to be removed from the carriers since that didn't seem like a very good setup.

[Allan]

We get our ropes from Wire Rope Industries, which has a Canadian office! :)

[Lift Dinosaur]

Allan, on Dec 12 2005, 08:39 PM, said:

We get our ropes from Wire Rope Industries, which has a Canadian office! :)

Does WRI supply a solid poly core or a braided poly? What are your experiences regarding rope elongation after installation?
Thanks-

[Allan]

If I remember right they're braided poly cores (I've only ever been part of one resplice). However I do know that we normally have to resplice a new rope a year or two after its installation.

[liftmech]

WRI supplies braided poly for its cores. Makes it nice to use for Riblet lifts because any rough ends remaining after you cut the core for the clip can be trimmed with a handheld torch. We used them almost exclusively at Baker because their office was right across the border in Richmond.

[Outback]

Fatzer's "Jota" rope design eliminates vibration, noise and sheave wear in detachable lift conditions.
We installed the new Jota 42mm rope to all three of the Telluride Gondola sections two years ago.
This summer we went back to replace the smaller section with a new design (similiar to the original) (less profile on the plastic) due to plastic working its way out of the cable. Fatzer has worked out the bugs and I predict we will see more of it on the market soon. Telluride is the first and only "lift" with Joya installed to date. Other related Jota installs are at the Getty Museum in L.A. (28mm) and a people mover at a mid west airport. (28mm)
telluride saw a 70% decrease in sheave replacement and are able to have a conversation in the terminals now without shouting!
Splicing is straightforward with the addition of removing the plastic in the splice area then re-installing after the splice is completed. Fatzer created a special tool that relays the hourglass plastic inbetween the strands then the ends (at the tucks) are simply put into the core at the tucks.
Norm Duke is the recognized splicer in the U.S. for the Jota rope. Fatzer supplied a splicer from across the pond to help us the first time.

[liftmech]

Pardon my ignorance, but what makes the Jota rope different from a 'normal' rope?

[liftmechanic]

liftmech, on Dec 14 2005, 05:51 AM, said:

Pardon my ignorance, but what makes the Jota rope different from a 'normal' rope?

There are plastic pieces that fill the valleys between the strands that follow the lay of the rope, the result is a cross section is almost round versus a traditional cross section. The results are greatly reduced vibration.

[vons]

here is a picture from their site

[lastchair_44]

Does anyone know how much extra these ropes cost for a new lift installation? It's a shame we couldn't have had these ropes installed on Silver Strike and Sultan because it seems that the sheave liners doppelmayr use are softer than our old CTEC liners. When we did linework on the Strike this summer we could already see wear on heavily loaded towers, and this was after only one season of operation.

[chasl]

The jota rope will run somewhere around 30 - 35% more than a standard 6 strand rope. And you are correct Norm Duke would be my selection, even over a Fatzer splicer.

[Whistler]

I just saw four spools of Fatzer Rope sitting in the parking lot at Grouse Mountain. Skyride replacement maybe?

[Aussierob]

Slightly off topic. When I went to Doppelmayrs Electrical training school in 2003, we went to Fatzers factory to see it in operation. It is quite an amazing process. They were finishing a track rope (about 50 mm). It's crazy walking up and down this huge machine with no guards watching all the individual wires get spun.