84 replies to this topic

[SkiBachelor]

I'll take a book too Emax if you write one.

Because Doppelmayr's Conceptual Input book was so popular, I have a feeling that yours would be just as successful since Lift Engineering was a unique company.

[Peter]

I would definately get one. The only other lift book I have besides Conceptual Inputs is "The Snowbird Tram" by Walt McConnell. It is another very interesting book.

[liftmech21]

Does anyone know if you can still buy Doppelmayrs book "Conceptual Inputs"?

[SkiBachelor]

Nope, it's gone. :(

I contacted Doppelmayr/Garaventa about it and they have no plans to reproduce anymore either because it's copyrighted by Artur Doppelmayr and he died.

If anyone has the book and doesn't want it anymore, I'll be glad to buy it.

[Peter]

I bought the book for $50.00 a few years ago directly from Doppelmayr in Salt Lake City. I really enjoyed reading it, I still keep rereading it from time to time!

[liftmech]

Allan, on May 11 2006, 06:29 PM, said:

On another note - I have to ask... does everyone with the box style sheave assemblies have the alignment problems we have; where one two rocker will be out of line with the other three, or even one sheave in a rocker will be out?

Yup. Pretty normal for a high-hour lift. We see it mostly on the older Yans, but our old Poma triples have it as well. The assemblies need to be rebuilt. We've found that the axle holes in the four-rocker and eight-rocker frames will get egged out; you need to weld them up and re-bore them.

[lastchair_44]

liftmech, on May 12 2006, 04:21 AM, said:

Yup. Pretty normal for a high-hour lift. We see it mostly on the older Yans, but our old Poma triples have it as well. The assemblies need to be rebuilt. We've found that the axle holes in the four-rocker and eight-rocker frames will get egged out; you need to weld them up and re-bore them.

my god that sounds like fun

[Allan]

We've dropped 17 assemblies so far this year for the problem... There will be more too. Silverlode's are away at Murray Latta getting repaired - hope we get them back in time to open the bike park!!

[liftmech]

Seventeen! Glad we're not you... we've only dropped eight and we're basically done with rebuilds for the summer. Mostly Pomas this year. Now that we're

[jeffe]

Yep old Yanic was a piece of work. A book about him would be great. His first mission to the states was to solve a noise problem on a floating bullwheel at bogus basin. I recall him being the dinner speaker at an event in 86. He wasn't to stoked about the emerging high speed technology at the time. Hard to say but some of the former leading lift manufacturers kind of died with the people that built them. I still see an oldtimer kicking arould in my home town that used to work as an engineer for him. I'll ask him for more info next time I see him, and turn him on to this site.

Regarding yan controls. Does anyone rememer the control vest the operator wore?

[Lift Dinosaur]

Quote

On another note - I have to ask... does everyone with the box style sheave assemblies have the alignment problems we have; where one two rocker will be out of line with the other three, or even one sheave in a rocker will be out?

Allan, I'm trying to find the brain cells, but I seem to remember that not all of the sub-assemblies have a complete through sleeve to support the bushings. Some have a "spool" or piece of pipe welded on either side of the assembly. During rebuild, after removing the old bushings, you need to check that the 2 pieces of pipe line up with each other. If not, you cannot simply ream each bushing to the correct i.d. as the axle pin will not go through. You will need to enlarge each bushing a little at a time to get the pin through. If you only enlarge one, you are building misalignment into the assembly.
I hope this helps - anyone still dealing with these assemblies have any more input?

[Kelly]

Posting answer in industry section

[mechboss]

floridaskier, on Feb 1 2004, 08:47 AM, said:

Yan didn't build any lifts after Viking in 1991 until their closing around 1996-97? Viking was definetly built in 1991, TR said he worked on it when it was being built

Yan built several lifts after 1991---two HSQ's in Sun valley

[Peter]

The end of Yan lifts:


1991:

Aurora Peak Quad - Sunday River

Easy Street Triple - Sierra at Tahoe

Ptarmigan Quad - Lake Louise

Putnam Creek Express - Silver Star

Vance Creek Express - Silver Star

Quicksilver Express - Whistler

Redline Express - Whistler



1992:

River Run Express - Sun Valley

Transfer Tow - Alta

Lower Express - Sierra at Tahoe


1993:

Seattle Ridge Express - Sun Valley

Lookout Express - Sun Valley

Las Vegas lift at Circus Circus

Sierra at Tahoe Accident



1994:

Frenchman's Express - Sun Valley

Canyon Express - Mammoth

Chair 27 Double - Mammoth



1995: Quicksilver Accident



1996: Chapter 11 Bancrupcy

This post has been edited by Skier: 03 October 2006 - 03:50 PM

[Callao]

Why did YAN file bankruptcy? Did it have anything to do with those accidents?

[Peter]

Yes, they had many lawsuits against them for the various accidents. At one point Janek fled to Mexico because he was wanted by the NTSB. I think he is back in the US now though. It really is too bad that his great career went sour. He would have still been a major player in the North American lift market I think if it hadn't been for the accidents. I wonder what he is doing now?

[Callao]

What kind of accidents were they? I kind of thought that YAN lifts were pretty reliable.

[SkiBachelor]

A lot of the older Lift Engineering lifts are still great lifts although it was the newer ones (1985 and up) that have had the most problems and which led to the company closing down because there wasn't enough time spent on R&D.

Janek always kept experimenting with new ideas on ways that could make his lift cheaper and more efficient and this is what led to so many problems. Aluminum sheave assemblies and sheaves failed which led to a nine year old boy dying at Sierra-at-Tahoe on a high-speed quad. The Type-11 detachable grip wasn't capable of supporting a chair with bubbles on it.

But I think the biggest lift accident that hurt Yan the most was the Teller accident at Keystone. Ever since that accident, Lift Engineering's sales declined dramatically because most ski resorts decided to go with another lift manufacturer.

[Emax]

SkiBachelor, on Oct 4 2006, 04:33 PM, said:

A lot of the older Lift Engineering lifts are still great lifts although it was the newer ones (1985 and up) that have had the most problems and which led to the company closing down because there wasn't enough time spent on R&D.

Janek always kept experimenting with new ideas on ways that could make his lift cheaper and more efficient and this is what led to so many problems. Aluminum sheave assemblies and sheaves failed which led to a nine year old boy dying at Sierra-at-Tahoe on a high-speed quad. The Type-11 detachable grip wasn't capable of supporting a chair with bubbles on it.

But I think the biggest lift accident that hurt Yan the most was the Teller accident at Keystone. Ever since that accident, Lift Engineering's sales declined dramatically since most ski resorts decided to go with another lift manufacturer.

Yup - that was the turning point. Damned if it wasn't the very day after we sent out some "memorable" Christmas cards.

[Bill]

Do you still have one of those Christmas Cards Emax? :)