14 replies to this topic

[teeroy]

this summer I going to take on a project of building a 300' rope tow on my hobby farm. I have 1,000' ft of rope that was given to me by the local ski hill and I'm currently scavenging the rest of the parts as I go. I have a good Idea of how the rope is going to be strung but I need info on the rest. I would love to see some pictures of the motor and the bull wheel (PTO) of a rope tow to see how it works but I'm having problems finding pics on the net. I suppose I could ask the ski hill if I could get inside the motor house to take some pics but they are always so busy. does any one have any info that would help me? Web sites-pictures.. suppliers of parts? thanks!

[SkiBachelor]

I believe the attached Popular Mechanics article below has everything that you need to know on how to setup your own rope tow.

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[aug]

wait ! Ican give you advice on rope tows PM ME FOR DETAILS

[liftdirector]

We actually hAVE OCONNOR LIFTS THAT WERE 600' . WE JUST PHASED THEM OUT FOR MAGIC CARPETS. tHE OWNERS MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN SELLIN THEM. THE TERMINALS WOULD FIT INTO A TRUCK.

[Lift Kid]

liftdirector, on Mar 7 2007, 10:33 AM, said:

We actually hAVE OCONNOR LIFTS THAT WERE 600' . WE JUST PHASED THEM OUT FOR MAGIC CARPETS. tHE OWNERS MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN SELLIN THEM. THE TERMINALS WOULD FIT INTO A TRUCK.

I might be interested in purchasing one. Can they be set up for a shorter hill?

[Lift Dinosaur]

Lift Kid, on Mar 8 2007, 06:27 PM, said:

I might be interested in purchasing one. Can they be set up for a shorter hill?

Kid- They are going for $6000-$15000 used...still interested?

Dino

[coskibum]

haha...do you take 'out of state' checks

[Lift Kid]

Lift Dinosaur, on Mar 8 2007, 07:37 PM, said:

Kid- They are going for $6000-$15000 used...still interested?

Dino

Yep! Still am interested.

[Lift Kid]

teeroy, on Mar 6 2007, 03:54 PM, said:

this summer I going to take on a project of building a 300' rope tow on my hobby farm. I have 1,000' ft of rope that was given to me by the local ski hill and I'm currently scavenging the rest of the parts as I go. I have a good Idea of how the rope is going to be strung but I need info on the rest. I would love to see some pictures of the motor and the bull wheel (PTO) of a rope tow to see how it works but I'm having problems finding pics on the net. I suppose I could ask the ski hill if I could get inside the motor house to take some pics but they are always so busy. does any one have any info that would help me? Web sites-pictures.. suppliers of parts? thanks!

Ok. Well, the main key component of a rope tow is either a gear reducer/gearbox, or a geared winch as stated in the Popular Mechanics article. Those keep the rope from exeeding useable speeds! For tower sheaves, use old wheel rims from a car. If you don't have any just lyin around, check out the local repair garage. You can also look at junk yards for stuff like that too. For a motor, you want somethin around 10 HP. This will last longer and carry a lot more than a really small motor. For a safety system, you pretty much do what the popular mechanics article said. Two posts with a wire strung between them. However, use a short peice of extension cord for the wire and use grounded three prong plugs on an outlet at both ends. This is safer and easier for a stop gate. I would consult an electrician for the wiring of the stop-gate, motor, etc. Also, have the electrician hook up something that will function as the on-off switch, other than the stop-gate. For a "brake" or anti roll-back device, try welding notches onto the drive "bullwheel" that will catch a spring loaded peice of metal when it starts to roll back.

The J-Bar below has this type of setup. You cannot see the spring loaded peice of metal, but you can see the notches.

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[teeroy]

Thanks for all the good advice. I took some photos of the motor and gearbox at our local ski hill. Can anyone tell me what I'm looking at? I get the motor and gearbox but I need some details on how it all works together. Also, I have a old gearbox and motor off a electric golf cart and was hoping that that would work for my short 300' tow. or should I just go and by a used motor somewhere (what kind should I look for)

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•  ropetow4.JPG (146.17K)
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•  buck_hill_rope__2.jpg (1.27MB)
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•  buck_hill_rope.jpg (3.18MB)
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This post has been edited by teeroy: 16 March 2007 - 11:33 AM

[Lift Kid]

I believe that thing in the last 2 pictures is the gear reducer. I'm not 100% sure though. Other than that, you are looking at the drive bullwheel and turn around bullwheel(s). The drive bullwheel is connected to the motor. The turn around bullwheel(s) is the one that gets the rope at the corrrect height, and direction so it leaves the motor building correctly. The electric golf cart motor actually should work. They are usually around 10 hp or so I believe. I think the gearbox would work too. However, if you decide to get one, choose something like 8-10 hp that can start and stop pretty easily. Pretty much any AC motor should work. I'd say to avoid DC at all costs. They're hard to power. Make sure your gearbox slows the speed enough to actually operate the rope safely. Any other questions? Feel free to ask!

[skiersage]

teeroy, on Mar 16 2007, 03:31 PM, said:

Thanks for all the good advice. I took some photos of the motor and gearbox at our local ski hill. Can anyone tell me what I'm looking at? I get the motor and gearbox but I need some details on how it all works together. Also, I have a old gearbox and motor off a electric golf cart and was hoping that that would work for my short 300' tow. or should I just go and by a used motor somewhere (what kind should I look for)

What you are seeing in those pictures is a ropetow drive setup that has the rope go around the drive wheel twice for added traction. this is a good drive setup for a ropetow, however, having the rope go around the drive wheel twice should be avoided if possible because the more bends in the rope that are greater than 90 degrees, the faster the rope wear and the life of the rope will be shorter. For this reason, when designing a ropetow, only have two large bends in the rope. These should be at the top and bottom terminals.

As far as using a golf cart motor and gearbox, it might be possible seeing as though this would be a private ropetow. Furthermore, most ropetows are built with materials that are just lying around. the only issue would be finding a way to connect it to a power source seeing as though it is probably a DC motor.

[Lift Kid]

skiersage, on Mar 17 2007, 08:54 PM, said:

the only issue would be finding a way to connect it to a power source seeing as though it is probably a DC motor.

You could run it on the batteries that the golf cart runs off of or get a power converter.

[aug]

Lift Kid, on Mar 17 2007, 08:10 PM, said:

You could run it on the batteries that the golf cart runs off of or get a power converter.

ac to dc converter?? ac to dc rectifier or a dc power supply, this would have to be a large one . or get a small dc drive. or get a large bank of batteries and wire them to the desired voltage and then get the proper voltage battery charger . all of these options are expensive. the most cost effective way to go would be to adapt a properly sized ac motor controlled with a simailarly sized contactor to control the motor.

This post has been edited by aug: 17 March 2007 - 07:27 PM

[johnxl300]

teeroy, on Mar 6 2007, 05:54 PM, said:

this summer I going to take on a project of building a 300' rope tow on my hobby farm. I have 1,000' ft of rope that was given to me by the local ski hill and I'm currently scavenging the rest of the parts as I go. I have a good Idea of how the rope is going to be strung but I need info on the rest. I would love to see some pictures of the motor and the bull wheel (PTO) of a rope tow to see how it works but I'm having problems finding pics on the net. I suppose I could ask the ski hill if I could get inside the motor house to take some pics but they are always so busy. does any one have any info that would help me? Web sites-pictures.. suppliers of parts? thanks!

hi i was wanting to bild a rope in my back yard i was wondering if you could send me the ideas that you had for making it thanks john