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Swinging + swaying Riblet triple

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ciscokid
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Posted: Mar 19, 2007 - 3:33 PM GMT

As I rode the 24 year old,1418 foot long,367' vertical(whoopdy doo,it's all we have out here) Riblet triple at Caberfae Sat.,I noticed a distinct swinging and swaying in a roughly couple hundred foot section after loading.There was one Do Not Swing Chairs sign right in that area where this was taking place the most,the chairs swayed within 6 inches of hitting the tower and went up and down a couple feet even though the lift was at most 25% of loaded capacity.An hour later there were very few people at all on the lift and it didn't swing,sway or jounce at all.It also did not stop at all during the rides so that was no issue.

For you knowledgable lift nuts,is this a common situation on certain lifts at the loading area and the first few hundred feet, given the amount of people on the lift,or inherit in certain types of lifts?The wind was next to nil and the 9 yr newer CTEC quad had no such issues with no warning sign with similar amount of skiers on the lift.It's just strange there was a amber colored warning sign in the area where this took place,design flaws?Ideas?

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spunkyskier01
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Posted: Mar 19, 2007 - 3:54 PM GMT

that is probably a sign that the loading ramp isn't positioned right, we had the same problem with our lift. a little work of the loading ramp can take care of the problem.

ciscokid
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Posted: Mar 20, 2007 - 7:49 PM GMT

Figured Woodcore or Orangegondola would have had some insight on that one.

Would the spacing of the lift towers or angle of ascent have anything to do with it?Or if let's say a dozen or so people on 4 or 5 chairs in a row and then the same amount empty?

Does a certain brand of lift exhibit these qualities more so than others in older fixed grips?

The two 60's era Hall doubles showed no similar results with a higher concentration of riders,similar length of lift,etc.Solid as a rock.

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rocket21
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Posted: Mar 20, 2007 - 10:05 PM GMT

Can be a whole mess of things, including but not limited to loading area (bullwheel load, post bullwheel load, were they loading on a sheave train), tensioning, wind, sheave condition, tower spacing, crossarm size (how close the chair was to hitting the tower), etc. The bigger/heavier the chair, the less likely it is to rock like that.

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orangegondola
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Posted: Mar 20, 2007 - 11:39 PM GMT

Could also be a bad sheave

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crystalmountainskier
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Posted: Mar 21, 2007 - 12:30 AM GMT

I would recommend posting this over at www.skiliftforum.com, there are some really knowledgable lift maintenance people over there.

zapada
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Posted: Mar 21, 2007 - 1:45 AM GMT

I've noticed the same thing happening on Pico's Outpost chair just after loading many times in the past month...

ciscokid
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Posted: Mar 21, 2007 - 1:02 PM GMT

Hey thanks guys,no big deal,figured it would or could be a whole myriad of things,was just an observation.I have taken on a much keener interest in lifts since joining the forum.

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