I took a drive by Butternut on Sunday (the day after they closed for the season) and all of the chairs were removed from the Paddy Wagon. The chairs are now sitting in the parking lot next to the 100+ chairs from Windham’s old Wonderama lift. That was really really quick. What do we think is going on now? Could they be attempting to use Wonderama to retrofit the Paddy Wagon with triple chairs while also creating the west expansion? Can a CTEC triple chair even fit the line gauge of the C&S double? Keep in mind that Paddy’s chairs were replaced circa 2012/13 with Stadeli chairs. When they did so, they went from 27 chairs to about 23. Would like to hear some thoughts! Let me know if anyone wants me to go back today and get some pics.
The original Wonderama lift which was retrofitted with CTEC triples and an Enterprise drive was originally installed as a triple, not a double. If I had to guess, they’re just doing something with the chairs and will re-hang them. The chairs themselves were added pretty recently from the old Gramp’s Lift at Brodie if that means anything. I doubt you could put triples on that lift, and if they wanted to upgrade, I don’t see why they wouldn’t replace the lift entirely. It’s getting pretty old and I have to imagine that parts are hard to find. I’m not aware of the status of the West expansion, but if they aren’t dedicating the old Wonderama lift to it, it would be a good candidate for a new Paddywagon lift
The Wonderama lift at Windham was originall a triple chair, so the CTEC triple chairs replaced C&S triple chairs. I’d be very surprised if the CTEC triple chairs could fit within a double line gauge.
Removing chairs from a ski lift could have been done for numerous reasons. The most likely is cable inspection, which can be required periodically. This involves putting magnetic recorder around the wire rope while it is moving to record defects. The issue with putting different manufacturers’ chairs on others’ lifts is more complicated and would be extremely unlikely with a CS chair.
That’s probably the most likely circumstance but it’s weird that they moved the chairs so far from the lift. They are currently in this unused parking lot with the chairs from Wonderama. It looks like they built something that resembles the structure of a very small snowmaking pond but I’m not too sure. Worth taking a look on satellite, it’s just beyond the upper lot if you are familiar with Butternut. You’ll see a pile of brush and logs, it’s near there.
It was a Mueller with the exception of the Poma towers. The Mueller parts came used from Mt. Cathalia, while the Poma towers came used from Dutchess. It had Mueller center pole chairs, and the swing around safety bars were replaced with overhead ones fabricated in house
Lift Blog 
I took a drive by Butternut on Sunday (the day after they closed for the season) and all of the chairs were removed from the Paddy Wagon. The chairs are now sitting in the parking lot next to the 100+ chairs from Windham’s old Wonderama lift. That was really really quick. What do we think is going on now? Could they be attempting to use Wonderama to retrofit the Paddy Wagon with triple chairs while also creating the west expansion? Can a CTEC triple chair even fit the line gauge of the C&S double? Keep in mind that Paddy’s chairs were replaced circa 2012/13 with Stadeli chairs. When they did so, they went from 27 chairs to about 23. Would like to hear some thoughts! Let me know if anyone wants me to go back today and get some pics.
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It looks like it is possible to retrofit CTEC chairs on a C&S double.
http://www.chairlift.org/windham.html
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The original Wonderama lift which was retrofitted with CTEC triples and an Enterprise drive was originally installed as a triple, not a double. If I had to guess, they’re just doing something with the chairs and will re-hang them. The chairs themselves were added pretty recently from the old Gramp’s Lift at Brodie if that means anything. I doubt you could put triples on that lift, and if they wanted to upgrade, I don’t see why they wouldn’t replace the lift entirely. It’s getting pretty old and I have to imagine that parts are hard to find. I’m not aware of the status of the West expansion, but if they aren’t dedicating the old Wonderama lift to it, it would be a good candidate for a new Paddywagon lift
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The Wonderama lift at Windham was originall a triple chair, so the CTEC triple chairs replaced C&S triple chairs. I’d be very surprised if the CTEC triple chairs could fit within a double line gauge.
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Removing chairs from a ski lift could have been done for numerous reasons. The most likely is cable inspection, which can be required periodically. This involves putting magnetic recorder around the wire rope while it is moving to record defects. The issue with putting different manufacturers’ chairs on others’ lifts is more complicated and would be extremely unlikely with a CS chair.
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That’s probably the most likely circumstance but it’s weird that they moved the chairs so far from the lift. They are currently in this unused parking lot with the chairs from Wonderama. It looks like they built something that resembles the structure of a very small snowmaking pond but I’m not too sure. Worth taking a look on satellite, it’s just beyond the upper lot if you are familiar with Butternut. You’ll see a pile of brush and logs, it’s near there.
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Granny’s was a Mueller, not poma.
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It was a Mueller with the exception of the Poma towers. The Mueller parts came used from Mt. Cathalia, while the Poma towers came used from Dutchess. It had Mueller center pole chairs, and the swing around safety bars were replaced with overhead ones fabricated in house
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Wow, the fall colors in these photos are beautiful!
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