This new ski area opened in 2020 with a SkyTrans triple.Side view of the bottom terminal.Drive bullwheel.View leaving the bottom terminal.The tower heads from this lift came from a retired lift in Colorado.Tower 3.Arriving up top.Upper terminal.Another view of the top station.View down the line.The chairs are reused from a Doppelmayr lift.T4.Towers with Poma sheaves.Lower part of the lift line.Lower station overview.Loading area.Side view of the bottom station.Middle part of the line.Unloading area.
How do they make it work with all those parts from so many different manufacturers? Not all of those parts are interchangeable. Do they do their own retrofits to make it work? Why do they need to use so many different parts from different manufacturers? I would think it would be easier to keep the same parts together rather than to completely mix them in with the rest.
It appears the Doppelmayr grips are compatible with the Poma sheaves. The bullwheel attachment at the top is probably a custom-built part to accommodate the metric Poma bullwheel axle to the SAE Hall terminal structure. Same at the bottom; as I recall from too many late-night repairs the Poma drive bullwheels have bushings inside the hub that must be custom-machined to fit even the lifts they’re intended for, so it probably wasn’t a stretch to fit this bullwheel on whatever gearbox output shaft Skytrans had on hand. Interesting lift for sure.
The
lift was designed and built by SkyTrans. The only repurposed components are the chairs assemblies and the sheave wheels. The sheave frames are SkyTrans.
This makes me want a way to find lifts by the manufacturer so you can see how many lifts a company has built. I think on this website there are three skytrans lifts.
Also one at Whaleback, New Hampshire. Sort of. It’s a Hall T-Bar, but SkyTrans refurbished it and it was installed in 2017. Not quite the frankenlift this lift is though.
Building Frankenlifts out of used parts is pretty much what they’re known for. The Grafton SkyTour lift, another one of their installations, is the only pulsed chondola in the world as far as I’m aware. It combines a used Poma pulsed gondola (from Glenwood Caverns, Colorado) with Doppelmayr triple chairs of the same model used here, which probably predate the rest of the lift by quite a bit: https://liftblog.com/grafton-skytour-aeries-il/
But the unique thing about the Grafton SkyTour is that the chairs are in pulses too, rather than a conventional chairlift with short trains of cabins; pulsed pure chairlifts are already a very rare type of ropeway.
What parts exactly? The towers and their heads are still in Glenwood. Poma just took them off, refurbished them, then reinstalled them. Grafton got the cabins and terminals.
No, it is pure Skytrans. The only components from other manufacturers are the sheave wheels (not the frames) and the chairs, which came from the Summit Triple at Gunstock.
Wow this looks like a SkyTrans-LPA. It has a Poma bullwheel, Poma towers, and SkyTrans everything else. Also wouldn’t the bullwheel be Leitner- Poma not Poma. Also what lift were the tower heads from.
Lift Blog 
This is quite the frankenlift. Doppelmayr drive structure, Poma drive bullwheel, Poma towers, Doppelmayr chairs, Hall return structure, Poma return bullwheel.
LikeLiked by 1 person
How do they make it work with all those parts from so many different manufacturers? Not all of those parts are interchangeable. Do they do their own retrofits to make it work? Why do they need to use so many different parts from different manufacturers? I would think it would be easier to keep the same parts together rather than to completely mix them in with the rest.
LikeLike
It appears the Doppelmayr grips are compatible with the Poma sheaves. The bullwheel attachment at the top is probably a custom-built part to accommodate the metric Poma bullwheel axle to the SAE Hall terminal structure. Same at the bottom; as I recall from too many late-night repairs the Poma drive bullwheels have bushings inside the hub that must be custom-machined to fit even the lifts they’re intended for, so it probably wasn’t a stretch to fit this bullwheel on whatever gearbox output shaft Skytrans had on hand. Interesting lift for sure.
LikeLike
The
lift was designed and built by SkyTrans. The only repurposed components are the chairs assemblies and the sheave wheels. The sheave frames are SkyTrans.
LikeLike
What about the towers and tower head assemblies mentioned in the original post pic captions?
LikeLike
This makes me want a way to find lifts by the manufacturer so you can see how many lifts a company has built. I think on this website there are three skytrans lifts.
LikeLike
Four actually: 2 in Detroit Hills, MI, 1 in Aerie’s Resort, IL, and this one.
LikeLike
I’m pretty sure there’s quite a few more at amusement parks.
LikeLike
Also one at Whaleback, New Hampshire. Sort of. It’s a Hall T-Bar, but SkyTrans refurbished it and it was installed in 2017. Not quite the frankenlift this lift is though.
LikeLike
Grafton SkyTour, West Side at Whaleback, NH, Green Peek at Waterville, NH, SkyLift at SkyLand Ranch,and many, many more.
LikeLike
So what does SkyTrans do exactly? This is quite the Frankenlift of different parts from different manufacturers!
LikeLike
Building Frankenlifts out of used parts is pretty much what they’re known for. The Grafton SkyTour lift, another one of their installations, is the only pulsed chondola in the world as far as I’m aware. It combines a used Poma pulsed gondola (from Glenwood Caverns, Colorado) with Doppelmayr triple chairs of the same model used here, which probably predate the rest of the lift by quite a bit: https://liftblog.com/grafton-skytour-aeries-il/
LikeLiked by 1 person
Not the only pulse chondola.
https://liftblog.com/chondola-anakeesta-tn/
LikeLiked by 1 person
But the unique thing about the Grafton SkyTour is that the chairs are in pulses too, rather than a conventional chairlift with short trains of cabins; pulsed pure chairlifts are already a very rare type of ropeway.
LikeLiked by 1 person
There are currently 3 in the USA, though the Horizon Skyride hasn’t got its cabins yet.
LikeLike
This is an interesting lift. Where did the Leitner-Poma parts come from?
LikeLike
The old pulse gondola at Glenwood Caverns.
LikeLike
What parts exactly? The towers and their heads are still in Glenwood. Poma just took them off, refurbished them, then reinstalled them. Grafton got the cabins and terminals.
LikeLike
Here is the website for SkyTrans, the company behind this frankenlift!
http://skytrans-mfg.com/
LikeLike
Did they remove the footrests?
LikeLike
I like the bottom terminal. Is the frame partly Dopp?
LikeLike
The frame is all Poma.
LikeLike
No, it is pure Skytrans. The only components from other manufacturers are the sheave wheels (not the frames) and the chairs, which came from the Summit Triple at Gunstock.
LikeLike
Wow this looks like a SkyTrans-LPA. It has a Poma bullwheel, Poma towers, and SkyTrans everything else. Also wouldn’t the bullwheel be Leitner- Poma not Poma. Also what lift were the tower heads from.
LikeLike
The bullwheels could be Poma; they built that style before the merger.
LikeLike
They were designed and built by Skytrans. They were built in five sections to make it easier to truck them from Contoocook, NH, to Skeetawk.
LikeLiked by 1 person