Last week I wrote ‘blog’ updates on season ticket sales and
the status of the Black Lift. Both were
distributed to the e-mail lists but only the season pass note was put up on the
blog. First I want to report that we had
a very positive response to our season pass note. We restarted the season pass sales on the
Magic Online Store. Thank you if you
bought and if you want to buy but have never use the Magic Online Store try it
out, it’s all self-explanatory. Go to
the bottom of the www.magicmtn.com and
click on the “VISIT THE MAGIC STORE”.
You will then be on a page where we collect your name and address data
and then you move on to selecting your ticket(s). Then it’s off to completing
the order. Enter your credit card and go
to ‘Complete the Order’. It’s very
self-explanatory. Two days later your
money will be out on the slopes preparing everything for Christmas. Again ‘thank you’ to all that are helping.
I don’t want to repeat the Black Lift Status Detail that was
in last week’s e-mail but I will summarize:
1.
Last Jan 17th the VT Tramway Board
ordered that a problem with the Black Chair be fixed and requiring a special
daily and weekly inspection and test procedure to be used if the lift was to be
used last year.
2.
This July we employed a Professional Engineer
that specializes in ski lifts to determine the problem cause. We found the problem was the way the chairs
banged against the rub rail as it went around the bottom bull wheel.
3.
In Sept we applied to the VT Tramway Division
Board of Directors for a “Variance” on the January order. The application was tabled until the Board
could meet with all expert parties. At
the follow up board meeting we volunteered to fix the rub rail and then
determine if the experts agreed it was a fixed --if so the board would take the
Variance off the table for a vote.
4.
On 12/1/14 the lift inspector and the PE rode
the lift and climbed all over the drive train.
It was determined that the path we were taking to fix the ‘rub rail’ was
correct and if we just took one more step the original ‘Banging Problem’ will
be resolved. A new problem ’Limited
‘Chair Swing’ was added to the list.
But the good news was – both the Lift Inspector and the PE agree that if
we are working through the 10 point Action Plan they presented, the Tramway
Board will probably approve the “Variance” conditioned on completing the list
to the Inspectors satisfaction. We will
be back in the mode of getting the normal seasonal lift inspection. (Most of the items on the action list are
things we have to do every year to get the lift inspected.)
I don’t want to make this long enough to include the action
list but the key points are: (1) Finish adding adjustment capability to the Rub
Rail, (2) Replace the two bearings between the chair and the grip, (3) Add
grease fittings to the chair hanger head.
Matt Cote and Travis have been working the rub rail problem
and Matt has a design that will fully satisfy the requirement.
The lift inspector asked that we replace the greaseless
polyimide type sleeve bushings with a ‘Glassier’ type bearing. I have contacted GGB Bearing and they
recommended a particular bearing number.
We are currently working the details of the order to reduce the lead
time. The initial quote said lead time
would be 4 to 6 weeks and I’m attempting to get a commitment for 3 to 4 weeks
lead time. We will use the lead time to
develop and manufacture a tool to easily push out the existing bearings and
replace it with the new bearings.
We will start in advance of getting the bearings by
installing a grease fitting on each chair.
Prior to the lift being converted to a triple it had a grease fitting but
it was on the top and would have interfered with the bull wheel
modifications. They addressed that
problem by removing it and converting to the polyimide grease-less
bearings. However, they neglected the fact
that grease must feed the side surfaces.
Hence the chairs are binding rather than swinging. We will plug the original hole and add a new
threaded hole and fitting on the back of the chair head.
Several of the tasks on the action list are already
complete. For example, an unusual noise
was detected in the top bull wheel. We
investigated and the lower bearing housing was full of ice. It took a bit of effort to drag scaffolding
and ladders to the top but once there the fix was easy. The requirement to change two sheaves going
into the Bull Wheel was equally easy to complete. We calculated the required chair gripping
force on 12/1 and the next step, experimentally determining the corresponding
gas pressure for slip testing, will require only an hour or two.
In summary I expect that we can have the upgrade done by Feb
1st although that completion date is dependent upon an expedited
delivery of the bushings for the chairs.
We did get a lot of snow this week. On my deck there was still 6” of crust that I
had not gotten around to shoveling. Then there was about 12” more, then rain
that shrank it to 8”. But Wednesday
night we had another foot. Based on
trying to shovel it I will tell you that it should make a fine base. But along with the snow we had a 22 hour
blackout and lost a full day’s work. We
are targeting to open on 12/20.
Tom
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