Giant Chairlift given major refit

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 6, Issue 241, 3 May 1988, Page 32 (Supplement)

Giant Chairlift given major refit

Turoa has spent $250,000 on repairs to the giant chairlift drive station whcih involved fitting a whole new gearbox. The gearbox in the drive station of the chairlift failed early in the 1987 ski season causing major disruption to Turoa's operations and inconvenience to thousands of upper field skiers who had to ride the new quad chairlift and then

walk to the Jumbo for access. New Zealand ski fields Managing Director Mr Tony Wright said it was impossible to repair the gearbox during the ski season because of its size and weight. He said as it weighs more than five tonnes the gearbox would have had to be handled by crane. No helicopters are available in New Zealand to lift such a weight, he

said. There was also no possibility of assembling the unit on the mountain side, said Mr Wright. "We couldn't even assemble it in our workshop, it has to be repaired and assembled in special workshop conditions, the nearest available being in Wellington." Turoa had decided to modify the lift's drive station and install a new type

of gearbox developed in Europe especially for Doppelmayer, the manufacturer of the Giant Chairlift. The unit is called a planetary gearbox and is about the size of a 44 gallon drum. While the weight is still considerable it is assembled in separate components which can be flown into the lift by helicopter separately. The gearbox had been produced and left Europe for New Zealand on

December 28, said Mr Wright. The modification project also involved fitting a new bullwheel. Mr Wright said damage was also discovered in the Parklane Chairlift gearbox, though its repair was simpler as the drive station of the chair is at the road end. He said the company had lost confidence in the Kissling gear-boxes. They should run for 20 years but

had lasted just nine. Mr Wright said the company negotiating with their insurers over the gearbox failure.