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Homemade ski lift

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WVskiing
Posts: 3007 - Karma: 1,949

this winter i want to make myself a cheap rope tow. can u guys give me some suggestions and tips.

I already search barred to aand nothing

Aug 16 2009 6:39PM
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DR.SHRED
Posts: 2134 - Karma: 503
there is a home made rope tow in one of the warren miller movies  
Aug 16 2009 6:42PM
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Yung_Gnarley
Posts: 9095 - Karma: 3,073
subscribe to the freeskier podcast. there's a video on how to do it in there
Aug 16 2009 6:43PM
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GGreene
Posts: 993 - Karma: 42
i just looked for the thread. i have seen a video of two foreigners who made a rope tow out of a motor and some steel cable. i cant imagine it being that hard to physically make but operating  it might be a task. good luck
Aug 16 2009 6:43PM
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WVskiing
Posts: 3007 - Karma: 1,949

u think and electric engine would work or get a 2-cycle

Aug 16 2009 6:47PM
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BC.
Posts: 1551 - Karma: 86
build two big cogs, place aforementioned cogs at opposite ends each other, tie a rope around each cog linking the two. hire four hispanic individuals to push said cogs in circles, cheaper than buying a motor yea?
Aug 16 2009 6:53PM
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WVskiing
Posts: 3007 - Karma: 1,949
^maybe. 
Aug 16 2009 6:57PM
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KennyC
Posts: 1922 - Karma: 46
hahahahahahaha
Aug 16 2009 7:02PM
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DrZoidberg
Posts: 5676 - Karma: 4,297
Depending on the distance, just anchor a rope at two points and pull yourself up if the hill isn't too steep. It's pretty east to pull yourself up on skis if it's not steep and there is snow.
Aug 16 2009 7:07PM
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Funnel
Posts: 7817 - Karma: 1,537
My friend and I are going to build a rope tow, not like you would find at a ski area, but like a waterski rope, going to be dope as fuck.  We're going to use a lawnmower engine and I already have a really good idea of how to make it.  I just have to find a big spool for the rope.  Other wise it will work great. 
Aug 16 2009 7:14PM
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DR.SHRED
Posts: 2134 - Karma: 503

for the spool use a wheel from a car

Aug 16 2009 7:49PM
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Snowcase
Posts: 11456 - Karma: 634
I have that video. I'll post it if someone wants.
Aug 16 2009 9:20PM
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JStrathern
Posts: 8747 - Karma: 1,536
do it. i want to see.
Aug 16 2009 9:27PM
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Funnel
Posts: 7817 - Karma: 1,537
Yeah, I had considered it.  Thanks dude. 

Snowcase if you could post the video that would be great.
Aug 16 2009 9:29PM
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ChocolateMilk.
Posts: 1129 - Karma: 220
My dad used to work at an old ski hill and said that theirs was a old car motor w/ rope on belt and wheel on a post on top that spins w/ a roap loop spiing.

Car motor
Car wheels
Rope
Aug 16 2009 9:30PM
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Funnel
Posts: 7817 - Karma: 1,537
I think a car motor might be over doing it for what we want.  At a ski area there will be multiple amounts of people on it at one time, quite heavy if we ever needed it to be portable, and a lot more work to build.  I am hoping a lawnmower motor does the job, which it should.
Aug 16 2009 9:35PM
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charmander
Posts: 10636 - Karma: 373
itd be cool if it had chairs, like lawnchairs bolted to some old skis, so you can relax on the way up
Aug 16 2009 9:36PM
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-dva-
Posts: 1530 - Karma: 23
mad creativity points on the spelling front
Aug 16 2009 9:36PM
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Snowcase
Posts: 11456 - Karma: 634
Homemade rope tow from a Warren Miller movie:

https://newschoolers.com/web/content/viewvideo/id/287659/
Aug 16 2009 10:58PM
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DR.SHRED
Posts: 2134 - Karma: 503
^^ thats what i was talking about
Aug 16 2009 11:05PM
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Funnel
Posts: 7817 - Karma: 1,537
Thanks a ton.  That was actually pretty dope.  Quite the "intricate" setup they had.
Aug 16 2009 11:06PM
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stormtrooper
Posts: 1191 - Karma: 461
use a cable and a lawnmower engine
Aug 16 2009 11:08PM
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ilikeplants
Posts: 1868 - Karma: 15
why not just walk? you'll get exercise, won't have to spend money or time on all that shit you need to build it and you won't pollute with the gas from that engine.
Aug 16 2009 11:09PM
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ilikeplants
Posts: 1868 - Karma: 15
No I'm not. I bet he leaves the engine running the whole time he's using it. Say he uses it for 4 hours every few days. That's a lot of carbon monoxide being put in the air when he could just stop being so lazy and walk. But what do I know?
Aug 16 2009 11:15PM
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ilikeplants
Posts: 1868 - Karma: 15
Yes, it's not all our faults but do you really think that running our cars and throwing our trash into landfills helps prevent global warming?
Aug 16 2009 11:25PM
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ilikeplants
Posts: 1868 - Karma: 15
They only take a 100 year sample because that is when human life started to change towards technology and industrial revolution, ie factories, cities, cars, etc.
Aug 16 2009 11:32PM
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Funnel
Posts: 7817 - Karma: 1,537
I have no worries with hiking, I just want to build it as a side project, if it does not happen, then it doesn't really matter, but it is one of those things that I want to be able to say I did.  Plus, I love building/designing stuff, so it is always fun to build stuff.
Aug 17 2009 12:17AM
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KravtZ
Posts: 6637 - Karma: 2,627
that would be tight iv seen ones out of old truck motors and stuff like that
Aug 17 2009 12:24AM
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PeterWojnar
Posts: 3937 - Karma: 678
An issue of "Ski" magazine from one or two years back had a tutorial in the "get schooled" section. I don't know which issue it was though...

Aug 17 2009 12:48AM
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van_ski
Posts: 466 - Karma: 39
http://www.southernskiing.com/ scroll down a bit and it shows a sketcy one made with a lawnmower and a bike. it might help
Aug 17 2009 2:38AM
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I_Am_Mod
Posts: 13214 - Karma: 3,753
if i'd start on something like thatn i'd start of with an old winch.
Its powerfull enough, its electric, it has allready got an ok speed and its got all the controlls a skilift needs...

then i'd replace the drum on the winch. I'd do this to make it faster, if the drum is, lets say 2inch diameter, i'd try n put a rim of a car on it, that'll make it much faster...

then depending on how good you wnt to make it you can maybe try n loop the cable around the drum one time and then down to a pully, so basically your cable runs up towards the winch, loops around it, and then back down, through a pully and back up....

i'd say, get creative, and look at the design on those small towlifts, that'll be about what you wanna make....

good luck!
Aug 17 2009 5:55AM
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fricino13
Posts: 268 - Karma: 14
no hike no ride
Aug 17 2009 12:19PM
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sconniestyle
Posts: 3945 - Karma: 26

buy a donkey

Aug 17 2009 1:00PM
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switchieski
Posts: 575 - Karma: 15
you need endless rope, and thts hard to get... someone said gandalf can get you some ifya pay him enough
Aug 17 2009 2:35PM
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WVskiing
Posts: 3007 - Karma: 1,949
i can hike. i just wanted to see if i could build one cheap. i would ony use it on weekdays for like an hour cause it gets dark to early and  may not even use it ever day.    and global warming has been going on for billions of years.  and i probley not even going to make it
Aug 17 2009 2:45PM
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Jwalk
Posts: 4647 - Karma: 134
now theres an idea
Aug 17 2009 3:11PM
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