We may have had a top vs. bottom drive for lifts a few years ago. If so, I don’t remember much. Clearly efficiency is the primary reason for top drive. My guess on the physics is, the motor is essentially pulling rather than pushing weighed (up bound) chairs. Below is a paragraph from the Forest Service on a Whitefish project. It makes me think that access for maintenance and especially mid-season repairs is the primary benefit for a bottom drive terminal. Do I have the basic issues correct? Has there been a situation where a resort couldn’t get necessary repair equipment to the top drive? I would think that a full replacement motor would be the only item too difficult for a snow cat to carry to the top.
Hellroaring Basin Improvements Project
Whether the chair lift would be top-drive or bottom-drive is still to be determined. If it would be a top-drive chair lift, a service road would need to be constructed to the top terminal from National Forest Service Road 9790 for summer maintenance needs. The possible service road would be built to Forest Service road specifications, have a finished width of 12 to 14 feet, and have a construction disturbance width of 30 feet.
