Groomers Used for Summer Mowing

TomWhite

https://ropeways.net/rn/berichte/bericht.php?news=9776&klickpass=agh586zyf
This Ropeways article shows a Piston Bully doing summer 'mowing'.
Over a decade ago, at Stratton I saw a Bombardier groomer with a large brush whacker mounted on the front. It was at the summit during ‘leaf watching’ season. It was a different design than the Piston Bully, but the same concept. I normally see smaller, dedicated mowing machines at ski areas. Is giving groomers ‘double duty’ common?

lotsoskiing

I would think it would put added wear and tear on an expensive piece of machinery (not that mowers aren't) that is not designed for that use.

TomWhite

lotsoskiing;c-70324 wroteI would think it would put added wear and tear on an expensive piece of machinery (not that mowers aren't) that is not designed for that use.

I agree, it seems like 'over kill'.

newpylong

Definitely not typical and not great for the machine even on grass.

NELSBEER

.... all of which explains the following.

I was at Crotched Mtn. following reading the above and was surprised to see the latest answer to their mowing needs.

The groomer in the photo is by far the oldest at the mountain. A Prinoth apparently saved from Sunapee's Boneyard when our last 'Beater' Groomer died 2 years ago. Our old oldest groomer, a PB210, was the first one ever purchased new at Paoli Peaks & came East when Crotched was being built (already written off their books!); close to 30 years old when its frame went!

The Prinoth has been set up for grooming (blade & tiller) plus normally carries a bucket boom (adapted from the PB210) for hill light work.

It now sports a rather aged looking Bushwhacker, name plate is warn... did see source is Italy; Vail internal source unclear. The maintenance crew has done their normal Yeoman work sharpening & doing pm on the cutter.

They had just taken it out for a first run when I took this photo & it seems to do the job!

newpylong

Most interesting are the "off-snow" tracks. I have never seen those, but that is a great idea. Driving regular tracks off snow absolutely destroys them and the belts.

On the other hand I really can't imagine how running a cat is cost effective vs Vail owning a couple of Aebi slope mowers to share amongst the region.

TomWhite

Those off snow tracks are impressive. It seems like the only need for this heavy-duty setup is for thick weeds up small saplings. Tenney bought two smaller machines for returning trails back to their original width.

LiftGuy

newpylong;c-70358 wroteMost interesting are the "off-snow" tracks. I have never seen those, but that is a great idea. Driving regular tracks off snow absolutely destroys them and the belts.

On the other hand, I really can't imagine how running a cat is cost effective vs Vail owning a couple of Aebi slope mowers to share amongst the region.

I agree on the track set up. First thing I noticed in the original post was that they had 'summer' tracks on the Bully. Winter tracks are too rigid and would definitely be trashed.
As for owning a 'couple of slope mowers'- then you run into the problem that everyone wants them at the same time and after that they sit for the rest of the year...like a groomer. $0.02

slatham

Don’t Aebi’s new cost like $300k?

w_skier

Aebi's are nice pieces of equipment but tracked machines will always be #1 when it comes to steeper slopes and crossing water bars and other rough terrain. It's a safe bet any cat being used in the summer, either for mowing or other purposes like snowmaking install is going to be the oldest most beat cat in the fleet. Sugarloaf for example has a Bombardier ME from the early 90s that is for mowing only. The winch is an interesting touch though, have yet to see a set up like that in the US myself.

justkeepmovingne

w_skier;c-70362 wroteAebi's are nice pieces of equipment but tracked machines will always be #1 when it comes to steeper slopes and crossing water bars and other rough terrain. It's a safe bet any cat being used in the summer, either for mowing or other purposes like snowmaking install is going to be the oldest most beat cat in the fleet. Sugarloaf for example has a Bombardier ME from the early 90s that is for mowing only. The winch is an interesting touch though, have yet to see a set up like that in the US myself.

Don’t know about for mowing, Jiminy or West Mt utilize winches for grooming a couple trails. I can’t remember which mountain, as I recall seeing this at some point during grade school ski club nights… and at this point that blends together.

newpylong

At Jiminy most of the steep stuff looker's left of the six pack is winched.

NELSBEER

The Vail AeBi's are getting a little old & the number of ski areas has grown. Wildcat seems to take the worst toll on them annually, leaving Crotched to scramble for anything still running that cuts....

Yankee Ingenuity being what it is the pictured Prinoth originally arrived at Crotched with a rather old & rusty winch mounted on it. The winch has been sitting in the lower parking lot since the light maintenance boom went on the groomer... It has been described as a rudimentary manual control winch, not useable in current day operations, maybe they'll dig it out if things get too steep for mowing.

Any sign anywhere yet of the South American weed whacking crew that Vail has been cycling thru Northeast ski areas for years yet? They normally spend 2-3 days at Crotched and clear all the edges. If they're gone it'll be sheep & goats next year.

DrJeff

NELSBEER;c-70368 wroteThe Vail AeBi's are getting a little old & the number of ski areas has grown. Wildcat seems to take the worst toll on them annually, leaving Crotched to scramble for anything still running that cuts....

Yankee Ingenuity being what it is the pictured Prinoth originally arrived at Crotched with a rather old & rusty winch mounted on it. The winch has been sitting in the lower parking lot since the light maintenance boom went on the groomer... It has been described as a rudimentary manual control winch, not useable in current day operations, maybe they'll dig it out if things get too steep for mowing.

Any sign anywhere yet of the South American weed whacking crew that Vail has been cycling thru Northeast ski areas for years yet? They normally spend 2-3 days at Crotched and clear all the edges. If they're gone it'll be sheep & goats next year.

The weed whackers were visible on the Summit webcam at Mount Snow yesterday working on the trails in/around the top of the Bluebird. Northface still appears like it's waiting for it's Fall trim.

Mount Snow actually is using one of the old Pisten Bullys, with the all season tracks on it and a mulching/cutting unit on the front, that they painted silver/gray as opposed to the standard Pisten Bulley red for much of their lower angle terrain this year. Also have witnessed the 4 wheel drive John Deere tractor they have doing some mowing work on their webcams the last few weeks

newpylong

They were at Black (NH) when I was working there two weekends ago. Hit the whole mountain in a couple days, it will be amazing to have all the hydrants, guns, lift towers etc fully cleaned out. They are absolutely machines, going down the trails like 6 abreast.

NELSBEER

Good to hear the Hondurans made it into the country, bush whacking is about the most unpopular job on the hill.

Slightly off topic but interesting. The above Prinoth was set-up for another task last summer using it's bucket for chainsaw work & towing a chipper. A 'beater' groomer can be pretty useful.

newpylong

Good for servicing lights in winter.

ski_it

Interesting Nels. Yeah it’s so nice out I did a little mowing, weed whacking , machete work on the upper half of Mt ISNE today. Maybe this year I’ll get enough snow to take some runs.

NELSBEER

It was very good for servicing lights in winter... but with all new LED lighting this year the light 'bulbs' should be outlasting the groomer by several decades.

Hopefully the boom will be on for opening day/night. The LEDs were very bright when they were installed & used a few nights last spring on Galaxy, there will need to be adjustments made rapidly to keep skiers in their vison comfort zones riding up the lift & on-slope.

newpylong

Did they point them all downhill or are some in your face? For slope lighting it's best practice to try to angle them downhill because yes the LEDs are brutal straight on.