Poster: A snowHead
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Can anyone cast their mind back and know the set up procedure for a Britonlift? eg how much tension, max gradient, tow length, etc.
I have the lift, a bipod with a big pulley and small tensioner pulleys, a tripod with 2 pulleys side by side, 2 poles with 2 separate pulleys that seem to slide over the poles. Also 3 ground spikes.
Anyone had any experience (good or bad) of them. Better still anyone have a scan of a manual?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Briton still exist (http://www.snowflex.com/) - so you possibly call them and ask if they happen to have a copy of the manual? 01484 689933
Or there are a few people around who've got them - tryin PM'ing "skitow" - see http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?p=1412866
Or have a look here: http://www.winterhighland.info/forum/read.php?2,110347 - unless you are "ropetow" then there's someone there you could try contacting for instructions.
Or did you spot that there was one on Ebay a few days ago: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300382674370 - might be worth trying to contact the seller (and maybe then the buyer) to see if that had a copy of the manual with it?
Our club used to have one - might be able to put you in touch with someone who has experience of setting one up if you don't get any joy elsewhere but it was a while ago and it might take some research to find out who used to do it.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Liveezy, I suspect that is not the absolute bargin it appears to be, there does not appear to be a winch or engine, I would have had the pulleys etc for spares though
Karl60North, I have got a scanned diagram of the set up somewhere, if you send me an e-mail address I will forward it to you when I find it.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Anchor the engine using the two stakes at 45 degrees.
Take the end of the blue 200 foot rope of the drum and feed throught the tripod with the double pulley and loop round the gearbox pulley.
Using the broom handle - put this through the rope drum and walk up the slope paying out the rope.
At the top of the slope - untie the rope off the drum and put the rope round the single pulley that has the tensioner attached to it.
Pull like hell to get any slack out of the rope and bang in the tensioner stake.
Tension the rope as much as possble. With 200 feet of rope, 1 person cant really over tension it.
Go back to the engine and adjust the tripod so that its in front of the engine and loop the kill switch cord round the button on the tripod.
Pull the engine over slowly to check which rope is the uphaul and which is the downhaul
Start the engine
Check the tension by grabbing the uphaul. If the rope is too loose, the rope will slip on the gearbox pulley and you will be able to stop it.
The rope should be able to pull you off your feet.
Use the single pulley on the stick on the downhaul rope to add additional tension/keep the downhaul off the ground
You will need to fiddle around with the tripods and tension to get it right.
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ropetow,
Are you actually using the Briton lift. ? We had ours out yesterday and have always used it with the winch at the top of the slope so that the "uphaul", ie the rope you grab on to is straight and then as soon as someone grabs it the tension increases and the motor puts more power on. Also then the tripod with the double pulley is just before the winch motor so that if someone gets stuck on the rope, or forgets to let go, they knock over the tripod and the bungee releases the kill button on the motor stopping everything. I have some photos of yesterday which I will post later.
Karl60North, If you send me that e-mail address I will send you the photos too, unfortunately I cannot find the original instruction diagram but we had it working perfectly yesterday, it will take about 4 people max at once depending on the slope and their weight ! We have also made some wooden handles that we think work better than the original aluminium, giving you a softer start, especially for the children.
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Yes - had the lift running on Saturday. I know what you mean about the position of the engine - unfortunately most slopes near me start at the bottom and then go up to the top. Its difficult to haul the engine to the top of the slope - hence the reason for having the engine at the bottom and the lighter single pulley tripod at the top. I did have a marker about 30 feet from the top pulley and the 'liftie' was watching operations and was able to stop the tow if there were any problems.
IIRC the bigger 8HP engine could pull more than 4 folks. I'd be interested to see your design for the wooden handles as the Britonhooks are too fierce for kids to use.
Pics of the component parts and a pic of the setup copied from the manual are in my ropetow1 gallery in the mediazone.
Wouldnt mind a scanned copy of the complete users manual if anyone has one.
Thanks
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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ropetow,
My "design" is not very sophisticated ! It is basically a slot cut at 45degrees in a piece of 2" x 2" just a little wider and deeper than the rope diameter. The kids let the rope run through this whilst holding it with both hands, some hold it vertical, some horizontal, and then twist it so that the rope bites and away they go. I make them wear goggles and helmet in case it flicks back but to be honest that does not seem to b an issue. The worst that seems to happen is that they let go and sometimes the piece of wood sticks on the rope but usually someone manages to knock it off or if it reaches the safety cut out it trips the engine out. (I do'nt know if this might be a bigger problem for you with the engine at the bottom though).
It does'nt seem to wear the rope, but it does wear the wood away and eventually you have to cut a new slot.
Anyway here are a couple of pictures of the actual item. I have had to use links because I cannot fathom out how to post actual photos in here.
https://snowheads.com/the_zone/showphoto.php/data/500/medium/BritonWoodHandle2.JPG
http://snowmediazone.com/the_zone/data/500/BritonWoodHandle1.JPG
We were using it yeserday on a slope that was pretty steep, I am going to try and work out how steep. I will try and post some pictures later.
I have'nt got a user manual I am afraid, but I would love as copy if you do ever find one.
Where are you using your lift ? We were out near Llangollen, North Wales, yesterday. We had more snow last night but it has gone a bit warmer and stickier now.
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Bit of a long shot, does anyone know of a lift for sale or any spares for the 5hp machine?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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andy smith,
I can't help you andy, but is it something specific that you were looking for ? We have looked at ours in the past and tried to work out what we we do if any of the important parts failed and came to the conclusion that the gearbox might be the one thing that would be hard to replace. Our only thought was that maybe the gearbox was actually from something else like a rotovator. Maybe they would be able to tell you at Briton because I think they were still selling them until at least 2003 ?
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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I've just put one up for sale on this site (05.04.10) with set up info.
Tensioning was not rocket science, you just pulled on the tension rope pulley to get it as tight as you could.
There were 2 rope sets which you could use either individually or added together not sure of the length (selling both)
I used this 8 HP Britonlift with no problem on various inclines, but the 5HP would have less "grunt".
Martin
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