A collection of thoughts about planning, building and enjoying a backyard trail network in central Vermont.

Sunday, January 19, 2014

Snow and no snow..

We got barely enough snow to test out the tow again.  The snow quality was excellent but the lack of a snow base made the skiing a bit sketchy.


Jay was ready to ski and had his season pass on.


Bill, Jay and Larry all tried out the tow for their first time.  Here is Bill on the tow.


Everyone got a few runs in before the tension wheel gave out.  We knew this might happen (with a bearing on one side only) so it wasn't a total suprise when it failed.





A few days later we got two rain storms that nearly melted all of the snow.  It's pretty much back to square one with a 2-3 inch base.



At least it gave us plenty of time to fix the tension wheel.  We used a bigger truck rim instead.


I also installed a safety shutoff switch.  



When I tested it a few days later it had ice around thebutton - making it difficult to push the button completely.  I'll need to add a little mini-roof over each switch.