Needed an easier way to access the lake. Some call it a cable car, tram, or fernicular, but I call it a trolley. I'm no engineer nor recommend others do what I do - please consult with an expert.
Nice work. I wanted to make one of these for going up the woods at my parents' house but using a water tank with inlet and outlet, and counterweight so that it could get heavier to go down and lighter to climb the slope, and also a brake so it didn't go shooting back to the top when people got off. Whilst I don't find walking 110 stairs particularly difficult, it is useful if you want to carry something big up and down to the lake.
Rick Rabjohn: Extremely clever! You had a need and you found a solution. I don't blame you, especially having to walk up the hill. Well thought out and developed. Just as well done as backyard roller-coasters which have been shown on TV news casts, etc. I love the little touches such as the kerosene lamp. You are justifiably proud. As for the term "trolley" ... a trolley is the wheel at the top of the collector pole and that wheel makes contact with the electric wire powering a streetcar. Today's modern streetcars (if they don't have pantographs) and trolley busses use grooved shoes to slide along the overhead wires instead of a wheel. Those electric powered rail cars are called "trolley cars", "streetcars", or "trams". In reality you have a "funicular" or a "cable car". It's a technicality, but that's what it really is. Keep up the good work!
The funicular - I love it, Thanks so much for checking it out and for your nice comment. It was a labor of love that saved me from those 100 plus stairs. Thanks again mate; cheers.
Rick: Funiculars are indeed cool. In fact, the Neopolitan song "Funiculì, Funiculà" was written to celebrate the opening of the funicular line up Mount Vesuvius. My Nonna used to tell me about this and other Italian songs whenever I would visit her (I grew up 5 blocks from her home). If you search RU-vid for this song you'll find many renditions, including some serious ones by Luciano Pavarotti, Andrea Bocelli, the Three Tenors, and Mario Lanza. I think you'll like it. Peace!
The fancy name for this type of transport is Funicular. The name Funicular derives from the Latin word funiculus, which translates to “rope”. That's what they used to be made from! There were rope cables in the funicular loop system powered by either humans or animals. The oldest known funicular is in Hohensalzburg Castle, and it's known as the Reisszug. Glad you fitted yours with a emergency brake. Nice build.
couldn't you of used your ingenuity to open the bottle down at the lake if you forgot a bottle opener!?!, sheesh, did you really need to do all that😂 A Bloody excellent job!!!! Truly!!! I'm wanting to purchase a steep property that would only suit with the installation of a cable ca , and on the back of your Sterling set up I have great confidence to go ahead with the purchases The car Looks Awsome!!! It's cheap!! It's solid!! And the break system is just simply brilliant!!👌 I am going to make a vid of my house build, including the cable car build I will reference this video as the design source, the inspiration, and the confidence to go ahead with my land purchase Thankyou very much for referencing and photographing exactly what is needed to build this cool looking cable car I'll pop back to this video to let you know when ive made my vid Once again Thankyou
Thank you - it was a labor of love and worked out OK. That said, it never was as safe and idiot proof as I wanted - so I ended up being the only operator. The one thing I learned was to keep the rail construction straight all the way up if possible. this would enable you to adjust the wheels tightly to the rail - no slop is needed to accommodate for rail turns or incline changes. hope that helps and Good luck with your project -
+Rick Rabjohn Sure thing. Also, the cable car itself is quaint yet functional. It's a nice touch. Have you considered posting information about this project on www.instructables.com/? Instead of spending many hours to create technical drawings, if you were to narrate, say, a one hour "off the cuff" video explaining what you did (and what you wish you had done differently) you could help many other DIYers build their own "lakeside cable car."
It's a cable car if it's propelled by a cable driven by an engine located outside of the vehicle. It's a fernicular if it's a vehicle on inclined rails, regardless of how it's powered.
Hello Rick, Thank you for sharing. Is your trolley still working well? Have you had to modify the design at all? I'm planning to build a hillside trolley up a steep rocky slope for beach access from the shore to our new homesite on the lower Baja Peninsula. After searching the internet for information and ideas, your Lakeside Cable Car is the video that most inspires me. Your build is simple and I can see most of the details so I can design something similar. I'll make my track out of steel. I had thought about using a winch but I knew it wasn't safe. The motor you used is new to me: The drum pulley, reduction gear and 2hp brake motor are things I don't know about, but I will soon find out all about them. I will consult with people here who do know. They can help me get the pieces together for a safe design and build. Your emergency brake looks to be genious! Does it work well in an emergency? I'd love to see other designs you've built. Thanks again. Linda
Thanks Linda - we moved and the trolley went to the new owners. Not sure what they have done with it since. On the one hand - it was a good looking design, about 1/3 the cost, everyone loved it, and it was a huge help getting us up and down to the lake for several years. That said, it was dangerous. First, the track should have been straight - no left or right bends or changing grades up or down - this would have enabled all the tracking wheels to be adjusted tightly against the rails with no slop. Given it wasn't straight, I had to allow for some gaps between the wheels and the rail to prevent binding at the curves which resulted in a sloppy ride (weaving back and fourth). Second, the trolley looked good but was too tall given the width of the track rails which made it top heavy - again more slop in the ride. Third, the wireless controller I used to start and stop was never iron clad - it worked 95% of the time - but there were a few occasions where the trolley did not stop even after hitting the stop button - or where it went up when it should have gone down. Also there was no automatic stops - you had to hit the button and the right button at the right time to stop it in front of the off load ramp. Given this, I never allowed anyone else to operate the trolley. Fifth, everything was made of wood and overtime things loosened up and needed to be tightened or replaced - I should have used steel for the rails, the drum pulley, and all the wheel mounts. Finally, given the above - I was always worried something would go wrong and someone would get hurt and the associated liability. So if I did it over, I would have hired professionals with a design that was 100% iron clad and one that anyone could use and operate safely. Good luck with your adventure.
Make sure the cable is attached to a spring under tension that is connected to some breaks. of the cable breaks then the spring will release its tension pushing out the breaks stopping it from falling.
+Rick Saxe Hi Rick - well we did have a little trouble once when the trolley continued off the track and was pulled upward and hung from the tree before the power kicked off. After all that fun, I put limit switches and emergency stops in place....The good news was no damage to the trolley and no one got hurt - phew......
I'm looking for ideas for something similar I think the commercially inclined railways have an automatic safety device something like Otis invented for the elevator so if the cable brakes someone isn't killed or injured. And also a system to lock the car under the tracks like a roller coaster has
I agree. I used some redneck engineering to make it work for 6 years but it wasn’t safe. Like you, I searched for a safer alternative, but it was beyond me. Good luck and stay safe
maybe a pivot platform instead of a flat platform would work nicely as this would track with the rails in this transition, the adjusting wheels seems like a pain lol, ill put some more thought into it , im looking at a rail line of about 500 feet
Great question Gary. Ideally the track should have been straight all the way up at the same slope angle allowing all the tracking wheels to be adjusted tight to the track. That said, it was cheaper to hug the stairs and tie the track support columns into the existing 6x6 stair treads most of the way up. I made it work by designing a small gap on the bottom and side tracking wheels to create a smooth transition between changes in track slope and angle (approx. 1/2 inch). I then also added vertical side bummers (steel pipe with PVC pipe covers that hung down and spun when they contacted the sides of the track) to ensure no risk of derailing. The downside is that it added a little slop to the ride with more work and initial adjustments to get it just right. In the end, it turned out fine. Hope this makes sense and thanks for the comment!
@@RickRabjohn Rick, we are buying a lake property in Southwest Virginia and really need something like you have constructed. How much did the motor, switching, braking system cost?
Total project was $10K - The Leeson Brake motor was about $1000. In terms of all the electronics/switching, that was done be electricians and was about $4k. If I were you, I would consider a professional company who specializes in these trams. My "trolley" was pretty dangerous. Perhaps others on the lake know a company to contact?
well back then the pros were charging 30k to 60k for a tram - this one I made was about 8k - I hired out the track and electric work - electric work was the most. I must admit, It wasn't safe for others to operate - other than me, but it worked. good luck with yours
Rick: This is a wonderful creation...and one that I'd like to duplicate at my camp in Canada. Can you tell me the model number of the Boston 30:1 reducer and if there is a pulley on the motor end (I suspect there is!) and it's dimensions? Appreciate any help...and again, really nice job!
Hi Jack - The pulley dimensions are listed in the video right at the 2:00 minute mark - hope that helps. The Boston Gear reducer was a worm gear type of reducer that I bought on Ebay but sorry to say I can't recall the model number. Good luck to you in your build. If you haven't already, you might want to review some of the answers to other questions below - especially to Linda Lambert's. While the trolley worked, I was always worried something would go wrong and someone would get hurt and the associated liability. Take care and good luck.
Now I see the pulley dimension, Rick. Thanks for the response. Our setup will be desgined ONLY to transport gear and building materials, rather than people...and many of the comments below were helpful. This will be a summer project and I intend to document and video the process. Thanks again for your respone and your video!!
Rick: One more question...well, maybe two!1) What would you estimate to be the total weight of the car and two adults that you would haul up the hill, and;2) with that weight, did the motor or gear reducer seem to labor at all? Thanks again for your insight!
Hi Jack - my figures were estimates, but the trolley itself was around 400 pounds gross weight and with two adults could easily be 800 pounds gross weight. The actual weight on the cable and drive assembly was less given the trolley was being pulled up a 20 degree slope on wheels (I cannot remember the formulas I used to determine the actual weight given the slope but perhaps Google it if you need it). The 2 HP 110V Leeson Brake Motor along with the Boston gear reducer (which helped to add torgue) was able to handle things really well. I originally tried a 1-1/2 HP motor and found that to be lacking. Note: the brake on the 2 HP Leeson motor was key for me as it stopped the motor from back peddling (which would otherwise allow the Trolley to slip back down the track). If done over, I would have sat down with a Mechanical Engineer to double check/confirm my design, numbers, and motor size. The other aspect is the Electrical Engineering... I had to hire an electrician to wire up the whole system including running a new line, a new breaker panel, the motor, the wireless motor control, emergency power stop buttons, and limit switches. The bill was pretty big.
First, a snuckle - which is snort and chuckle - mashed together. After more than 40 years of selling winches and hoists with lifting capacities of up to 200,000 lbs on a single line, I am qualified to say the only thing on this contraption done right is the DANGER plaque. I can only hope all your hard work didn't end up hurting or killing a rider or bystander. And yes, the same to all those who were inspired by you thinking a lot but not thinking so good.
No. I would use a professional who specializes in this. They will have better controls and safegaurds. Mine worked OK, but not without a lot of tinkering and risk. Good luck
