Freezing Water and Ice Damage

[squints]

Beware of extra holes from the manufacture in your newly installed lift

We discovered a beam on our new lift that was getting deformed from water entering and freezing... If you see a hole where water can enter be sure to create a drain hole.

Its hard to tell from the photo but you can see a crease in the center of the beam where the ice is causing it to bulge out. The rusty holes on the top of the beam came like that from the factory. We drilled a drain hole where you can see the water dripping out.

[skilift.mechanic]

Yeah I have witnessed some pretty scaring things from freezing water also.

One morning while opening up chair lifts we noticed 4 lights and the light bracket (elk horns) on the ground. The water entered and had no place to go, so when it froze it pushed the whole unit off of the tower, ripped the lighting wires out and sent it to the ground.

Its a damn good thing it happened when we were closed! Not to mention the power being off on the lights.

That morning we checked all our other light towers and there were a few about to do the same thing. Trust me, you don't want to be climbing up there to fix it when it can come down at any second.

We secured all other towers and drilled drain holes in each of the elk horns.

Keep in mind we have had those towers for many years and never had it happen in the past. All it takes is period of certain weather conditions.