Gearbox for UK's only gondola serviced in three weeks19 March 2019

SEW Eurodrive has repaired and serviced a 3,800kg Lohmann & Stolterfoht planetary gearbox that drives the only mountain gondola in the UK, in the Nevis Mountain Range in Scotland.

Located on the north face of Aonach Mor, the eighth highest mountain in Britain, the Nevis Mountain Gondola transports visitors from the base station, near Fort William, to the top gondola station at a height of 650 metres above sea level in a 15-minute journey.

The system carries 75, six-seat, closed-cabin gondolas running on a continuous steel cable, some 4.6km in length, and weighing 40,000kg. This is supported between 18 pylons, 2 masts, and 2 drive station structures each anchored in 200 tonnes of concrete.

Each gondola weighs 300kg and has a maximum passenger weight of 480kg. When fully loaded the combined weight of the gondolas in total is 58,500kg. Combined with the steel cable, the maximum weight on the drive system at peak capacity is 98,500kg.

As part of routine maintenance, SEW Eurodrive was chosen to inspect, service and carry out any necessary repairs to the huge Lohman & Stolterfoht planetary gearbox that drives the gondolas at a speed of 3.2 metres per second.

An SEW Eurodrive engineer supervised the removal of the gearbox and its loading on to a road transport wagon with a five-tonne Hiab loader crane. The process was made more difficult because of the tricky mountainside location of the gondola. Once securely loaded it was then transported to SEW Eurodrive’s gearbox service and repair facility in Normanton.

On arrival the gearbox was disassembled and inspected by SEW Eurodrive’s engineers. Investigation included oil analysis, digital photography and information on components that would require monitoring during operation for scheduled future repairs.

It was found that the 20-year-old gearbox was generally in good condition, due to the maintenance regime managed by the engineering team at the Nevis Mountain Experience. After cleaning all the components, and removing small amounts of corrosion, new bearings, seals and O-rings were fitted during the reassembly of the unit.

After testing, the repaired unit was returned to the mountain gondola and an SEW Eurodrive engineer supervised the re-installation and subsequent testing. The whole process was completed within three weeks.

Speaking of the project, engineering director Chris MacPherson says: “SEW Eurodrive had carried out maintenance for us on some smaller items in the past. Due to the quality of repair, the communication and overall service, I was extremely confident in their ability to carry out the main gearbox servicing.”

Will Dalrymple

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