Bluff Stabilization

Just recently, I had a phone conversation with one of our contacts from IL who is a bluff stabilization and restoration expert. Not only does he sell our Hill Glider, but also based on his expert opinion, has convinced some of his customers to get trams over stairs. Additionally, in his experience he has found that the DNR also prefers trams to be installed over stairs, the reason being our legs vs. stair posts and/or pylons. An 18” stair pylon, for instance, requires 254” of square space per post, whereas, our tram only requires two 1 ½” steel posts per ten feet. That means that for every one stair pylon, you can put in over 200 feet of track making our tram virtually non-evasive to bluffs (Please take a look at the diagram below to help display the ratio). For many of you who already have stairs and are concerned about the additional impact to your hillside with another structure, you can be rest assured that our tram is very safe and environmentally friendly from the structure all the way down to the paint.

Additionally, from our combined 20 years in the industry, we have yet to have to fix a tram due to heavy rains causing run-offs or warping the structure of the tram. In fact, many of you may have heard about the floods Wisconsin received this past year, and while there are hundreds of trams in Wisconsin, most located on the very hills and bluffs that were hit by the floods, not a single phone call came in for a problem with a tram. With a Lakeside Trams Hill Glider, you can be rest assured that your family and your hill will be safe.

Welcome!

Welcome to the first edition of the Lakeside Trams blog. Here you will find explanations and thoughts about the market for residential outdoor trams or lifts, as well as information on our newly installed trams and adventures. In order to start, we need to have a common understanding of what is a residential tram. The picture below gives you an idea of the concept and how it fits into a residential landscape:

As President of Lakeside Trams, my job is to give our customers a solution to the dreaded chore of walking up and down their steep slope and stairs. For many years, the benefits of owning a property with a great view were often accompanied with the inconvenience and safety hazards associated with stairstep access to the lakeshore or other parts of the property that should be enjoyed or needed to be utilized [driveways, garages etc]. Within the last several years, the need to overcome those obstacles has been met by the introduction of residential tram systems.

These systems come in many forms, but almost all employ a four-person car, capable of moving 750-1000 pounds of people or cargo up and down the slope. These systems are safe and offer not only access to otherwise hard to reach elements of a property, but do so in way that is far less fatiguing than stairs or switchback paths, and considerably less difficult and dangerous than driving an ATV down a steep slope. Our Lakeside Tram Hill Glider descends and ascends a slope or even a long level distance at 70'/min, with soft starts and stops and with three backup safety systems. Our car is designed first for safety, but also leads the competition in its design, which can be customized to fit any outdoor landscape scheme.

At Lakeside Trams our goal is to enhance the awareness, acceptability and utilization of residential lift systems to the benefit of the growing Baby Boomer generation that is just now discovering the pleasure of a home with a view. In our next edition I will discuss the many benefits of a Lakeside Tram Hill Glider for those who are either formally disabled or can no longer navigate long stairs in order to enjoy the benefits of the property they purchased.

Jack Bowman