Wood Coaster Maintenance?

[downunder]

A lot of people tell me that wood coasters are cheaper to maintain than steel coasters, generally speaking.

 

Is this true, and if so, why?

[Twister II]

Wood coaster are MUCH more expensive to maintain than steel coaters.

 

For example, woodies have to be scaled every day by a crew before the park open and check binding, bolts, frame, etc.

 

However on a steel coaster, it muchly remains on checking reamote sensors and triggers, and breaks. Of course those have to also be checked on a woodie.

 

I think I heard like $50,000 more a year on a woodie than a steel coaster, or something like that.

[kenshinmac]

A wooden coaster is significantly more expensive as the changes in shape that wood experiences are much greater than those of steel and occur under numerous different conditions. Also consider that wooden coasters are not built from purpose built parts which results in some fit issues. So everyday the track needs to be checked for alignment issues.

 

Of course there are numerous other things that can happen. Nevermind the fact that the boards need replacing over time.

[Carnage]

Mean Streak at one point was costing $250,000 per year to maintain. This was partly the reason for slowing the ride down.

 

They've got something like 7 full time carpenters that work the ride.

[Gnome]

Steel - $12 million upfront cost to build.

Only thing you have to really maintain are the trains, and all the mechanical pieces.

Wood - $2 - $6 million depending on the size of a ride your building.

You have to maintain all the above, and then the track, and supports.

 

And then you get into Intamin Prefabbed. I don't know about those, maybe they're so well put together they just run it like a steel coaster.

[coaster1]

Steel coasters are just as much considering the xray and non-destructive test they do yearly on the rides. The technology to test for stress fractures cost more than lumber and bolts and they can't be performed by carpenters or maintenance people at the parks, they are contracted out to specialized companies.

[CoasterFanatic]

I have never bought into that Wood is Cheaper than steel to maintain theory for many of the same reasons that Jeremy mentioned.

 

Also, if steel coasters were so cheap to maintain, why does it seem that they re-sell so cheap and nobody wants to buy them?

[peteb]

I think it would be tough to lump all wood coasters together for comparison; it's well known that poorly designed wood coasters such as Hercules (RIP) were maintenance nightmares since they tore themselves apart whereby higher quality rides such as Lightning Racer do not. It's also true that parks that take better care of their rides ultimately spend less on repair/replacement. (Knoebels for example) The same is true for steel coasters. The reliability and maintenance costs/requirements for a B&M sit down or an Arrow Corkscrew (both super reliable) are much different than say, X or an Intamin Accelerator.

[FlyingScooter]

Wood is more than steel to maintain.

I look at the increase in the price of pine over the last 3-5 years vs the price of steel and there's no comparrison.

8 yrs ago, it cost me $150.00 to build a wood fence behind my house. Last spring, due to a bad winter, I had to replace about half the fence.

The cost for that was 300.00 for the same size boards I used in the original construction.

That tells me that If i had to replace the whole fence, it would've cost $600.00, which is an increase of 4x what it was 8 yrs ago.

[Guy T. Koepp]

I think your labor costs are going far outweigh the costs of material to maintain either kind of coaster.

 

Guy "Labor costs are some of the most expensive in almost any job Just look at a bill you get from your mechanic." Koepp

[FlyingScooter]

^mechanic? Not that i disagree, but look at a Doctors bill for a 4 minute visit. My doctor was kind enough to tell me that it's that high because he wants a yacht, 2 million dollar house, and at least 3 Jags to compliment his 2 Hum-V's. His current house cost 1.25 million.