Thern’s Role in Iconic New Years Eve Tradition

Every New Year’s Eve, over a billion sets of eyes focus their attention on New York’s Times Square as the large, illuminated New Year’s ball descends 141 feet down a specially designed pole, coming to rest at the base at the stroke of midnight. Such a high profile spectacle demands that everything runs perfectly, so it’s no surprise that a customized Thern winch is responsible for lowering the 11,875-pound ball on the biggest night of the year.

The 4HPF40M-S8 power winch is specially designed for inverted mounting below the platform on which the pole is mounted, precision line speed to lower the ball in sync with the countdown clock, a closed-loop line system and a herringbone grooving on the drum for maximum handling control of the 3⁄4 inch wire rope which connects to the ball.

To learn more about how how the New Year’s Eve ball drop has evolved, and what makes it happen, please read an article published in the Wire Rope Exchange Magazine by clicking here.