When given the choice between the ladder or a Bucket, It seems that the
guys always choose the ladder. They say the Bucket is 'Too Slow'
They will choose the bucket when it requires lifting ballast onto a roof
however.
On 2/24/2016 10:59 AM, Adam Moffett wrote:
What I noticed is once you do an install with a bucket, any future
service or removal then requires a bucket. So once you go down this
road, there's almost no turning back. For that reason, even when
there's access to a bucket, I'd use the ladder whenever possible.
IMO it's also slower to set up and maneuver the bucket than to set up
a ladder and climb it.
On 2/24/2016 9:52 AM, Kurt Fankhauser wrote:
Have been running bucket trucks since i started in 2004. Started off
with a used $6500 F-450 truck that was bought at an auction, truck
got me by but was a mechanical nightmare and a safety concern. In
2008 I bought a used 8 year old truck on an F550 chassis with a 42
foot Articlated/Telescoptic Versalift boom. Paid $35,000 for this
truck and had $600/month payments. This truck had a 50 foot working
height if you were all the way extended. I didn't know at the time if
i could justify the cost but after I had the truck 6 months it
generated enough new installs that I wouldn't have been able to do
without the truck that it was now making its own payments.BEST
DECISION I EVER MADE.
Now not only was I able to do more installs but i noticed that the
quality of my installs was improved, antenna mounting locations were
higher and this was resulting in better SNR's on my installed
clients. That is a huge side benefit that often gets overlooked. In
2014 I ordered a new F550 with the same configuration as the previous
truck but with an extended cab. I had to special order everything,
ordered the chassis through a ford dealer and had my local versalift
dealer upfit the truck. Whole process was 8 months. Longest time was
the wait for the Versalift dealer to get my boom in, apparently they
are backlogged. The truck chassis cost $42,000 and the boom/body cost
$60,000.
Looking back I would not recommend buying the brand new truck unless
you absoletely need a write off. If i wouldn't have had significant
cash to put down on the new truck i would have been looking at over
$2,500/month payments. Also if i wasn't the one operating the truck
daily and i had an employee i wouldn't have done it either, employees
break stuff through careless actions and a truck that expensive i
didn't want someone to tear up.
The one side benefit to buying the new truck is the maintenance costs
have been zero. I had an average of $500-$750/month maintenance costs
on the used 2008 truck, everything from the boom having blown
hydraulic hoses to transmission replacements and diesel engine problems.
Let me know if you have any other questions!
On Wed, Feb 24, 2016 at 9:35 AM, Nate Burke <n...@blastcomm.com
<mailto:n...@blastcomm.com>> wrote:
How often do you need it? We have a local rental shop that rents
that exact unit for $300/day. Does the cost of the unit outweigh
just renting it when you need it. I would definitely make some
pads for the outrigger to go on, they are pretty small. How
skilled are your guys at backing up trailers? That's the hardest
thing with this one.
On 2/22/2016 4:29 PM, Tushar Patel wrote:
We are considering buying trailer Mounted booms or bucket truck.
Some roofs are just too hard to get up and we have lot of push
up poles so to service them it would be lot easier with bucket
trucks.
So like this
http://www.genielift.com/en/products/trailer-mounted-booms/tz50/
or
just bucket trucks.
Any suggestions? Any experience people can share.
Tushar
