Replies

1. 
   frenchy | Jul 22, 2009 12:00am | #1

   Well,  The best deals are those telehandlers that the contractor is about to lose to the bank..   If you buy from a dealer he has costs that must be recovered as well as a profit made.  So what you might buy for 20-$30,000 in a contractor sale he needs to get 50-$60,000 for.

    Watch papers, advertize for one...

      know what you are buying.. some brands are really high in maintince costs..

   All the imports such as Caterpillar and JCB for example are terribly expensive to keep working..

    Some well known brands like Lull and Pettibone are decent but have real limits to their capability.  (they tend to be very unstable..) Gehl makes a really decent one and the absolute best is Ingersol Rand..

    It is by far the most stable and it's extremely low in maininance costs compared to other brands..

     I'll gladly share more if you're interested..  

    

1. 
   MNrosewood | Jul 22, 2009 01:37am | #2

   Thanks, I shot you an email if you have any more pointers.

2. 
   junkhound | Jul 22, 2009 03:51am | #3

   still watching for an ingersol for under 10K.

   Did see a 50 ft bucket truck on a Peterbuilt chassis with sleeper cab, office, and bathroom go here for $8K. 

1. 
   frenchy | Jul 22, 2009 04:15am | #4

   Bucket truck cannot do what a telehandler does..

    Once you understand that a telehandler isn't a ladder you will begin to see it's potential.  The bucket truck on the other hand will be a Toyota or razor blades for decades after a telehander is still working and making money for people..   

1. 
   KenHill3 | Jul 22, 2009 04:41am | #5

   Frenchy, Art knows the diff. between the two quite readily. Your preaching to the choir. :o)The Woodshed Tavern Backroom

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1. 
   frenchy | Jul 22, 2009 03:27pm | #6

   I'm sorry, who's Art?

2. 
   husbandman | Jul 22, 2009 05:47pm | #7

   junkhound's real name

3. 
   frenchy | Jul 23, 2009 01:27am | #8

   Oh, that makes sense now..

3. 
   CapeFramer | Jul 23, 2009 04:18am | #9

   I own a newer, 2 years old now, Cat tl943, keeping it running has not been an issue or expensive at all. Cat are also no longer imports, now made by JLG. I would recommend the machine.

1. 
   frenchy | Jul 23, 2009 08:16am | #11

   There are darn few of those sold thus far.. Far too few for there to be any real establishment of reliablity and cost of use..

     2 years old with the factory warrantee means they've paid for repairs thus far.

    When I sold Cat's we had major issues with all sorts of things plus the British designed ones were designed for agricultural use and not for construction use..  Carriage units would wear out pins or on more than a few carriages completely fell off.

    Put them in deep mud and they would self destruct. The engines were made by Perkins and if anybody came near them with a can of starter fluid (commonly used in getting diesels started in our brutal weather) they blew their head gaskets..

     In addition the brake fluid is unusual in that normal brake fluid causes seals to fail the result is a $2200 repair. (not covered by warrentee like all the above mentioned items) 

    Compare that to Ingersol Rands (which I also sold)  the most common repair in the first five years was the top windshield wiper freezing solid and when the operator turned on the wiper to clear the snow off it blew out the fuse..   2 ways to repair it, go from a 20 amp fuse to a 30 amp fuse or simply not turn on the top wiper untill you made sure the blade wasn't frozen.

     We had a lease program where customers would lease it for 5 years and then get a new one for the same lease rate.  More than a few came back and in that 5 years had never changed oil, greased, or done any maintinance whatsoever. (and they weren't junk at that point)

4. 
   CapeFramer | Jul 23, 2009 04:26am | #10

   Also owned a Cat th360b, made in england I believe, and what a piece of junk that was. Machine was strong ,comfortable to operate and had nicer options than most pickups, but had issues with brakes, cab and on board computer. Would not recommend that machine. My father still owns one and has similar issues with his.

1. 
   frammer52 | Jul 24, 2009 05:32pm | #12

   Have you ever operated an IR?

   They are very easy to operate compared to any other I have operated.

1. 
   MikeSmith | Jul 24, 2009 06:02pm | #13

   Frenchy:  i see  IR  models

    

   638

   642

   642C

   723

   843

   these  are  all dealer  locations   for  used  equip.

   what  are  the  various features of  the  above  models ?

   i   think  i  can  use  a  machine  like  this  without  trailing it, since  i  would  confine  it  to  Town... is  that  reasonable ?  (  the  island  is  1  mile  wide  and  10  miles  long )Mike Hussein Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore

1. 
   MikeSmith | Jul 24, 2009 11:52pm | #14

   do  any  of  these  models  have  remote  operating ..in  other  words, can  you operate  the  basket  from  the  basket or  only  from  the  driver's  seat  ?Mike Hussein Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore

2. 
   frenchy | Jul 25, 2009 12:17am | #16

   Remote control is an option the factory was working with  but It never became a production option.. We had an attachment company install the ones we sold and they cost about $5000 installed..

    Everybody who used it praised it!

     Gehl actaully sold a remote control as an option and it too was well recieved even if it wasn't as complete as the one we sold..

3. 
   Sphere | Jul 25, 2009 01:11am | #17

   I'll tell ya what, I have Grant's 40'er here and have spent countless days in it over the years. Its a manlift more so than a telehandler , and it's probably what you'd find most useful, unless you were needing to set trusses or rafts of ply and framing lumber up high.

   We've taken it on the road to a gas station or to a close by job, it's almost impossible to get it stuck in mud, and is perfect for just getting men and not TOO much material where it needs to go.

   The basket has ground controls, you can beam it up empty and leave it high for keeping kids off it at night.

   He bought used from the rental yard, and yeah, we've had a few problems, mostly from bad gas or some prankster putting water in the gas ( propane is a nice back up) but all in all I am sure it's payed for itself many times over.

   I'm getting stuff done here that was gonna be a real PITA otherwise...never thought I'd see the day I could work so well, by myself.  I'm spoiled..LOLSpheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks

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4. 
   frenchy | Jul 25, 2009 12:13am | #15

   Mike the model you want is the 642.

    Do Not get the 638/723 under any circumstance. It's made in France and it's an agricultural machine not a construction machine.

    The 642 B  is older than the C bit both are really great decent machines. the *43 is the same as the 642 but it has a little more counter weight.. (not needed because the standard 642 will actaully pick up (it has the hydraulic power) over 9000 pounds (sucked in and to about level)

    A typical load for a telehandler is seldom more than 2000 pounds..  and that's the critical number. How far forward will a telehandler put 2000 pounds out in front of the tires..Ingersol Rand will put their load out further than others..

    If you can find one with solid pnuematic or foam filled tires you will get a real benefit over air filled tires..

     Make sure the carriage tilts side to side to side. That is an absolute must.    Note all telehandlers frame tilt from side to side.  What you want is one that not only frame tilts but carriage tilts.. The really cool option is called a swing carriage  in that it rotates 180 degrees. With one of those you can swing the carriage sideways and tilt it back to level and then shoot it out and work up to 27 feet away from the front tires.. (another words get the work platform into a space too narrow for the telehandler to go..

    Another cool option on the C model is the low profile tires.   Great increase in stability since you no longer get tire sway . They make the rim a bigger diameter to keep tire diameter the same. So they are clearly differant from the common 13:00X24 common on most telehandlers made in America.

    Here in the great north we always add cold start packages in order to get these to work properly and start in out cold weather.  You may not need that where you are..

    The Ingersol Rand will road drive at speeds above 20 mph SO GETTING AROUND THE ISLAND YOU DESCRIBED SHOULD NOT BE A PROBLEM.  In fact it's legal even if you lose your drivers license  since it's a piece of construction equipment and not a motor vehicle..  Little known fact, as long as you don't put a license plate on a crane you don't need a drivers license either.  Some guy bombing down the highway  in a 250 ton crane at 70 MPH may have lost his drivers license  but he nor his 13 year old daughter don't need one..

2. 
   CapeFramer | Jul 25, 2009 02:23am | #18

   no I have only operated cat and jcb. Hated the jcb, have had 3 different cats th63 - nice machine had brake cable issues but very minor. Th 360b - not great but not awfull either and now have the tl 943, which I have really enjoyed owning. Only problem I am having is keeping it busy, it has been spending more time in my back yard than any where else the past few months. Its a pretty expensive lawn ornament.

1. 
   frammer52 | Jul 25, 2009 02:57am | #19

   I here you.

    

   My old boss is going great guns right now, on apartments, not houses!

2. 
   MikeSmith | Jul 25, 2009 03:26am | #20

   when i go looking for IR 642's... i get a lot of hits on  Mustang 642 telehandlers

    is there any connection between Mustang and IR ?Mike Hussein Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore

3. 
   frenchy | Jul 25, 2009 06:06pm | #21

   Mustang is made by Gehl to sell to non-Gehl dealers. Gehl is a good telehandler but the company is in an extremely tough market position. It's volume isn't large enough to weather downturns and get great discounts on materials.

     It is an extremely well built machine and I would place it in a solid second place behind Ingersol Rand for stability.  The smaller unit (534) is the perfect unit  for those who spend the majority of their time building  1 to 1&1/2 story buildings.  With a boom extension you can build 2 story buildings but you're going to find a few locations where you'll wish you had more.

     The 534 shows just how well American labor can build machinery.. The average warrantee repair bill per unit is just $15.00.  Considering it's extremely hard to  do any repair that doesn't cost in the hundreds that means the vast majority of them go through their full 4 year warrentee period with out a repair. 

     Just for information warrantees are all over the board..

    Gehl offers a 1-2-3-4 year warrantee, 1 year bumber to bumber, 2 years on the power train, three years on the hydraulic system and 4 years on welds etc..

     Ingersol Rand offers a 2 YEAR COMPLETE WARRANTEE

    Caterpillar's warrantee depended on who made the original  the old RT 50-60-80-100 had a 2 year warrantee but only a 6 month warrantee on the computer or joystick. (the most common failure and extremely expensive to repair)

    The TH63 etc had a one year on most things and a 2 year on the power train.  However a lot of things weren't covered at all.  The most common failure damage to the carriage was always decribed as abuse leving the customer to pay the bill. Same with the brakes,  and many other common failures.

    Lull-- well you get my drift..