bucket truck

[MBLES]

for anyone who does bucket truck work like light pole lights etc. what are you likes and dislikes. gas or diesel? ford, chevy, international. etc, etc.
do you think its a good investment

 

[peter d]

In my area, it's not considered a good investment, hence why it's an item that's rented or leased. Even the large EC's in my area lease them and stick a magnetic sign on them. The exception would be an EC that picks up an 80's or 90's pile of junk that leaves a trail of oil and hydraulic fluid wherever it goes.

 

[hbiss]

The exception would be an EC that picks up an 80's or 90's pile of junk that leaves a trail of oil and hydraulic fluid wherever it goes.

Yup. I have a friend that did just that. Has an old 89' Ford bucket van for years and I would say it sits in his lot 99% of the time. Don't forget maintenance and upkeep is important for safety and although is expensive your life depends on it. You can't maintain these yourself. The boom and mounting (particularly welds) need to be inspected and certified every few years and the dielectric strength of the boom needs to be verified. Keep in mind that old units like this one will automatically be recommended to be scrapped because they have outlived their safe life. Search You Tube for bucket truck failures, scary stuff. I have used his truck a couple of times but was afraid for my life because I know it probably was never looked at since it was new. With rentals you are assured of getting a recent truck that has been maintained and certified.

-Hal

 

[iwire]

for anyone who does bucket truck work like light pole lights etc. what are you likes and dislikes. gas or diesel? ford, chevy, international. etc, etc.
do you think its a good investment

The brand of the truck is much less significant than the brand of boom on it.

The repairs to the boom componanants is what will cost you and any of the required testing.

The ECs I have worked for have always rented or leased them. An advantage of that is you can pick the right type of truck for the job.

If we need to set poles we rent a bucket truck with a jib crane, if we are just servicing lights we get a smaller truck without the jib. The jib gets in the way a lot when trying to service lights.


I had one just last Tuesday, 47' material handler/bucket truck. Picked it up and returned it the same day.

 

[fireryan]

for anyone who does bucket truck work like light pole lights etc. what are you likes and dislikes. gas or diesel? ford, chevy, international. etc, etc.
do you think its a good investment

We have a ford F550 4x4 diesel with a 42ft boom. It's a must have for us out in the rural area. Nobody around here rents bucket trucks. For as heavy as they are I'd reccomend a diesel. I've seen them in gas models but they get horrible gas mileage. We bought the same type of boom as the local power company that way we can get service easily because the cservice rep is in our area all the time

 

[peter d]

Yup. I have a friend that did just that. Has an old 89' Ford bucket van for years and I would say it sits in his lot 99% of the time. Don't forget maintenance and upkeep is important for safety and although is expensive your life depends on it. You can't maintain these yourself. The boom and mounting (particularly welds) need to be inspected and certified every few years and the dielectric strength of the boom needs to be verified. Keep in mind that old units like this one will automatically be recommended to be scrapped because they have outlived their safe life. Search You Tube for bucket truck failures, scary stuff. I have used his truck a couple of times but was afraid for my life because I know it probably was never looked at since it was new. With rentals you are assured of getting a recent truck that has been maintained and certified.

-Hal

:thumbsup:

There's a company in my area that rents equipment, some of which they buy as castaways from the poco. That's probably where Iwire rented his truck from.

I read a horror story a few years back on an arborist forum about a man who was working in a tree when the boom failed. He lived to tell about it, but barely. He was left with massive injuries that permanently ended his career in tree work. It was very eye opening.

 

[kwired]

We have a ford F550 4x4 diesel with a 42ft boom. It's a must have for us out in the rural area. Nobody around here rents bucket trucks. For as heavy as they are I'd reccomend a diesel. I've seen them in gas models but they get horrible gas mileage. We bought the same type of boom as the local power company that way we can get service easily because the cservice rep is in our area all the time

That is the problem in rural areas, sure you can rent equipment, but is a bigger hassle when the closest place to rent from is two or three hours away. If you have such equipment in rural area you will likely do more then just electrical work with it, because it is usually only you and the utility companies that have this equipment, maybe an occasional tree trimming service - but they usually won't do any electrical work with them. I have had some of them let me use their truck on occasion though.

 

[JoeyD74]

for anyone who does bucket truck work like light pole lights etc. what are you likes and dislikes. gas or diesel? ford, chevy, international. etc, etc.
do you think its a good investment

It depends on the amount of work you have to support having one. How often are you going to be using it?

 

[wallyworld]

I've got an old, 95 gmc, verizon truck. Sorry to disappoint but it doesn't leak hydraulic fluid everywhere. If you were to buy a new one you'd have to use it everyday to justify it. I've put quite a bit of money in mine in just the truck end of it. I'm the only one who uses it. I wish I could get more business for it. it goes in spurts.

 

[iwire]

Here is the one I had this week. Not a bad truck but a pain for general lighting service. It is a material handler bucket truck so it has a jib that gets in the way it has outriggers that must be used and it's a long climb in and out of bucket.