Quote:What MFG's are you thinking of? I know it's just an opinion, but I'd like to know.Well I will say Seagrave, EOne, and Smeal on a S chassis. Again the price range is quite the spread with these 3 with two being close in price and 1 a bit more but we based things on a lot of factors. All 3 have the strongest cabs in the industry, all were receptive to some of the requirements we had which some of the big names in the biz refused, two of them have the majority of replacement parts off the shelf from a heavy truck supplier, all 3 have service constraints by distance or on location staff but willing to train/certify our shop with repairs, parts purchasing, and warranty work. All were open to allow us to talk to their engineers to discuss changes, improvements, or options. 2 have been at the top of the fire apparatus world and humbled by their fall which has lead to them bringing back quality control. All 3 offer off the shelf multiplex systems that have been proven in the the military, heavy equipment, and fire service which they are easy to get parts and service for. So on and so on.
IMO Pierce is a cog in the Oshkosh machine where profit trumps quality. We have owned 9 of them and beat them to death but outside of TAK 4 and commandzone issues we would still buy them if they still built the models we have with the quality they were built with. Then there's the dealer who is not as responsive to the little guy vs. the bigger fish in our area.
E\-One which we owned in the 80's and 90's and again beat them to death but they held up. All of the ones we disposed of are still in service with thier 2nd to 4th departments. Our experience over the years with known eone problems were electrical, paint corrosion, cracking body mounts, pump manifolds rusting out, and lots of vinyl/plastic cab interiors. Take a stainless body, Vmux electrical system, stainless plumbing, and they are willing to give you a mostly metal cab interior so if speced right you can address known issues with that brand. A county not to far away from us have created this new and tougher eone design which so far has been successful at a reasonable cost. Plus they have a responsive dealer to help solve problems. Now we still own a 27 year old eone ladder which is used as a countywide reserve that pretty much is on the road 46/48 weeks a year for the last 5 years that has been holding well because it's simple to maintain and operate.
Smeal is not very popular in the area but more and more are popping up. They have an agreesive dealer now so that has helped sales. Most of those that have or owned Smeals that I have talk to have had more chassis issues than body and pump. Now the S chassis provides an option instead of a Spartan although its built by Ferrera its actually a nice durable cab. Smeal also has two very well known aerial lines.
Seagrave has been very "Unicorn" like in the area for quire a long time but again an aggressive dealer has made things happen. They can be difficult to deal with and fear change but I think many will agree they build a simple and tough as a tank vehicles. Of course their pricing chase many away but as the regional sales rep told me "how many 10 year old Seagraves do you see on the market compared to other brands?" True to a point because most just run them forever.
Well that's it for now and yes not one mfg builds the perfect fire truck but some do try.
Facebook
Google
Reddit
Twitter