Quote:I believe the NFPA minimum for loose equipment is 2500lbs, do not believe that includes water, hose, or personnel but does include air packs. Either way I compared the weights of the 107' to a Pierce Aluminum 75' that both had the same motor, same generator, very similar axle and total gvwr ratings, and same size pump and 500 water and believe it or not the weights are pretty close, the curb weight on both of these with water but no personnel or loose equipment was 9500lbs shy of their overall gross vehicle weight rating for the 75' and 9655lbs shy for the 107'. I think the issues w/ the 107 are right in line w/ the issues you already see w/ 75' single axle quints, you cannot put all you would like to on them because of less compartment space as well as the weight of the stuff you add adds up quickly and the buyer needs to be aware of that ahead of time or they can overweigh the rigs.....its the same problem w/ the mini-pumpers on F-550 chassis that Fire Apparatus Magazine touched on a few months back, they are too easy to overload and if you want to put all the stuff a full size pumper carries on them you will overload them. If you want to put all the stuff a pumper and all the stuff a truck carries on one of these 107 or 75' quints, you'll overload them. I was told the 107' aerial device and its associated components itself when designed weighs 4,000 lbs less then the 105' and is a comparable weight to the 75's Pierce produces. If weight and compartment space will definitely be a concern for the customer on the 107' I am also told it will be available on a tandem rear axle so that will gain you some more ground.You summed it up well. One of the most important things is that the FD needs to understand the limits of each apparatus and plan their purchases to match the correct apparatus to their needs. The Ascendant is not for everyone, but will meet the needs of some FD perfectly. Same with 75' quints on single-axle chassis, they are not for everybody, but can be perfect for some. I believe my FD is on the right track with the new Quint 3 plans.
You mentioned mini pumpers, which were all the rage about 30-40 years ago, but fell out of favor due to FD's wanting to put way too much on them, then run the wheels off them. The Ford F-550 addresses some of the weight issues that plagued the earlier F-350 size rigs, but there are limits. Respect those limits and you will have a successful mini. The County where I live has two mini's on order to replace two full-size pumpers. In this case, both mini's will be at stations that are surrounded by nearby pumpers and one shares quarters with a 75' quint. The current pumpers at those stations are running about 98% EMS runs. The only way to see if this concept will work is to try it.
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