Interview With Thom Fielding 1-17-07

BLUELINE1

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Billy,

Great question.

BLUEline Equipment Co. is Vortex and Vortex is BLUEline Equipment Co.

However, we are working to integrate the only part that has not been integrated and that is the dual websites.

Thom
 

Tony Neville

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It seems to me that the useful life of the V is limited by the truck. How difficult would it be to swap a V to a newer truck? Is there a way to make it simple enough that it could be done by O/O?

Tony
 

BLUELINE1

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Mikey,

Thanks too for being patient with my fat fingers and slow typing! We are actually working on our own manufactured wands, we are looking at great things in the future, and Greenie and Lisa will be the first (if they will have us) in the rounds of discussion and engineering regarding tools.

Thom
 

BLUELINE1

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Lisa,

Great to see you here!

We are working (as always) on a variety of things in regards to new and different platforms.

Shhhhhh! I will buy you and Greenie some drinks at Mikeyfest and we will "huddle"!

Thom

:D
 

Mikey P

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Thom

Can you attempt to settle the drama on whether or not the 7000HAT blower is indeed a proprietary unit and does it in fact out perform the 6008?

What testing have you done to compare the two?
 

BLUELINE1

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Vincent,

Sorry I accidentally skipped over you post regarding Connections, or if you feel that I slighted you. It certainly was not my intention. A NAKED woman? Come on. Give me more credit than that! Connections is a VERY busy time for us.

Thanks,

Thom
 

vincent

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Yep she was right there, to each their own I guess.

Anyway, why don't tm dealers "deal" on their units. I hate paying retail or msrp for anything just as you do.

Do you and your sales people always stand firm on the tm price?
 

BLUELINE1

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Dirk,

Absolutely, the marketing packages and wraps and image are a large part of purchasing a V, and that will continue. In fact, we are working on several new things that you will find to be very exciting, including a brand new website.

Thanks,

Thom
 
G

Guest

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Without being a salesman...if someone was shopping around for a new TM and they had their choice narrowed down two, with one being one of your TMs.

What would you say to that person that would set your company apart?
 

truckmount girl

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Good question Terje. How much support and service will you and the supporting distributors provide for the old V's? Will the mechanics receive training on the older, pre-BL units?

Look forward to seeing you at Mikefest!

Thanks and take care,
Lisa
 

BLUELINE1

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Mikey,

I will get to your question regarding the blowers in a second.

Vincent,

As a manufacturer that markets primarily through a dealer network to ensure local service and support, we cannot "price fix". The Sherman Anti Trust Laws prohibit us from setting our pricing. Like the automotive industry, we can only offer to our network the MSRP, or Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Pricing. The dealers for the most part are independant businesses, and they have the final say on selling prices.

Thanks,

Thom
 

vincent

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Ok, but on your website you have options for leasing. Does BL offer direct or do you have to go through dealers?
 

Greenie

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It takes a special company to stand on it's own merits, and tell CRI to pack sand, their system is obviously flawed, so why empower it?

Pay them no attention, and they will go away.
 

BLUELINE1

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Mikey,

Prior to BLUEline Equipment Co.'s acquisition of Vortex, Shawn wanted to set the V apart from the competition and quiet the machine. At the time, Tuthill had a blower that was close to reaching the goal, (850 series) but would not work on the V due to the fact that the shaft would not accommodate the application and for other reasons. As I understand it, Shawn paid Tuthill for a new casting to build a blower to his specs. Unlike other blowers, these have shafts and lobes that are cast integral, or in one piece. We use competitive branded blowers in all of our slide in units, and our testing (and thanks to Kirk and Lou Waterfall for their help with this) has confirmed that the Tuthill 7000 HAT is 6 db quieter, requires nor greasing, (no zerks) has deeper vacuum and runs smoother with less vibration than competitive models.

Thom
 

Duck

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Thom,

Good to hear you. It would be better if you were local to buy dinner. Again! Fond memories of Chicago & JonDon - Thanks to you, Mark & Shawn.

Tomorrow I start the process of installing the 2½" vacuum system - the delivery was today. Scott called and I'll follow up with him later. Your prompt follow through is and was appreciated. You resemble the word responsible, which is response and able.
 

vincent

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Try to answer this one as close as you can.

You have 10 buyers wanting the advertised price in a publication of $899 on a Vortex.

Is this a true price if one follows the minium guidelines for purchase or are there hidden fees?

And just how many would drive away knowing in writing they would have a $899/month payment?

Seems little shady to me.
 

Jim Pemberton

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Sorry to step in, but I can't resist:

Odin and Greenie: There are cracks developing in the CRI SOA dam. I'll have some stuff to share with everyone soon, I hope. I now have some good people on our side taking risks and standing up for what is right.

Stay tuned.......

Back to Thom.......
 

BLUELINE1

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Vincent,

We do offer leasing for our customers through our dealers through BLUEline Financial. It really does not have to do with establishing a selling price. The payments are based on credit ratings and down payments, just like it would at any other financial institution.

After a long day, I would like to thank each and every participant on Mikey's Board for allowing us to visit. It was a pleasure. I will review this room tomorrow and answer any questions that I may have missed.

Regards and Best Wishes,

Thom
 
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Lee Stockwell
The V's blower is belt driven, pulley out in the open. In what way was the TI850's 1-3/4" shaft needing modification?

My catalogs show Browning and others make the same pulleys for it that the 6008 uses, and in a variety of nearby diameters as well. As you know Tuthill has integral rotors and shafts on most of their blowers, as well as many zerk-less models.

Thus...what is really the difference between what is obviously, (and labeled thusly) a TI850 in R Hyde's machine and the visionary yellow beast?

:-)
Lee
 

truckmount girl

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Thank you Thom, that was an excellent and informative session. I highly commend your visceral and testicular fortitude in being the first major TM manufacturer to venture onto the hot seat. You gave us a lot of information about you and your company and I hope this was a positive experience for you as well....ideally we would like our hot seat participants to get as much from this time as we do.

Thanks and take care,
Lisa
 

Mikey P

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Two and a half hours of Thom's time was great. More then I could ask for.


Thanks!!!!


Thom assured me that he would answer any left over questions tomorrow in this thread.




I want to extend out the offer to anyone in the manufacturing, supply and distributing end of our industry to participated on the Hot Seat.


To be fair and unbiased if anyone from Aero Tech would like to step up to the plate next month please let me know ASAP.
 

steve frasier

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Thanks Thom

I have a Thermal Wave II, I chose it over the Genesis 59 for a lot of reasons. It is getting close to it's first oil change, 50 hours. It has been real cold here lately and I am not sure what viscosity oil is in it now. Manual recommends 100 hours between oil changes, this seems kind of long to me.

I am in Portland, Oregon and temp through out the year is form 10 to 100. Do you need to use synthetic oil or a synthetic blend to achieve 100 hours between oil changes and what viscosity would you recommend over all
10W-30 or 10W-40

I think I talked to Scott about putting a Kunkle or Bayco valve on the machine but he recommend that I don't do it. I also spoke to the Power Clean people about this type of valve on a Genesis 59, they said the valve wouldn't void warranty and encouraged me to do it.

Why would BlueLine not use this type of valve instead of the spring valve

Are theses valves a good product or are they just hype?


I asked Mike to ask the heat questions, I would like a little more heat from the machine I have. I went from a 427 BOXXER to the Thermal Wave II. There is about a 20-25 degree difference in the heat which I am not complaining about. Your earlier answers about the heat are kind of what I thought they would be.

Thanks Thom
 
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Steve,

The temperature of your machine should not get to the freezing point.
Use a motor oil that has an API SD or SE rating. I would be more concerned about the upper limits of an oil rather than the lower limits, since the machine is stationary in a truck and the temperatures inside a truck can go well above 100 deg
 

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