Cheap Truckmounts at risk?

[rjwood]

My Interlink dealer has a Sapphire scientific demo promaster with a 2500 HS in it, what's the payload on the 1500?

5100

http://www.allpar.com/trucks/ram/ProMaster.html

 

[Chris A]

I think that's the 1 ton, either way my 3500 chevy is only 4200 so you should be good with whatever you wanna put in there

 

[hogjowl]

You don't want to put a TM in a 1500.

 

[rjwood]

You don't want to put a TM in a 1500.

Why not?

 

[Chris A]

Big difference between a "1500" That's rated for 2500 lbs vs a "1500" That's rated for 4000 lbs

 

[Russ T.]

A 1500 would be fine here for a small TM. Lancaster is Amish country right? Are there a lot of hills? Be careful how big and where you put your fresh tank.

 

[Russ T.]

I'd go for the 370 with small belly tank

 

[rjwood]

A 1500 would be fine here for a small TM. Lancaster is Amish country right? Are there a lot of hills? Be careful how big and where you put your fresh tank.

I actually had my current TM in a 2011 Transit Connect (the small one), so I didn't have a fresh water tank. I have since purchased this van and have been considering putting the 65 gal fw tank in it along with the Kinetico Water softener for now.

I don't carry a lot of extra stuff. I like being able to walk around inside the van.

 

[Scott S.]

I called Jon Don and spoke with their rep. My biggest obstacle to the liquid-cooled engine is my van (2014 Promaster 1500), SS only makes the units for Chevy vans. Otherwise, as far as SS goes, they're pretty much what I already have, only difference is that they look different.

Thanks for the info.

think fred was hinting on hydramaster having a pto cds for a ford van today.

My reasoning for upgrading is mainly to shorten drying time, and dual 360i-ing availability should I want or need it.

your going to need something bigger than a 4.8 blower to dual rotary extract at any good length of hose. my 4008 can dual wand but i dont think even its powerful enough to dual rotary extract unless they were at 100ft of hose each, they let alot more air go by than a wand does, and will probably increase your dry times compared to what you do now. That being said an 870 would work, but is some $$ and probably cant be put in a 1/2 ton van without some changes to suspension. and no water tank.

Jim Pemberton is installing one as we speak into a box truck.

 

[Jack Zipper Zerkie]

I have a CHEAP truckmount it's a Cobb 2045 and I LOVE it. Iv,e had A white not so magic Pro 1700 and then a Hydramaster 470D lots of problems , vapor lock on the carb. The Cobb has no bells or whistles just solid parts. No cage either. The hardest thing is changing the belts, but I figured that out. My water temp is 220 - 240 atm. I have over 5 years and zero down time. I would like a new unit but at my age it's time to retire and read Mikey;s board all day. jz.

 

[rick imby]

The interesting thing about Northern making TMs is their business model. They understand the money is in the Chemicals and accessories. The reason garage machines are cheaper is they do not pay for a distributor. The disty network is the difference in price between the Rage and the Chemtex along with some quality of the pieces parts and design.

With Northern being the MFg and distributor they might run low margins on their tms to get sales for their chems.. I don't believe they will have problems getting chems that work.

The Chinese motors are all of one design. All 13 horsepower motors from China can use the same fuel pump, piston, crank, etc. All manufacturers are required to build just one design. Same with all the 4 horse and 9 horse motors. Parts are very easy to get ---Ebay---.

The Chinese motors will accepted be on the TMs within 5 years. There motors are cheap and good.

PS I'm pretty sure Generac is owned by Briggs and Stratton or the opposite.

 

[MerCrewser]

You know how you can jump into a good little car, fill up the tank and just drive for hundreds of miles with no mechanical problems at all? You don't hold your breath hoping it will start.

I want that in my cleaning equipment. I don't want to be reminded of a lawnmower in any way.

I now have a water-cooled 4 cylinder Nissan engine with 40 years successful history.

Full gauges that work. Heat exchangers that can be accurately controlled automatically. Proper hardware and framework that doesn't twist and bounce out of adjustment. A proper vacuum relief that won't suck its guts through the blower.

Nothing leaks. I've bought four 405s, darned if they weren't ALL alike, other than color.

I concur. My 1998 405 is like this, I never do anything to it. It even runs for 12 hours straight once every 6 weeks on a large commercial job. It's going on 8k hours. It's something that I never worry about. I keep it really clean and its all original.

 

[rick imby]

I believe the impact of Northern tool will cross the complete gamut of the industry. If their Chemicals are good and cheap they will take a little chunk out of the distributors. They will sell TM units into the market that will take market share from the big guys and the little guys.

They will probably have two models that are simple and good values. It will be interesting to see how they heat the water. If it is a Heat Exchange unit, how will they dump the hot water when the wand is sitting? Will it have a waterbox? If they fuel fire it will it be the simpler propane or the kerosene that needs a generator too? They are kinda famous for their Kerosene/Diesel heaters.

The distributors have the weakest profit situation in the whole industry. All the small guys do is markup other peoples products. They usually sell a lot of their own chemicals which I believe is the main source of their profits. They have a very small market to sell to. Their 40-60% margin on chemicals can easily be competed with by mail order.

Northern is really good at marketing to specific groups. And carpet cleaners are easy to target. Northern will buy everything at the best possible price, parts for their TM as well as their chemicals. Easy to buy market share with lower prices when you have the lowest costs in the industry right from the start.

If I were a struggling Distributor within 5 miles of a Northern tool, I would be nervous. Many businesses cannot take a 10% drop in sales. This is more true in fixed overhead businesses like Distributors. Their biggest costs Rent, and labor cannot usually be cut with lower sales.