I am struggling with the decision on what machine to get

[davegillfishing]

I was totally in for the sapphire 570ss but am having a to time justifying the money..

My Judson TNT runs awesome and does everything we need/want it to do for 10k less

But the propane..not crazy about it bit it's not that big a deal..especially with the auto igniter so you don't have to screw around with the lighter and all

So please tell me..are these units..the sapphire, Everest 650 worth the extra 10-15k?

What are they giving me for the extra money?

The unit is going in a new gmc 3500 extended van so room isn't a issue..

I LOVE my butlers but the way we take care of our units to have a van wear out and still have a life time left in the machine bugs me..we don't flip our rigs every 3-4 years..

My goal is to stay debt free and not sink a bunch of money in equipment..I don't want junk and will spend the money on quality but also want ease of repair on the spot and longevity..I don't want to be forced into buying over priced replacement parts and having to wait on them..

If a engine blows on the jud I can get a quality replacement for 1500-2k ant 30 different stores and be running the next day..

Please take a sec and help me sort this out..
Thanks

 

[Desk Jockey]

Tough decision it is indeed.

You are the only one that can make that decision Dave.

10K is a lot of money but personally I'd go heat exchange, however we are not talking about me. You already know what you have with your Judson, a new one would be even less problems if any. It sounds like you're leaning Judson and I think for you that's probably not a bad decision.

Same machine, easy to train and easy for maintenance and parts.

I'd do the 570 or 650 if you're doing a lot of commercial.

 

[davegillfishing]

We have 2 cimexes that take care of our commercial work so we rarely run the trucks on them

I think it comes down to propane or heat exchanger. Pros and cons and is the heat exchanger worth the 10k plus more

 

[ruff]

Dave, how many truck mounts do you have?

 

[Larry Cobb]

Tough decision it is indeed.

You are the only one that can make that decision Dave.

10K is a lot of money but personally I'd go heat exchange,

Dave;

I agree with Richard on going with the HX.

We used to build all LG Propane heater TM's.

Insurance and liability quickly made it difficult to get our yearly insurance quotes, even though claims were slight.

We switched to a large single HX, got better heat, and never looked back.

It eliminates wasted time in refilling tanks and most maintenance.

It recaptures heat normally wasted in the TM.

When you get some time, give me a call.

Larry

 

[davegillfishing]

Ofer
We run 3 trucks

Larry I will today
Thanks

 

[ruff]

Thanks Dave.
The reason I'm asking is that if you have a few trucks, you may eventually want to equip them all with the same machine as a way of simplifying your maintenance.

Which makes the decision a little more complicated. I guess durability, dependability, ease of use & maintenance as well as price should factor in.
Be interesting to see what you choose. Good luck.

It will also be interesting to see, in retrospect, what your opinion about the machine you decided to buy will be after you've had it for 5 years.

 

[davegillfishing]

Yea that's what's playing into the decision also

We run 2 butlers and 1 jud

 

[Desk Jockey]

Dave I really don't think there is that big a difference, maybe even cheaper with HE once you factor in the paying a tech to fetch the fuel and the cost of the secondary fuel for the heater.

Pick the one that you and your guys prefer to run day in and day out, you'll be happier that way.

 

[juniorc82]

I just bought an ** 34 horse 47 blower hx unit. I will post a review at the end of the month once it is installed. Cant beat it for 12k

 

[Art Kelley]

I just bought an ** .

An **?

 

[Art Kelley]

An **?

Well that answers it. LOL

 

[Scott Rogers]

N i c k n e l l o s his name is banned here for some reason

 

[Mark Saiger]

Dave

My opinion is for heat exchanger and I would lean towards getting all the same brand of machines eventually for ease of maitanence and parts .keep in mind with similar units you can take parts also from the other to anaylize a problem too. Even with buying different units in the past, I still run run the butlers, even if not trading out every 4-5 years, you can put a lot of hours and miles on them. It's a hard decision and like already stated, you have to be most comfortable with the decision. How about if you just went with more simple Butlers with less bells and whistles like others will do? Get the big tanks and basic needs,but simplify the other items us as owner operators want in our vans since we were the ones basically living in them. Just a thought.

Best wishes on thus decision. I have the same decision to make in a year, but I am a die hard Butler loyal. Would take something real special to move me away from them.

Mark Saiger

 

[floorguy]

being in Fla....get a judson...then IF anything went wrong....they are close by...

for 10-15k dif.....dude you could almost get 2 fer 1