Looking for another van

[Dolly Llama]

Larry has never owned a shaft drive.

with respect to you, Lee..
no I haven't
but have owned over a half dozen vans that rolled over 170K miles.
Maybe I'm just lucky, but I've never had to change a fuel pump, water pump, radiator, trans, engine, head gasket, computer or monkey with electrical probs due to brittle wire harnesses and other heat related engine compartment issues .

can you say you never had problems with one or several of the above after 170K miles and 5-7K machine hours?

and I don't think Damon has a shop/garage with 30+ years of used spare parts nor the time to wrench on tired carpet wagons

used work vans with 150K+ miles are a crap shoot from the get go.
add 5-7K hours TM run time sitting in a drive only accentuates that


..L.T.A.

 

[FB7777]

with respect to you, Lee..
no I haven't
but have owned over a half dozen vans that rolled over 170K miles.
Maybe I'm just lucky, but I've never had to change a fuel pump, water pump, radiator, trans, engine, head gasket, computer or monkey with electrical probs due to brittle wire harnesses and other heat related engine compartment issues .

can you say you never had problems with one or several of the above after 170K miles and 5-7K machine hours?

and I don't think Damon has a shop/garage with 30+ years of used spare parts nor the time to wrench on tired carpet wagons

used work vans with 150K+ miles are a crap shoot from the get go.
add 5-7K hours TM run time sitting in a drive only accentuates that


..L.T.A.

Amen


Ive learned quite a bit about mechanical diagnostics owning my 2005 Butler since new… on 2nd and 3rd of nearly all engine parts

only major work that hasn’t been Don is the transmission and she is getting a little loose shifting and Late


that said, I would ONLY own direct drive units… despite what I have gleaned regarding motors, I would never want to learn about slide ins and the maintenance involved

 

[Dolly Llama]

PEE-AZZZ

You rarely hear me give biz advise.
cause admittedly I'm a terrible biz man

BUTT...Damon should dump that Harley that's covered in dust in the corner he never rides and is making payments on (presumably) .
Take some profits from his stock market gamble winnings for a sizable down payment and buy something new/near new .

Rather than cheaping out looking for a long in the tooth worn out wagon he'll be putting a brick or stick on the gas peddle to idle up and run the TM



..L.T.A.

 

[FB7777]

You rarely hear me give biz advise.
cause admittedly I'm a terrible biz man

..L.T.A.

that hasn’t stopped any of the rest of us

 

[Mikey P]

Leave it to Damon to pick the worst time and human history by a truck mount...


Can I interest you in a nutritious breakfast?

 

[Dolly Llama]

that said, I would ONLY own direct drive units… despite what I have gleaned regarding motors, I would never want to learn about slide ins and the maintenance involved

they're not that big a deal.
Never owned a DD, true, but am mechanical.
Maintence would seem same....only different

biggest draw back to slide-ins that DD's don't suffer is the carbon and oil breather soot that slimes up the inside of van from running an internal combustion engine inside the truck
AND... an extra big chunk of iron inside the van to radiate heat on your neck going to the next job on a hot summer day....


..L.T.A.

 

[Mikey P]

Redding ° is not conducive to a DD

 

[BIG WOOD]

Damon, I'm assuming you're looking for a second van for a technician to run. With that in mind, I think the direct drives are more simpler for the techs, letting them focus on one thing only...cleaning carpet, etc. So my choice would be the new hydra master cds. As Larry said, sell some of your shit to pay it in full. Do a big tax write off, and take that $12-$15k tax refund and put it back in your stocks.

 

[Mikey P]

Damon's guy has plenty of history and doesn't need to be coddled...


But a van with a porta potty in it, wouldn't be a horrible idea

 

[FB7777]

Leave it to Damon to pick the worst time and human history by a truck mount...


Can I interest you in a nutritious breakfast?

View attachment 110781

Me too

and I hear GM is again pushing out production of new vans to late November

I should be able to get a new Butler sometime before the Spring ‘22 season

 

[Brian H]

@Brian H whats Hahopian got sitting around?

We may have 4-5 for sale after the first of the year. It really will depend on if we can get new ones from Butler to replace them.

 

[Brian H]

Me too

and I hear GM is again pushing out production of new vans to late November

I should be able to get a new Butler sometime before the Spring ‘22 season

I have a call into them right now to see if we can get on their production schedule for Spring as well. I am getting nervous about there being a shortage of vans.

 

[Kenny Hayes]

There’s a guy with a brand new 370 in a nice cargo trailer with the whole setup on carpet cleaning equipment for sale. He wants 30k. I know you don’t want a trailer, but you could sell it. There’s a lot on Carpet Cleaning equipment on Facebook.

 

[Dolly Llama]

I think the direct drives are more simpler for the techs, letting them focus on one thing only

I understand why some love and will have nothing but DD units
BUTT...
does StanSteem run DD's?

if a tech is too inept to learn to start and throttle up a HX'er slide-in, do you really want him in the driver's seat out in the field alone?


..L.T.A.

 

[hogjowl]

Shut up Larry

 

[Nomad74]

Leave it to Damon to pick the worst time and human history by a truck mount...


Can I interest you in a nutritious breakfast?

View attachment 110781

Buy on the dips!

 

[Nomad74]

There is only one guy running a Butler in my town. He runs Crystal Clean. He drives an older 90's van. Even though his van is old, he keeps it looking like new. I haven't seen him around town in awhile.

 

[Nomad74]

What happened to that fully wrapped Transit/EuroVan that he used to have?

The new company owner is running it.... Well, his employee is. He has a very hands off approach. Everytime I see the van, it has a new dent.

 

[Dolly Llama]

Shut up Larry

hell, even YOU were able to run a slide-in for 30 years before you bought your Cleancold .

..L.T.A.

 

[BIG WOOD]

There’s a big amount of 370’s for sale. I wonder why

 

[BIG WOOD]

Get a direct drive

 

[Papa John]

Get a direct drive

It's Too Hot in Redding for DD.
Why run an 8 cylinder gas guzzler to run a #4 blower when a 4 cylinder slide-in can run a 5.9 blower?
I'll let my set-up go for a messily 20K firm.
But it's way more machine than most people need.

 

[Kenny Hayes]

There’s a big amount of 370’s for sale. I wonder why

The add I seen the guy said he decided to franchise his maid service in lieu of carpet cleaning The unit is set up with all the bells and whistles and tools if you wanna spend 30k. The unit has 40 hrs. Maybe that entailed work

 

[BIG WOOD]

It's Too Hot in Redding for DD.
Why run an 8 cylinder gas guzzler to run a #4 blower when a 4 cylinder slide-in can run a 5.9 blower?
I'll let my set-up go for a messily 20K firm.
But it's way more machine than most people need.

I’ve learned there’s never more machine than needed.

That sounds like a sweet owner op setup


Whatever happened to that company that made that tm?

 

[hogjowl]

hell, even YOU were able to run a slide-in for 30 years before you bought your Cleancold .

..L.T.A.

I’ve never understood those people who say direct drives are employee friendly. You just flip a switch as opposed to turning a key.
The advantage to a direct drive is being able to lock it up when cleaning in the hood.

 

[Desk Jockey]

I’ve never understood those people who say direct drives are employee friendly. You just flip a switch as opposed to turning a key.
The advantage to a direct drive is being able to lock it up when cleaning in the hood.

Their in lies that problem. Just because you don't understand doesn't mean everyone operates at your mental capacity Forest.

Where it comes into play is when the key is turned and the until won't start or is having an issue. Almost any dipshit can drive put the van in park, set the emergency brake and turn off the AC.

Not every employee is able to trouble shoot on the fly. Those with some mechanical knowledge will have little trouble.

However not every Tom or Harry, Dick will know what to do when the unit won't start. The direct drives can be more user friendly to a greenhorn.

The trade off is a slide-in TM can be more powerful especially the larger slide-ins.

 

[hogjowl]

I’m beginning to understand why Dan forced you out.

 

[Desk Jockey]

 

[FB7777]

I’ve never understood those people who say direct drives are employee friendly. You just flip a switch as opposed to turning a key.
The advantage to a direct drive is being able to lock it up when cleaning in the hood.

Why did you switch to direct drives then?

surely you don’t need to lock up your truck

I haven’t done it in 32 years

and it’s a little more complicated than “just turning the key”

even for owner operators

 

[Trip Moses]

I’m getting a brand new 570 installed week after next in this van. Just had it sprayed and wrapped.