sapphire 870

[bill luke]

hey,anybody own or know of this machine;i see one one ebay and want opinion on it,i have a new van to fill.thanks

 

[davegillfishing]

I just bought a 570 and from everyone I spoke to that was over kill..a 870 is a full on beast. Pointless unless your going to dual wand all the time or stretch miles of hose

 

[bill luke]

thanks dave ,you try yours yet/i'll keep in touch,i'm not pressed to buy,so am in a looking at mode;trying to sell my old ford with bane unit in it too.

 

[davegillfishing]

Mine is being shipped to my distributor next wed and will be installed soon after..it takes 5-6 days to get there then it's install time..it's going into a 3500 extended gmc
I am having larger tanks built to make t a full on self contained production beast..200 gallons of fresh and 200 gallons of recovered water..

Watch for the install thread I will start loaded with pics

 

[ruff]

Dave, I'm getting dizzy here.
Not doubting your decisions at all, but first I thought you were a Butler die hard.
Than Judson.
And now SS.

What's cooking?

 

[davegillfishing]

Still love my butlers just got a sour tast when I have a perfectly good machine that will run another 5000 hrs easy but a truck that would need a engine and trans soon..totaling 6k or so. Then if the truck gets hit or wrecked I'm screwed.

Then the parts being so specific to butler and having to next day air..if something breaks Friday I'm down till tues..it has happened a few times.

No disliking butlers just not crazy about the down side of them

Judson is awesome but I'm concerned about their direction..I want the fleet to be identical and I'm just not sure who will step into dick and Less's shoes.

So after speaking to several respected people I decided on sapphire

Some advised not to but most advised a good decision. I have a factory dealer 25 mins from me and the machine carries a great warranty.

If something happens to the van I can have the unit installed in a new van in a day

But don't get me wrong. We made a sick amount of money with the butlers and love them but just think if I could yank my butler out and install it in a new van and save the 25k on the already great running machine..that would make it much easier to be and stay debt free

The van started costing maint money and down time just as it was paid off with my only option to be fixing it every time..no option to just get a new van..

With 125k miles on the van and 4900 hrs on the machine..that like 250k miles on the van engine.

I'd rather be fishing than working on a van lol

 

[kingjoelking]

Lance Golden has one. That is truly the biggest machine I have ever seen. It made an everest look small to me.

And he absolutely loves it. He had a Titan for less then a month before he got the Saphire.

 

[SamIam]

Thanks for sharing that Dave that would be my concern also, I had a van go down when I had only one unit, bought a van, and my guy had it installed by the next evening. I was down less then 2 days. Got caught up quick.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[BLewis]

I would also love to see more feedback from Lance and didn't Surdi purchase a new 870?

 

[ruff]

Thanks Dave.
Yes, one of the issues with any PTOs is the unholy marriage of van and machine.
As usual, sounds like a well thought out decision.
Let us know how the machine does. Also curious why you chose SS over PC?

 

[Desk Jockey]

the unholy marriage of van and machine.

It maybe a sin but I love the simplicity!



Isn't the key just to sell it off after 5-years, long before repairs become an issue.

If you buy it for 70K and sell it used for 20K that means it cost you 50K over 60-months or $834.00 a month to own. That almost sounds cheap considering you are paying for both a van & a cleaning unit.

 

[ruff]

Yes I like the simplicity too.
And yes, it seems like selling it after 5 years is the smart thing to do. Hagopian, Da Burns all seem to do it.

Though with most owners operators, we don't put so many ours on them, so after 5 years the machine is in a very fine shape. It seems like a waste.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Yea we don't put too many hours on any of our units. PTO or slide in, we can go a little longer with them than most people. I'd trade faster if we racked up mileage or hours.

It's all a trade off we save much more in fuel with the slide-in but then we are maintaining two power plants. PTO is simple to operate yet wears on the van engine. I don't know that we win more with either. The carpet cleaners prefer to use the PTO's, the water damage guys like the big Nissan for it's vacuum.

 

[Russ T.]

It maybe a sin but I love the simplicity!



Isn't the key just to sell it off after 5-years, long before repairs become an issue.

If you buy it for 70K and sell it used for 20K that means it cost you 50K over 60-months or $834.00 a month to own. That almost sounds cheap considering you are paying for both a van & a cleaning unit.

Well said. Butler has an awesome warranty lasting 10 years. Cleanco has 5 year. Both of those help insure your equipment cost won't explode for that period. I think you will pay @ that much per month for anything that will be almost trouble free and give great performance. I like the PTO's and would seriously consider a new or babied (Mark Saiger) one when it's time.


The Clean Machine

 

[Russ T.]

Sorry, didn't mean to hijack the thread. I know it's about the SS 870, looks like one of the best slide ins you can buy. BEAST if that's what you're after!


The Clean Machine

 

[davegillfishing]

Well Richard after 5 years I can spend a few grand on a blower and pump and have a basically new cleaning machine but a worn out van..I'd rather drop 25k on a new van than 60k on a new everything that's not needed..we are don't with the branding stage and ready to go balls out adding rigs to the company..so this has been a long drawn out back and forth..huge pro and cons to both all decisions.

Ad sorry to hijack the thread as well..

 

[hogjowl]

If I were running a fleet of rigs, I think I would go with Butler.

As it is, I could use anything and justify the decision (whatever the decision was) easily.

There are two sides to every story, and this case, both sides are valid.

So can you idiots please find something interesting to talk about?

 

[Lance Golden]

Love mine... holds heat ATW well! Lots of CFM... (I run 4td close to the wand, 25 ft.) Had a couple very minor "flaws" got those worked out...
I "almost" never run it on "high" medium speed has plenty of power and some to spare.

I use mine for carpet tile, concrete, pressure wash (w/ recovery) I wanted a versatile machine.
Call if you have questions...

 

[mwall2230]

I love my 870 as well.

 

[bill luke]

thanks the one on ebay is in tampa thanks again

 

[Mikey P]

I'd love to have one to really play with at M10F

 

[Lee Stockwell]

It looks to be the best successor to the 405

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2

 

[hurricanecc]

Love mine... holds heat ATW well! Lots of CFM... (I run 4td close to the wand, 25 ft.) Had a couple very minor "flaws" got those worked out...
I "almost" never run it on "high" medium speed has plenty of power and some to spare.

I use mine for carpet tile, concrete, pressure wash (w/ recovery) I wanted a versatile machine.
Call if you have questions...

Are you still happy with the 870ss?

 

[GeneMiller]

Are you still happy with the 870ss?

Ive had mine since June of last year. It has a little over 1000 hrs and runs great. I popped one diode, which is basically a fuse. I had a problem with the harness when new, a couple of wires had pulled loose , and I didn't notice. I did catch it the next day when i was a little more rested. The upside to that ordeal was I learned how to diagnose the machine. It burns 1.59 gallons an hr mostly on medium. I burned an entire tank on low doing tile and furniture and it burned 1.79 I think. I'm at sea level so others may vary. It heats water incredible fast and you can't use it faster than it makes it. You will need a apo or a fresh water tank to recycle it back into. It runs two zippers with high flow jets and the water is so hot that it softens the vac hose. When I drain on commercial jobs the water is still steaming. If your aren't going to dual it's unnecessary but still cool to have.

 

[JS41035]

I had the diode on the apo go out as well. The fact that it even has diodes is a sign of a well thought out machine. The diode is like an electricalcheck valve. The power can only flow in one direction. It prevent the dc motor from back charging when it shuts off. If you had a supply pump and APO and they both shut off at the same time in theory they could damage the engines electrical system. Well without the diodes that is.
I don't have nearly enough hours in mine to comment on its durability or reliability. But when you start zooming in on the small details you can't help but notice the quality and design of the fabrication. So far I'm impressed.