Tell the truth about your Truckmounts..

[Mikey P]

Inquiring minds want to know..


What is the best truck mount you owned?,

Do you still have it or not?

and also which one(s) you hated?



If you don't want to be publicly honest about it, please PM me your answers and I'll post them for you.

 

[hogjowl]

Best was the Vortex
Worst was a Prochem Cub

 

[Becker]

Best so far, Thermalwave Blueline still have it.

Hated my Brand new Chem-Tex Panther 25. Loud, unreliable, horrible heat spikes, filled the waste tank instantly, POS!! could not get rid of it fast enough.

 

[ruff]

CDS
Apex
Pro-1200

All good.

 

[GeneMiller]

Avenger 210 was always breaking hx. Finally just bypassed it and added propane. The enemy I was getting away from And I end up buying it again. The coupler kept breaking 2-3 times a year at least. Still all and all pretty reliable. I was always prepared and able to quickly repair it. Not sure how many engines I replaced. The float was some sort of mercury switch and never failed once. I would like to have another one of those. The 5m thermal wave has been the least problems. The engine just runs perfect and burns no oil. Leaks plenty but runs and sucks like a champ. Had to redesign the tank because it was impractical , they followed suit.

Gene

 

[Becker]

CDS
Apex
Pro-1200

All good.

Can't follow directions.

 

[ruff]

Never been good at that Donald.

Following direction leads to conformity. And a it's a slippery slope thereafter.

 

[hogjowl]

Never been good at that Donald.

Following direction leads to conformity. And a it's a slippery slope thereafter.

And it caused you people to wander in the wilderness for 40 years.

 

[Able 1]

I have only had two..

Prochem Peak-Great reliable truck mount and I'm glad that I bought it first. The one thing that pissed me off about it was it went through 3 exhaust pipes. I also ate belts till I changed to the 2.5" hose. It lasted 4,500 hours till the cam shaft went out on the engine. I rebuilt it last year, and I will be looking to sell it with 200 hours on the new engine, and 500hours on the pump. I have more faith in this unit then my current Apex. Without 2.5 hose I always felt crappy about running over 100'. I'm not saying that is couldn't clean at that distance(I cleaned at over 400' with this TM) you could just tell there was a decrease in suction.. If a new guy asked me what truck mount to get it would be this one.

Prochem Apex- Great unit and it has been pretty reliable except for a couple of issues that were not expensive to fix more of a headache to figure out what was going on. You can definitely feel the difference in lift over the Peak but I would say the cfm's are close to the same running 2.5" hose. I think the Kubota is one of the greatest engines out there for our application. From what I have heard the thing to watch is the radiator, I have heard about leaks and such, but I haven't done anything to mine yet at 3,500 hours. I just bought another Apex that is 10 years old and has 8,400 hours on it, and I think for the rest of my days I'm going to stick with the Prochem Apex. There is no reason to go bigger unless you dual wand regularly..

 

[ronbeatty]

The best truck mount I have owned is the Aerotech I am currently operating. Jeremy and Vlad are great to work with.

 

[Mikey P]

With Coitus I ran Hydramaster CDS, a couple homemades and that Prochem Hydraulic, which was not ready for prime time to say the least.

The CDS were ok but had lots of stupid issues. Most were caused by rushed or underpaid installers.
--
The Butler I bought was the most polished and issue-less from the get go. Chevy van, not so much.- Sold

The Vortex was full of issues that took me 8 years or more to iron out. Lots of electrical, plenty of shitty welds.Weak ass UD - Still have, runs great,.

The Judson was a rattletrap with 1st off the line issues. Hated the Propane. -Sold

The Aerotech is the bomb. a few very minor loose items in the first months. Now rock solid. Isuzu rules. So far. -Still have

 

[wilpath]

prochem everest

 

[Desk Jockey]

The best? Any of them that starts.

The worst? Any that don't start!

I don't get brand or model personal with them. Tools of the trade. Love them when they work, cuss them when they don't. We've owned Butler, Hydramaster, Prochem, Workmaster. All good machines and worked great for the torture we put them through.

 

[hogjowl]

Well that was certainly fence strattling worthless ..,

 

[ronbeatty]

 

[Lee Stockwell]

Most dependable...my Banes, (dependably mediocre performance).

Best overall, the Prochem 405s. Still have two and parts. Justin has two as well.

Worst...will get MB sued. So I'll keep this conversation out of Wichita Falls.

 

[Louis]

Had a prochem pto for way too long. Drained every dollar I had and then some. Built my own after that. Looking for the next machine.
Its between the blueline, 405 or save up for a new ss 570. Someday a areotech.

 

[Becker]

Had a prochem pto for way too long. Drained every dollar I had and then some. Built my own after that. Looking for the next machine.
Its between the blueline, 405 or save up for a new ss 570. Someday a areotech.

I have both now, like them both alot, the thermalwave a bit more than the 405, but the 405 better than the hydramaster air cooled machines I had before. some have had issues with the EFI on the blueline nissan. No issues yet.. Bought used with about 1500 hrs 2 years ago, will have 3k on it by end of month. trouble free.

 

[Able 1]

Prochem never made a PTO most likely it was a Clinkco...

 

[Becker]

Prochem never made a PTO most likely it was a Clinkco...

You sure?


A true PTO at that.

http://www.prochem.com/Upload/KCPro...d98f-42e1-99fd-26d8e9246d0b_67-945597_PTO.pdf

 

[dgardner]

Prochem never made a PTO most likely it was a Clinkco...

 

[Louis]

It was a prochem hydraulic pto. should of called it a prochem pos is more like it.
I just found a blueline at jon don in WA, 3000 hr. Nissian motor. I might look in to this one.

 

[Louis]

yep that is what is sitting in my garage. scrapped the waste and hydraulic tank.

 

[bob vawter]

Inquiring minds want to know..


What is the best truck mount you owned?,

Do you still have it or not?

and also which one(s) you hated?



If you don't want to be publicly honest about it, please PM me your answers and I'll post them for you.

The $10,000.00 BRAND NEW all stainless Steam GenieDirect Drives that i sold were the best bang for the buck...
balls on a chopping block sure!!!

Chris Lee got the last one!

 

[Jim Martin]

CDS...was a good unit...just could not give and hold the heat very well....sold
Vortex 6008...good machine....was much better after I changed a few things and got it into shape...it served me well...expensive to run and maintain....sold
Thermalwave...great machine..still running it hard....
Sapphire 570...hands down...best machine out of all of them...
I have been wanting to pull the thermalwave out of the cab over and replace it with another 570..but the thermalwave runs great and I cant justify it...but once it does get to where it makes no since to repair it...a 570 will go in its place..........

 

[knoxclean]

Hard to say what was the best. I've had good luck with most all my machines. Loved the 2 butlers, 2 Tcs Chief's never had an issue just a pain having propane, never had a much of a problem with my old Powermatic except the waste tank rusting out and smelling like Kero all day but awesome heat, Judson TNT is good but again hate the propane, Sapphire 1200 is has been a good machine after a few adjustments from the install, My Blue line Cobalt is Ok although I have never used it personally. I had an electric tm years ago that performed well but always had generator issues and heater problems. Plugging in was always a pain.

I guess my favorite would be the butlers but at $70,000 plus I don't think I'll go that route again and stay with simple no frills machines.

 

[Ralph Pastorelli]

My best is the W.M. 1200 direct drive with Vulcan heat boost I still have in a bad van. My worst was Tramway 9100 LX Nothing but big issues from day one chewing up belts every 50-100 hours, blown Kawi motor after 400 hours, poor heat and so on. Factory replaced machine twice and same issues on replaced machines. Now I have a Hydra master direct drive and a program Legend that are great running machines.

 

[FB7777]

Only have used Bane and a Butler

I'll let you conclude which I believe are better units

 

[Mark Saiger]

Had old Stainless Steel HEAVY portables (Family even bought one of the factories that made them SteamTronics)
Old Chemlawn Slide ins
Old Chemlawn Direct Drives (my dad was good at making and installing a lot of these things)
Those old Chemlawn unis used a Poluma propane fired heat source....was always a fight with my brothers who was going to ignite the dang things....woosh!

Then family had an old Cleanco PTO

Then we discovered Bulters.....

Haven't left Butlers since the late 80's now.

Today, we love the new high heat and larger blowers they are using...

But love the cold cleaning capabilities and most of all DURABILITY!

We can get many miles and many hours out of our properly maintained Butlers and Vans.

 

[Bryan S. Bennett]

My first and only truck mount is the Prochem Peak. Purchased it in 2005 from Michigan Maintenance Supply, currently at 5900 hours and runs strong just like the day I bought it. We keep it serviced well and change oil every 100 hrs or less.

Overall unit has been rock solid and most minor issues we were able to handle ourselves. Our purchase from Michigan Maintenance Supply was a great decision. Mark, the owner always will take my calls (2 or 3 a year maybe is all I need) and walk me through any issues I am having even though he is 3 states away. They are a solid standup company and have treated me good from day one.

Two months ago we had Pemberton's Team do some technical work ie replacing pump seals, rehosing/rebuild corrosive parts chemical injection system, rebuilding waste pump outs. We could've done this too but decided to have them handle it this time. Their maintenance guy is also well versed and is very knowledgeable and did a very good job.

The Prochem Peak has taken care of us very well, made us a ton of $, and I look to keep milking the cow until it expires! Great Job Prochem!!!