Truckmount Value

[Cyclone]

I'm thinking about buying the truckmount from a local cleaner that is retiring and need an idea for value as there are not many recent comps on the web for this equipment. This gentleman is the original owner and is very OCD about maintenance etc.
The van is a 2001 Ford E350 with a 5.4 V8, 81k for miles and barely any rust. The truckmount is a Steamway 2100 with close to 4000 hrs. It has a new blower and waste tank but has the original Kohler engine and kero burner.
He is one of two truckmount cleaners in a 30 mile radius so we should be able to pick up some of his existing customers. We do mostly janitorial work and commercial carpet cleaning using low moisture systems with a portable for HWE. We don't do much residential because I hate using the portable so this would help us diversify into residential work.
Any opinions about the value of this equipment?

 

[Desk Jockey]

Equipment is never worth as much to the buyer as it is to the seller.

Not to offend him but a unit with that many hours is toast. A little more than a rebuild base. As you start throwing money at upgrading, it becomes a money pit. You would have been better off buying something else.

 

[Cyclone]

Equipment is never worth as much to the buyer as it is to the seller.

Not to offend him but a unit with that many hours is toast. A little more than a rebuild base. As you start throwing money at upgrading, it becomes a money pit. You would have been better off buying something else.

I've heard that the steamways are tanks that can run for a long time but I don't want a money pit either. I have a newer enclosed trailer that doesn't get used much so I might be better off putting a new or newer truckmount in the trailer. I live in a rural area so the trailer shouldn't be an issue for access. Thanks for your reply.

 

[Kenny Hayes]

Absolutely!!!!! I do what you do 100% but only do residential as an accommodation and try not to do that. But, by putting the mount in a trailer allows you to grow and determine if you really want to go that direction, all the while doing commercial. Heck, get the Hydramaster Truckmount to Go

 

[Cleanworks]

The Steamway powermatic is a pretty decent machine. You have to make sure the kerosene burner is in good shape. The main with these types of units is the smell. You will have diesel or Kero spills and the whole van will stink. The unit is hot, sometimes too hot and you will want new pressure hoses to be on the safe side.

 

[Andy]

the value of the van is about all you are looking at. The machine doesn't have much value. but the customer list that would come with the machine does have some value. There are differing formulas to figure it out. How big is his customer list? How much money would you have to spend to develop your own customer list of that size? That is where the value lies.