Monzie
Member
Over the years I have learned to be a bit more cautious about buying a new TM. I decided that one good way to determine if a company or their machines were any good was to talk to the people who actually own them. Not just for 3 to 5 years either, but for 10 years plus. I got to visit Gary Glenn's operation in Abilene TX 4 or 5 years ago. Gary could not say enough good things about Cobbs TM's and how bullet-proof they were. Gary is also one of these guys that seems to rake in the dough, no matter what he does, he makes money at it. Based on his referral, I drove down to Dallas and bought Cobbs DC-534 unit. Extremely simple design, plenty of heat and suction, and it ran absolutely trouble free for 3 years. Then one day my tech is out on a job and the engine has flames/fire coming out around the crankshaft at the back. I take it to my Prochem guy, Leon Brown in Topeka who is probably one of the best diagnostics people in the business. Leon tells me that the crankshaft bearings are gone [the engine is a total loss] and why they are gone. The belts on the DC-534 are installed extremely tight. In fact they are almost impossible to do a simple change-out. There are absolutely NO SLOTS in the engine mount plate to allow for belt changing or tensioning. Same with the blower. Consequently there is so much excess torque being constantly applied to the crank bearings, that they wear unevenly and BURN UP. Leon explained this to the Cobb brothers and even sent them pictures. They insisted that there had to be slots in the engine mount plate. They were partially correct. There are slots, but they are FRONT to BACK rather than side to side and therefore USELESS. I bought a new engine for $4000 and Leon modified [re-designed is more like it] the engine mounting set up so that it now functions PROPERLY. O.K., maybe this particular unit was built on a Friday, or maybe the fabrication shop that cranks out Cobbs parts screwed up on the mounting plate. I don't know. I took positive action to focus on a solution, and I found one. Sadly, the response I received from Larry Cobb and his brother was absolutely dismal. What it amounted to was them giving me the shoulder shrug along with a half-hearted, "Gee that's too bad." At no point during our efforts to communicate with Cobb Carpet Supply did we receive any HELP, any OFFER to even LOOK at the unit and absolutely ZERO in the way of compensation for being out over $4000. I mean NOTHING. (except for the steadfast denial that there is no way any of this was their fault) I have always preferred independent family owned outfits over the giant multi-branch corporate supply houses that choke out real competition. For that matter I have always liked Larry Cobb, and I still do. However, after this experience I cannot with clear conscience refer Cobb Carpet Supply nor any of their products to anyone that I consider a friend or a peer in my industry. If you are considering a Truck-Mount purchase from Cobb, please carefully consider the experience that I have been through and how I have been treated as a Cobb customer. Don't throw away $16,000 like I did and then have to spend $4000 out of your own pocket 3 years later. Go ahead and spend $20,000 NOW on a QUALITY Name Brand unit such as PROCHEM, HYDRAMASTER, etc. Go to Interlink, Jon-Don or your favorite local independent. Don't make the same mistake I did.
