# Bucket truck nightmare



## tree MDS

Here is the situation I would really appriciate some serious thoughts on : I have been in buisiness for 11 years now, I climb very well and have 19 years of real tree workin under my belt . I have allways felt that buckets were for ?????s blah, blah, ( Im allmost 35 now ). Last winter I got a pinched nerve in my right shoulder, probably from sleeping on the couch wrong . So I strarted renting a buddy's bucket, long story short, I fell in love, after 10 years on spikes I could really see the benefit of these toys ( real stuff still needs climbing of course ). So I start renting his more and more mostly out of lazyness, shoulder is 90% back to normal and still can do a pretty mean footlock if need be. He was only charging me 200.00 per day so I felt bad and decided to buy my own sinse I wanted to do something for the biz and figured 1200 -1500 per month was better than paying some crackhead hack that per week as climber and really only needed more production. So I find a truck on the internet as this finance company says I'm pre approved and only need to find truck, seems perfect as they were the ones stalking me up to give $$ right ? Sorry this is so long but you need details. I know internet right ! - and I didnt even look at it in person, just looked @ big specs, new motor,clutch, pressure plate, boom inspected etc. So after much stress and coming up with down payment etc., truck arrives finally. Oh, its a rear mount LR3 on a way short C7500 4wheel - gas unfortunately but hey, I'm not rich. If you did'nt see it coming this is the part where the nightmare begins : components seem to be as I was told except totally hacked together and not near " ready to go to work" as I was told. first thing off upper boom line is backwards, then it comes with no temps like I was told it would,so they send one week of out of state " drive permits " , truck motor runs like sheet and burns yer eyes, blew hydro line on very rich costomers long a$$ freshly sealed driveway, all the way at the far end, so as to track fluid all the way out on my fold and bail . So there goes that weeks temps pretty much just changing lines and pressure washing - oh, I forgot there was the fact that I get to the job before and pump sounds funny - allmost no fluid in res. Anyway, so we get two more weeks more temps and are coming back from job, new clutch starts to slip on hills, we baby her to its next job cuz I gotta make some $$ right and the temps are running out tomoro- finish job clutch slips in low range coming out of field, baby it to next job practacly next door to shop, literally, boom flies great, good tree fold up back to shop, temps expire that day right, belt flies off power steering/brake pump. Limp this piece back to shop 10' away, hope she makes er ! Well the clutch was easy thank God, just that these hacks never changed cable on it so it was so long it hits bellhousing and interferes with return- die grinder off a little and fixed- I hope. Pulley Is crocked on pump and missing something fer bracketry - does'nt matter cuz I can only get 3 wks temps from vendor anyway. Suprise ! this is where the real problem just gets rolling ! The finance company lost my title. No title, no register. I took delivery allmost 3 months ago and am still waiting for a title search, And they only stopped charging me when I was like you cant charge me for something I CANT USE ! I put 5000.00 down and payed about 2400.00 payments so far, plus 1030.00 ins. with 550.00 now due. I told this guy I want 1000.00 per wk that I was unable to use truck due to his lost title issue- he said no, and that we might be able to reach "some kind of aggreement",that it wont be that ! Oh, and he will see what one could rent a comprable truck-in " similar condition" for and start there. Now its Nov. 24, season is pretty much over and I'm not ready for winter cuz of this crap. Well, lets hear it boys, what would you do ?


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## Al Smith

tree MDS said:


> Well, lets hear it boys, what would you do ?


Well,hind sight is always 20/20 but you got a POS,let's face it.

My little buddy that I help out on occasion dumped over 50 grand in a bucket he originally paid 17 thou for in a period of 6 years.He just recently found a real nice one,diesel for under 20 g's.

It's a learning curve but never buy a pig in a poke.You will put more money in that bucket of rust than the price of a good one in just a few years.If it were I,I would recoup the money or most of it.Chalk it up to a bad deal and go from there.My 2 cents on the matter.

Oh,I might add that the same fellow I mentioned lost 5 grand on another truck in just 2 months.He bought an Altec that had a funky fiber optic contoll system.Those things are the price of the national dept to get repaired .He just bit the bullet on that one.Things happen.


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## diltree

You need to get a good lawyer and let him deal with the finance company. You live in conn., Why didnt you do business with aerial lift of conn.? those guys are awesome!


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## mckeetree

tree MDS said:


> Here is the situation I would really appriciate some serious thoughts on : I have been in buisiness for 11 years now, I climb very well and have 19 years of real tree workin under my belt . I have allways felt that buckets were for ?????s blah, blah, ( Im allmost 35 now ). Last winter I got a pinched nerve in my right shoulder, probably from sleeping on the couch wrong . So I strarted renting a buddy's bucket, long story short, I fell in love, after 10 years on spikes I could really see the benefit of these toys ( real stuff still needs climbing of course ). So I start renting his more and more mostly out of lazyness, shoulder is 90% back to normal and still can do a pretty mean footlock if need be. He was only charging me 200.00 per day so I felt bad and decided to buy my own sinse I wanted to do something for the biz and figured 1200 -1500 per month was better than paying some crackhead hack that per week as climber and really only needed more production. So I find a truck on the internet as this finance company says I'm pre approved and only need to find truck, seems perfect as they were the ones stalking me up to give $$ right ? Sorry this is so long but you need details. I know internet right ! - and I didnt even look at it in person, just looked @ big specs, new motor,clutch, pressure plate, boom inspected etc. So after much stress and coming up with down payment etc., truck arrives finally. Oh, its a rear mount LR3 on a way short C7500 4wheel - gas unfortunately but hey, I'm not rich. If you did'nt see it coming this is the part where the nightmare begins : components seem to be as I was told except totally hacked together and not near " ready to go to work" as I was told. first thing off upper boom line is backwards, then it comes with no temps like I was told it would,so they send one week of out of state " drive permits " , truck motor runs like sheet and burns yer eyes, blew hydro line on very rich costomers long a$$ freshly sealed driveway, all the way at the far end, so as to track fluid all the way out on my fold and bail . So there goes that weeks temps pretty much just changing lines and pressure washing - oh, I forgot there was the fact that I get to the job before and pump sounds funny - allmost no fluid in res. Anyway, so we get two more weeks more temps and are coming back from job, new clutch starts to slip on hills, we baby her to its next job cuz I gotta make some $$ right and the temps are running out tomoro- finish job clutch slips in low range coming out of field, baby it to next job practacly next door to shop, literally, boom flies great, good tree fold up back to shop, temps expire that day right, belt flies off power steering/brake pump. Limp this piece back to shop 10' away, hope she makes er ! Well the clutch was easy thank God, just that these hacks never changed cable on it so it was so long it hits bellhousing and interferes with return- die grinder off a little and fixed- I hope. Pulley Is crocked on pump and missing something fer bracketry - does'nt matter cuz I can only get 3 wks temps from vendor anyway. Suprise ! this is where the real problem just gets rolling ! The finance company lost my title. No title, no register. I took delivery allmost 3 months ago and am still waiting for a title search, And they only stopped charging me when I was like you cant charge me for something I CANT USE ! I put 5000.00 down and payed about 2400.00 payments so far, plus 1030.00 ins. with 550.00 now due. I told this guy I want 1000.00 per wk that I was unable to use truck due to his lost title issue- he said no, and that we might be able to reach "some kind of aggreement",that it wont be that ! Oh, and he will see what one could rent a comprable truck-in " similar condition" for and start there. Now its Nov. 24, season is pretty much over and I'm not ready for winter cuz of this crap. Well, lets hear it boys, what would you do ?



That's got to be an old asplundh truck. Did it come from " S.M." ????


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## B-Edwards

What diltree said, I would make the finance company cry like a little girl with the help of a lawyer ( and I am not sue happy but this is total bs) I would also try and make the people who mis-represented this truck squeal like a pig . I am sick of lieing bast-rds lieing just to make a buck. doesn't matter who ,where ,when , lie for a dollar u need a bullet. I know my rant isn't productive but read between the lines dis-honesty isn't good ,people need to be responsible for their actions.


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## tree MDS

Lets see... Al, thanks for all of your helpful input, I'll try and remember you and your " little buddy " next time there " Skipper " . Yes it was an old Asplundh truck, and yes I did know that at the time - so I guess I should have known better than to purchase a " tree taxi " as I allways refered to them. And as to Dillontree's coments- I agree with you that I do need a lawyer on this one, because it really has screwed things up for me- I mean who would say " Yeah, I'll put all my money into a truck at the end of August just to have it sit in my yard indefinately, and I'll also pay ins. on her too". Does aerial lift make a 60 footer that both booms break over center ?, dont think I could go back, plus 2 monster winches and 4 wheel. But I do love aerial lift, and they do seem to be good guys. I will get her straightened out, just should'nt be near this hard just to buy a " reconditioned " truck, and there is ALOT more that was missrepresented also. McKee tree, yes, it was those scumbags at "S.M.", you know of this filth ? - do tell ! The thing is I really need to know what you would be able to rent a truck like this for- fer starters so I can figure what I deserve from finance company? the title is the real issue sinse I would'nt let a belt and some leaks keep me from using it. By the way I never did sign the as-is papers and send the back "S.M., so I wonder if that could help ?? Must call lawyer ... thanks guys.


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## chucknduck

Well here's my experience with "S.M." I bought a used international diesel from them this year. I too, just saw it on the internet and bought it. I flew in, picked it up and drove it back to New mexico. As soon as I left the lot I went to have supper at macdonalds. As soon as I got back, the truck wouldn't start. I called a mechanic, they jumped it, and found that some of the ignition wires had gotten fried because they were too close to the manifold. Cost $500, they did reumberse me for this. When I got back, I found the hydraulic fluid to be about 10 gallons low! You guys know that stuff isn't cheap. Then, I was working on a job, and the PTO starts to kick out. I readjusted the cable and replaced the shifter fork and housing. This fixed it. I found that the cylinder that dumped the chip box has a small leak in it, that spews hydraulic fluid when, you idle up the truck, I found that if I dump the truck at "idle" it doesn't seem to leak. The mileage was listed as 34,000 miles, which I thought was low, it turns out that the odometer doesn't work! I still have'nt gotten the title for mine either..? I guess if you buy a used bucket truck, you better be a good mechanic.. You can bet that when I buy a used truck, I will bring a mechanic with me!


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## tree MDS

:angry2: I just cant believe anything could turn into such a piece in just 10 yrs, sorry but when I see a beutiful truck like that turned into such a dumper by the losers that call themselves " treemen " It just makes me sick with this industry - a truck thats 10 years old is " an old Asplund truck " ! Imagine the profits these companies trimming power could make if run properly and without losers, but as we know nobody wants to work anymore or respects anything - equipment or otherwise !! Sorry, just pissed off in general . This truck deserved respect right off the line and hopefully I'll make it through the winter and eventually make it green instead of refridgerator white over that old scumbag orange ..... Oh yeah, still must call lawyer...


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## Sprig

Man I'm sorry ta hear about your nightmare and really don't have anything constructive to add in way of advise on how to deal with this that hasn't already been said. In this area most of the machinery I see around ('A' co too) is very well maintained and I'd imagine that by the time its ready to be sold so much is wrong that they scab together the obvious things and leave the 'semi-sortta-ok' stuff for the buyer to deal with, hardly ethical if being sold as a 'reconditioned' machine, this seller is a pos. I'd be pig-biting mad to be saddled with a project when I was expecting to go to work, not to mention all the rest of the grief, GAH! Obvoiusly buying 'unseen/uninspected' and without a knowlegable mechanic right there with ya isn't good business sense........ Yup, lawyer time imho.

opcorn:

 (just 'cause its, um, cheery  )

Serge


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## NORTREE

I think the S.M. boys are like a lot of the other used equipment dealers that believe a coat of paint means "reconditioned".A friend bout a Hi-Ranger from Andy's down south and when he flew down to get it one Friday he left their lot...1st gear,second gear.....hmmmnn...no 3rd gear....he turned around went back and they gave him a hard time but ended up flying him home and shipping the truck several weeks later.I bought my 70' Hi-Ranger from Opdykes in 1990 and was fortunate that it was a well maintained unit and has served me well over the years.When I was at the Job Corps center we got an Aerial lift of Conn. unit from Butch Trice at Trueco and it was a super rig!I was very impressed with Butches honesty about the equipment he sells.I would highly recommend them http://www.trueco.com/index.htm .


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## sharkfin12us

*about nightmare*

sorry to hear about that experience you had.I bought i used 1998 international with 56,000 miles aerial lift of coneticutt.Was 2 hour drive to go see it.Im not a mechanic but i have another used truck i bought and been around trucks for some time.I checked it out pretty good and decided to buy it.He wanted 42,000 before i went to see it i offered him 40,000 before i waste my time he said ok.Then i tryed to get it for 38,000 and he said now i said how about 39,000 meet me half way.Long story short im very happy with truck.Change oil every 2000 miles i have had to put some money into like fuel injector went of hose's.I found this on ebay.Before i found this truck was about to buy asplund orange bucket 50,000 miles and saw this and decided to check it out can canceled that transaction.I ask a mechanic before i bought it about engine.He told me to stay away from GMC hard to get parts.Thanks for your story im sure it will help others take care


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## arbor pro

*sm?*

Sorry guys, I'm not picking up on the 'S.M' company that apparently is putting the screw to folks. Can you give a bit more info without libeling yourselves?

Sounds like a fellow I've posted about in the past who likes to repaint junk and sell it as 'like new'. I'll never buy without an on-site inspection again and I'll take along a service mechanic who knows what to look for!


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## mckeetree

We have to be careful. Old "S.M" seemed to me like the lawsuit type in a conversation I had with him last spring. I ask for a 30 day/3000 mile written warranty and the guy went off on me. When I ask him what his definition of "reconditioned" was he said "That's why I don't like to sell trucks to little small time tree guys like you. I just had to run ones ass off the lot yesterday because he started that warranty crap."


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## Pa Tree guy

Hi guys i'm new to the site but after reading this I was wondering who is sm, cause I am also looking for a bucket truck. Found a 97 gmc 366 gas but its an orange one think i should stay away. Thanks


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## sharkfin12us

*pa guy*

I was told is hard to get parts for GMC so if i was you go for international or find out from mechanics what their opinion is.If you can get diesel less maintenace.Good luck


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## mckeetree

Pa Tree guy said:


> Hi guys i'm new to the site but after reading this I was wondering who is sm, cause I am also looking for a bucket truck. Found a 97 gmc 366 gas but its an orange one think i should stay away. Thanks



Here is the deal with a gas engine bucket. In the summer the engine will get hotter than a depot stove if you try to idle it all day. That is why most of them have pony motors but now you have two motors to keep running instead of one. And if a gas engine truck does not have a pony motor (and some of them don't) you sure don't want that one. I have owned several bucket trucks over the years and bought a couple to resell because I thought they were good deals and if I learned anything it was the fact that most trucks that come from line clearance companies are not your best deal. Some of them have real low miles and they are still a bundle of problems. And if you want one of the old asplundh trucks there is no reason to buy it from a dealer. Go to an auction and buy it yourself because all the dealers do to those trucks if anything is put a cheap white paint job on them.


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## ChiHD

tree MDS said:


> Here is the situation I would really appriciate some serious thoughts on : I have been in buisiness for 11 years now, I climb very well and have 19 years of real tree workin under my belt . I have allways felt that buckets were for ?????s blah, blah, ( Im allmost 35 now ). Last winter I got a pinched nerve in my right shoulder, probably from sleeping on the couch wrong . So I strarted renting a buddy's bucket, long story short, I fell in love, after 10 years on spikes I could really see the benefit of these toys ( real stuff still needs climbing of course ). So I start renting his more and more mostly out of lazyness, shoulder is 90% back to normal and still can do a pretty mean footlock if need be. He was only charging me 200.00 per day so I felt bad and decided to buy my own sinse I wanted to do something for the biz and figured 1200 -1500 per month was better than paying some crackhead hack that per week as climber and really only needed more production. So I find a truck on the internet as this finance company says I'm pre approved and only need to find truck, seems perfect as they were the ones stalking me up to give $$ right ? Sorry this is so long but you need details. I know internet right ! - and I didnt even look at it in person, just looked @ big specs, new motor,clutch, pressure plate, boom inspected etc. So after much stress and coming up with down payment etc., truck arrives finally. Oh, its a rear mount LR3 on a way short C7500 4wheel - gas unfortunately but hey, I'm not rich. If you did'nt see it coming this is the part where the nightmare begins : components seem to be as I was told except totally hacked together and not near " ready to go to work" as I was told. first thing off upper boom line is backwards, then it comes with no temps like I was told it would,so they send one week of out of state " drive permits " , truck motor runs like sheet and burns yer eyes, blew hydro line on very rich costomers long a$$ freshly sealed driveway, all the way at the far end, so as to track fluid all the way out on my fold and bail . So there goes that weeks temps pretty much just changing lines and pressure washing - oh, I forgot there was the fact that I get to the job before and pump sounds funny - allmost no fluid in res. Anyway, so we get two more weeks more temps and are coming back from job, new clutch starts to slip on hills, we baby her to its next job cuz I gotta make some $$ right and the temps are running out tomoro- finish job clutch slips in low range coming out of field, baby it to next job practacly next door to shop, literally, boom flies great, good tree fold up back to shop, temps expire that day right, belt flies off power steering/brake pump. Limp this piece back to shop 10' away, hope she makes er ! Well the clutch was easy thank God, just that these hacks never changed cable on it so it was so long it hits bellhousing and interferes with return- die grinder off a little and fixed- I hope. Pulley Is crocked on pump and missing something fer bracketry - does'nt matter cuz I can only get 3 wks temps from vendor anyway. Suprise ! this is where the real problem just gets rolling ! The finance company lost my title. No title, no register. I took delivery allmost 3 months ago and am still waiting for a title search, And they only stopped charging me when I was like you cant charge me for something I CANT USE ! I put 5000.00 down and payed about 2400.00 payments so far, plus 1030.00 ins. with 550.00 now due. I told this guy I want 1000.00 per wk that I was unable to use truck due to his lost title issue- he said no, and that we might be able to reach "some kind of aggreement",that it wont be that ! Oh, and he will see what one could rent a comprable truck-in " similar condition" for and start there. Now its Nov. 24, season is pretty much over and I'm not ready for winter cuz of this crap. Well, lets hear it boys, what would you do ?



I was thinking of buying a couple of those old asplunt trucks and bringing them to Canada, You are making me think again...

anybody dealt with any of these companies:

http://www.mickeysbuckettrucks.com/bucket_trucks .htm

http://www.mainkaenterprises.com/Bucket_Trucks.php

http://www.utilityfleetsales.com/listings/Bucket-Trucks

Anyone selling a good truck? Why do all the old asplunt trucks have pony motors?

Thanks for any advice


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## mckeetree

ArborCARE(705) said:


> I was thinking of buying a couple of those old asplunt trucks and bringing them to Canada, You are making me think again...
> 
> anybody dealt with any of these companies:
> 
> http://www.mickeysbuckettrucks.com/bucket_trucks .htm
> 
> http://www.mainkaenterprises.com/Bucket_Trucks.php
> 
> http://www.utilityfleetsales.com/listings/Bucket-Trucks
> 
> Anyone selling a good truck? Why do all the old asplunt trucks have pony motors?
> 
> Thanks for any advice



They have pony motors because they have gas engines. That is the cheapest way you can order a bucket truck- gas engine with a pony motor.


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## urbanlt

*Do not get a Lawyer*

Do not get a lawyer they are expensive and you do not want to throw more money at this situation. Find out what you need to file for lost title in your state and hopefully you have it. I filed lost title on a chipper and all I needed was the invoice from the purchase. If you do this the dealer will have to spend money to hire a lawyer to sue you for the payments. Maybe you will be able to strike a better deal that way. The risk to this is that the truck is stolen in which case they will find this out when they do a VIN search and the truck will be returned to its proper owner leaving you SOL. In that case I would go ahead and hire a lawyer.


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## huckleberries

can anyone tell me what pressure hydraulic lines were used on a 1992 lr50, i need to replace a 50' line but their are a few choices in pressure rating, im not sure on this like r7 or r8 , any one chime in on this one , thanks


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## jefflovstrom

Call Altec
Jeff


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