Rear Steer Truck

[spike-columbia]

Does anyone know someone with a rear steer?

Anyone in hurricane area have any contacts for rear steer loading?

Any Information will be helpful!

Thanks,

Spike

 

[LightningLoader]

I know of only 2 Rear Steers working in storm areas. One was sold through a dealer, so don't know the owner's name, but the other belongs to a guy named Terry Bailey from Texas. He's been in the storm cleanup business for quite a while (his company did cleanup for 2 years after Andrew). He saw the rear steer sitting on our lot when he was cleaning up here after Charley, Francis, and Jeane, and had to have it. I'll try to see if I can't at least find out what areas the rear steers are working in.
If anyone is in the area, St. Bernard Parrish LA has a new Rear Steer that we delivered about 2 weeks after they were wiped out. I'm sure that it is picking up storm debris.
Also, I see that you are in SC. There are Rear Steers in Spartanburg, and we might be bringing a demo up to Richmond, VA soon if you would like to see it while it's in the area.

 

[LightningLoader]

Rear Steer owners must be truly committed to hurricane cleanup

Ok, think I should give you guys some warning about using rear steers for storm cleanup. You won't know what to do with it when the job is done.

I just discovered that the second rear steer owner that worked in LA is now considering selling his unit. He says he finished his work and now he wants to sell it. This is the exact same thing that we heard from Terry Bailey (the first stormchasing rear steer owner) after his first summer with the rear steer.

Terri Bailey worked cleanup for FEMA in central FL and then when he was finished he also said what now? We actually went through and serviced his rear steer and put a fresh coat of paint on it and were trying to sell it for him when Katrina struck, and guess who wants his rear steer back. We have not heard from Terry again this year so I guess he's finally decided to hold on to his rear steer.

Now we're going through this again with the new guy. I almost don't want to try and sell it for him because as soon as people are chomping at the bit and ready to buy, he'll want it back.

Anyway, this is fair warning. Rear steers are not the best tool for ordinary tree care (compared to a standard self-loading grapple truck), so when the cleanup is done it's probibly going to sit idle for a few months before the next hurricane strikes. This is probibly a bad thing for me to tell you a a sales person, but this is an educational forum and you need the whole story in order to pick the proper equipment for your needs.

 

[Nickrosis]

Thanks for the insights. So what are the advantages of one? What makes it so useful during storm cleanup and not in other applications?

 

[LightningLoader]

Rear Steer was designed for high volume loading

Advantages over normal grapple trucks:
-no time switching back and forth between controls and chassis cab
-outriggers not necessary for most loads
-loading vehicle never travels to the dump
-you can load from a single lane
-appx. 3x faster

Advantages over rubber tired loaders:
-no need to drive into people's yards
-enclosed, airconditioned cab with air-ride seat
-better visibility into haul trucks
-load from a single lane
-no trailering required

Disadvantages for tree care:
-requires a seperate vehicle to load into (although I guess we could put a trailer hitch on it an you could just drop your trailer at the site and load into it)
-costs about $20,000 more than a regular grapple truck

I don't know if you were following the other "FEMA debris removal" topic. It's worth checking out. I don't know how to post a link to it from here

 

[LightningLoader]

Thanks Treeco

 

[LightningLoader]

Good guess on the engine. It is a DT466.
Power source for the loader is a transmission mounted Hot Shift power take off coupled directly to the hydraulic pump.

 

[LightningLoader]

miami uses rear steer for hurricane cleanup

"The King of Cleanup"
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/12997135.htm

 

[Nickrosis]

Dan and I usually end up talking about DT466s in every one of our conversations...

Thanks for the pictures and info! I had no idea those were called rear steers.

 

[itsgottobegreen]

Montgomery county Maryland has 4 or 5 of those rigs. Each one tows its own dump trailer behind it.

 

[LightningLoader]

Rear Loader v. Rear Steer

The trailer deal is actually a different model that looks very similar. That one is called a Rear Loader. It doesn't drive backwards like a Rear Steer. Here's a link to the video if you want to see what I'm talking about:
http://www.petersenind.com/video_rs.html

I'll post a picture of a rear loader too in case anyone is curious.

 

[itsgottobegreen]

If I didn't know any better I would say thats the same rig that the county uses. Same freightshaker chassis.