Used Bucket truck!

[treeclimbermike]

I am new to the site and love the comments and feed back. I am in the market for a used bucket truck and have found one that meets my budget. I have done some home work and feel this is my best bet. It is a 94 GMC with and Altec LR11155 boom. It has 78000 miles and has been reconditioned. This is my first busket truck to add to my company and am very excited to operate it. If any body could maybe give me some feed back on some concerns I should have then feel free. It is around $30 000. It looks great in pictures and my only concern is its engine size. Its a 427 7.0 liter V 8. I only work in city.

 

[clearance]

Welcome Mike,
I have ran GMs with High Ranger booms, they are ok trucks. I would advise you to make sure it has a current m.v.i. on the chassis and a current non-destruct test on the boom. A valid dielectrical test sticker is cool as well. The boom costs more to fix than the truck, make sure it is good yourself as well as by making sure it has been tested. Do a drift test on it, check the outriggers action, etc. There are people on this site who know way more than me about booms, hopefully some of them speak up.

 

[eagle23]

Mike,

Have the truck inspected by an Altec or another qualified mechanic. I would especially make sure the condition of the boom fiberglass is in good shape. Also, make sure the leveling cables are up to date and not over their year or run time limits.

 

[drmiller100]

price seems high to me, but mebbe that is what they go for.

the gas engine has pros and cons. for working within a given city I would think the gas engine wojul be just fine.
not tons of power, and it won't get asgood a mileage as a diesel, but less issues with fuel, warm ups, and hassles.

differnece in price in running a gas vs diesel in towns right now is about zero.

 

[begleytree]

price seems high to me, but mebbe that is what they go for.

Yup, a little high. '97s with updated booms go for that much
imo, keep looking. the truck is fine, it's the LRIII that is my concern....
That truck and those booms are going on 13 years old

not tons of power, (427ci gas) and it won't get as good a mileage as a diesel

I find it hard to believe someone would say that, especially if they had ever run a large big block gas engine. the cat dsl engines that gmc uses are only good for 225hp, that 427 is putting out more than that, with torque that nearly matches the dsl's.
gas mileage: therein lies the reason for the change to dsl. that 427 is going to pull great but it's also going to use gas doing it.
does this truck have a pony motor on it?
-Ralph

 

[begleytree]

Also, make sure the leveling cables are up to date and not over their year or run time limits.

LRIIIs didn't use leveling cables, they used fiberglass rods with yokes pinned to them, with chains to ride the sprockets.
the failure point was the yokes pulling loose from the leveling rods.

there were also many problems with the upper boom cables (used to raise and hold the upper boom) they used 2 cables, one cable was not enough to support the weight and 2 cables were overkill (strength-wise) the issue was breaks in cable strands and failure of a cable, thereby overloading the remaining cable and causing failure of it as well. that brought the entire upper boom crashing down, with deadly results. If memory serves (13 years ago ) the threshold was 6 broken strands per cable bundle made it declared out of service until both cables were replaced. It was tedious and time consuming checking each strand in those cables, especially when hidden, or covered by grease. Even then, you could only inspect the outer layer of strands. I've seen old cables (that were replaced) cut open after removal only to find the outer layer looked good, while the inside was merely powdered rust. Scary.

Unless this boom was well taken care of, inspected and repaired frequently, with all records pertaining to that on hand, I personally would steer clear of this truck.
$30K might sound like a deal, but imagine putting another 10-15K into it just to operate it safely. now imagine how new and nice a truck you could buy with that $40-$45K.
-Ralph