Bucket truck opinions

C

Chip84

Location
Iowa
So I'm an electric lineman and have started treating ash trees for EAB in the past couple years as a side business. I have an opportunitity to purchase a bucket truck from my employer at a pretty good price and am wondering what you Tree guys would think of this truck. It's a 2002 FL80 with a 3126 CAT and auto Allison tranny. I've been around the truck since new. We've maintained it but it's starting to show its age; boom functions great though and we actually prefer it over some of our newer trucks. Is has a two man bucket with a 2000lb jib and a total reach of 70'. It's not 6x6 but it does have a twin screw and the rear ended has lockers. Obviously it's not a chipper truck it's a utility truck. Would it be a good truck for tree cutting ? I can't decide if the large boom reach would be good since no one else around here has one that big or if it would be too big and bulky. I also have no experience bidding tree removal jobs; do the big trees pay enough more than smaller trees to make the truck worth owning? Truck currently has 120k miles and over 8000 hrs. It's been a good truck for us and hasn't given us much trouble despite all the bad stuff I've read about the cat 3126. I think the reach of the truck along with the jib to remove and lower branches is a good combo but that's why I'm asking your opinion. Maybe a 55' truck with a chipper is better since you can just pull the chipper with you and only bring one truck to the job? Also this will just be for a part time side business. Thanks. Opinions plz !
 
Two man bucket sucks for tree work. That thing sounds heavy, like you won't be able to bring it across a customers lawn. The jibs are really useless for tree work.
 
Well that's not the answer I was hoping for but thanks for the info. Just to be clear it's not a double bucket truck, it just has a 2 man bucket , which also rotates around. The truck is heavy...19 ton but I was hoping with two rear axles it wouldn't put too much more pressure on the ground vs a single axle truck that is lighter.
 
Most likely it dose not go over center which is a waste for trees. You'll move the truck 3 times for a removel n hVe to have it right on the tree. I use a 10 wheeler international ex military line truck at town and it sucks. If you can't climb and this is how you want to get into the biz you defy can but ide save money n get a truck built for trees
 
Ok. Honestly I've only operated line trucks. I figured Tree trucks with the chipper boxes; having the boom turret mounted so far forward would always be dropping limbs on the truck itself, no ?
 
Your rigging will keep it from dropping onto the truck, and do not rig limbs off of the jib. It may be OK to lift staric loads if your lifting straight up and then backing a trailer under it, but I wouldn't put any more of a load on it than that. One thing to keep in mind is that a lot of rigging produces a shock load to some extent, one miscalculation and your boom could be damaged. Your much better off setting your rigging in the tree.
 
I understand it's a bad idea to rig off the jib. I didn't mean shock loading the boom that way. Obviously I'd like to watch some videos of guys using ropes to lower loads. In the transmission power line industry im used to working in we just cut and let everything drop.
I'm ignorant but why do you say the utility truck would always be close to the tree getting limbs dropped on it? This truck has 75' of boom , isn't that quite a bit of side reach?
 
Hey Chip, I can speak from experience about that ex utility truck. If it is what you can afford, and you know the truck well, then it will work, but not as well as a forestry truck. 75 foot of boom is a lot of boom sticking out behind you when you need to rotate. If you are working in and around other trees, the boom is gonna be all up in the neighboring canopy or trunks. I have an ex utility truck with an altec AA55 series. Not being over center is a big drawback, not having a chip box is another. Again though if it is in your budget, and a forestry truck is not, you can make it work. You will just have to be a bit more strategic in placing your truck and hauling away debris.(dump trailer) I rarely hit the truck with any thing, and when I do, it is because I'm going to fast and not thinking. With my boom I can usually keep about 20 feet between my truck and the trunk. Your boom would afford more. I use my winch and jib often, just dont shock load, you can kill yourself in a multitude of ways doing that. Hope this helps.
 
We run a 65 ft lift all non overcenter and have been for 15 years. Yes I would guess over center is great but a 70ft bucket over a 55 is no comparison. The biggest drawback I see is the weight and dual axel. Tearup yards and not as maneuverable. But if it's cheap get it. Plywood is cheap to for padding
 
Great to see so much invaluable input.

It does seem like knowing the history of the truck would be such a plus ,and getting it priced right, all other things being in the range of doable, that a person could make it work if they chose to.
 
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