Spider lifts… I know

Treeline said:
We will definitely care for it and run it properly every day… but did the previous owner do the same? That’s the scary part. We’d probably put close to 1k a year on it. I’m pretty comfortable and knowledgeable with used equipment, but like I said these lifts are sort of out of my ballpark and unheard of in my area.
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If you go big, will you be able to take the majority of a market niche, in-house and as a sub- contractor to other tree services?
 
southsoundtree said:
If you go big, will you be able to take the majority of a market niche, in-house and as a sub- contractor to other tree services?
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That would be the idea. We've already sort of carved out a niche for ourselves being the only tree service in town with a crane in house, We already do some subbing with crane and climber.
 
I’m in the market and have the same questions as well. The way I see it…

CMC - domestic dealers, I like the versatility of the rear mount telescoping upper and lower boom. I don’t like the limited side reach over 185 lbs and they definitely don’t have a good track record right now.

Easy Lift- the same versatility of upper and lower telescoping boom. More side reach capacity than cmc but the only dealer is in Canada. Which i don’t love.

Tracked lifts / omme- heavier than cmc and easy lift , which i think is a good thing. I like the lower scissor lift boom design as a stability feature but not as versatile as a telescoping lower boom. They definitely have the best track record as well for what I’ve seen.
 
bck said:
I’m in the market and have the same questions as well. The way I see it…

CMC - domestic dealers, I like the versatility of the rear mount telescoping upper and lower boom. I don’t like the limited side reach over 185 lbs and they definitely don’t have a good track record right now.

Easy Lift- the same versatility of upper and lower telescoping boom. More side reach capacity than cmc but the only dealer is in Canada. Which i don’t love.

Tracked lifts / omme- heavier than cmc and easy lift , which i think is a good thing. I like the lower scissor lift boom design as a stability feature but not as versatile as a telescoping lower boom. They definitely have the best track record as well for what I’ve seen.
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CMC makes a great machine. Yes, there have been a few that broke, but only very few, and it seems that all of those were proven to have been abused prior to their breakage. The limited side reach does not seem to be a problem for us, use a one man basket and you gain that reach back because the basket is lighter.

The lighter weight of the lift is nice, and I’m very fond of the telescopic lower boom rather than the double pantograph that most others seem to use.

The CMC is also really fast, and can multifunction better than any other lift that I have run.
 
bck said:
I’m in the market and have the same questions as well. The way I see it…

CMC - domestic dealers, I like the versatility of the rear mount telescoping upper and lower boom. I don’t like the limited side reach over 185 lbs and they definitely don’t have a good track record right now.

Easy Lift- the same versatility of upper and lower telescoping boom. More side reach capacity than cmc but the only dealer is in Canada. Which i don’t love.

Tracked lifts / omme- heavier than cmc and easy lift , which i think is a good thing. I like the lower scissor lift boom design as a stability feature but not as versatile as a telescoping lower boom. They definitely have the best track record as well for what I’ve seen.
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Yeah I’ve ruled out cmc, I know they have fixed the problem, but the pricing isn’t worth the risk in my opinion. Pricing is in line with Omme and platform basket. And easy is cheaper. All of which seem to have better safety records than cmc.
 
Treeline said:
Yeah I’ve ruled out cmc, I know they have fixed the problem, but the pricing isn’t worth the risk in my opinion. Pricing is in line with Omme and platform basket. And easy is cheaper. All of which seem to have better safety records than cmc.
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I won’t tell you what to buy, but I will suggest looking beyond a couple rather publicized incidents, and more carefully assessing the machines themselves. I know of two companies locally that have had boom failures on 90’ Omme lifts. One was definitely the fault of the owners (although they may tell you differently) and the other may have been a poorly built or simply worn out machine, I’m not sure which.
 
I have a CMC 72’ and it has been good to me. I will say this about every spider lift is that they are built as heavy/strong as they need to be and no more. Some guys will say such and such brand is built like a tank but I call bullshit. No spider is built like a tank they are all fragile in their own way and care must be taken when using one. Wind restrictions, weight limits, more things sticking out like a sore thumb to damage. They are not built like tanks more like a guy on a parachute, fragile but secure.
 
I checked out the new Avant (leguan 190) lift at arborcon this year. It was an impressive machine with 25 up and over, 500 lbs. at the basket, and 3.2 mph travel speed. I don’t think it quite meets your requirements but the sales guy claimed there would be a taller machine next year. Might be something for fellers to keep in mind. Did you see it @VenasNursery ?
 
Barc Buster said:
I checked out the new Avant (leguan 190) lift at arborcon this year. It was an impressive machine with 25 up and over, 500 lbs. at the basket, and 3.2 mph travel speed. I don’t think it quite meets your requirements but the sales guy claimed there would be a taller machine next year. Might be something for fellers to keep in mind. Did you see it @VenasNursery ?
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No but I have seen them in the books
I’ll have to check them out next show

David Webb is selling a new lift (to me anyways) CTE and has some good features
He is from Well Built Equipment from Crete Illinois
He is a awesome guy and very very knowledgeable
 
Reach said:
I won’t tell you what to buy, but I will suggest looking beyond a couple rather publicized incidents, and more carefully assessing the machines themselves. I know of two companies locally that have had boom failures on 90’ Omme lifts. One was definitely the fault of the owners (although they may tell you differently) and the other may have been a poorly built or simply worn out machine, I’m not sure which.
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I hope it doesn’t sound like I’m hating on cmc too bad. I didn’t mean to come off that way. I just have my own uneasiness with the handful of failures. I do however realize cmc has more lifts in use in North America than any other spider manufacturer, therefore the probability of misuse and abuse is higher. I honestly have an uneasiness about all of them and that’s why I started this thread. The working height to weight ratio is simply incredible, i guess you can’t expect a 90’ 10,000 pound lift to be a tank like a 30,000 lb bucket truck.
 
Treeline said:
I hope it doesn’t sound like I’m hating on cmc too bad. I didn’t mean to come off that way. I just have my own uneasiness with the handful of failures. I do however realize cmc has more lifts in use in North America than any other spider manufacturer, therefore the probability of misuse and abuse is higher. I honestly have an uneasiness about all of them and that’s why I started this thread. The working height to weight ratio is simply incredible, i guess you can’t expect a 90’ 10,000 pound lift to be a tank like a 30,000 lb bucket truck.
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No, you cannot expect the same ruggedness out of such a lightweight machine. If you want that kind of rugged design, buy a JLG. They build an 86’ model that will lift 500+ all day long, drive it from the basket while extended, and you’ll never break it. But it weighs 43,000 pounds, while my 83HD weighs 8500 pounds and has almost exactly the same reach.
 
Reach said:
No, you cannot expect the same ruggedness out of such a lightweight machine. If you want that kind of rugged design, buy a JLG. They build an 86’ model that will lift 500+ all day long, drive it from the basket while extended, and you’ll never break it. But it weighs 43,000 pounds, while my 83HD weighs 8500 pounds and has almost exactly the same reach.
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We’ve rented one of those before for a super dead tree. It got the tree down fine and it is an awesome rugged lift. Everything was awesome except for it taking the 20k winch on my bucket truck and a 75hp tractor to pull it out of the yard. Hahah there were 24” deep ruts we spent half a day repairing
 
I just wanted to chime in and say we rented the 92 foot Dino lift for a month last year. The vertical and horizontal reach was pretty awesome. You could also do 4 functions at once, all at regular speed, so that was great too. It had some sensors that made it so you really needed the trailer to be pretty level to unload, which was a pain. It also didn't setup super great on uneven terrain. I think it would be a pretty good match for crane work if the terrain was pretty mild.
 
Upequip is down your way today having q demo tour. See if you can catch them before they head back north.
I just purchased a 87-48. So far so good. Great side reach and see "approach angle" section on their website.

I did have a Platform Basket 72' that was wonderful as well. Built like a tank, just limited with set up and only one outrigger position...pros and cons, less sensors to break and less options in set up.

Enough CMC information out there already for you.

Good luck, never an easy decision.
 
BooRad said:
Upequip is down your way today having q demo tour. See if you can catch them before they head back north.
I just purchased a 87-48. So far so good. Great side reach and see "approach angle" section on their website.

I did have a Platform Basket 72' that was wonderful as well. Built like a tank, just limited with set up and only one outrigger position...pros and cons, less sensors to break and less options in set up.

Enough CMC information out there already for you.

Good luck, never an easy decision.
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What type and length trailor do you find suits the 87-48aj. I've got one on the way. Should be here next month. Any pictures would be appreciated aswell.

-Will
 
Treeline said:
We’ve rented one of those before for a super dead tree. It got the tree down fine and it is an awesome rugged lift. Everything was awesome except for it taking the 20k winch on my bucket truck and a 75hp tractor to pull it out of the yard. Hahah there were 24” deep ruts we spent half a day repairing
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That sounds like a horrible day filling in those ruts
 
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