Tri-State Forestry Equipment

Raven27 said:
I'm looking to buy a used bucket truck soon,I already knew to stay away fro. TRI STATE, AND SCHMITTYS. Lol. Just heard too many bad things. The other bad one I heard about was i80, but I recently saw they're out of business
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Yup sounds bad.... I80 is done 5 million in equipment missing just google it
 
This will probably offend most people that read this. Used equipment is used equipment and no matter how clean the equipment is you're always rolling the dice. If a deal sounds to good to be true than it probably is. If you think buying equipment unseen is a good idea, well I don't know what to tell you. If you have the cash and can roll the dice, that's different.
These big used equipment dealers raise tons of red flags. They buy large volume, paint and re-sell. There's no history of the equipment and anything they tell you about it is a lie. Are these guys shady, unethical business owner, probably, but it goes back to the old saying, don't hate the playa, hate the game. They've scammed hundreds of guys and will scam hundreds more. A sucker is born everyday, welcome to America.
Unless you've done your homework on used equipment, buying new is the way to go. But the problem in this industry is that majority of guys don't charge enough to afford new equipment. They just kill the market.
Ok, let me have it.
 
bryan keneally said:
This will probably offend most people that read this. Used equipment is used equipment and no matter how clean the equipment is you're always rolling the dice. If a deal sounds to good to be true than it probably is. If you think buying equipment unseen is a good idea, well I don't know what to tell you. If you have the cash and can roll the dice, that's different.
These big used equipment dealers raise tons of red flags. They buy large volume, paint and re-sell. There's no history of the equipment and anything they tell you about it is a lie. Are these guys shady, unethical business owner, probably, but it goes back to the old saying, don't hate the playa, hate the game. They've scammed hundreds of guys and will scam hundreds more. A sucker is born everyday, welcome to America.
Unless you've done your homework on used equipment, buying new is the way to go. But the problem in this industry is that majority of guys don't charge enough to afford new equipment. They just kill the market.
Ok, let me have it.
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Amen! If you are too blind to see the problems in a used piece of equipment, you should buy new... cause new is so much frigging better o_O. I don’t care who or where you buy from they are going to try and pull the wool over your eyes with something. Even new truck, look at the ford 6.o, they sold those things riddled with problems for years. Sure I’ve bought used and hit a home run and paid for my blindness too.
As for hiding issues, they should still be visible enough for you to figure it out if you know what you are looking for (not just in the equipment but the questions you ask and the answers you get). With the information available about EVERYTHING so readily you should know what you are looking at.
Where I draw the line is I find the issue tell you to fix it and you don’t or bubble gum it that’s just down right dirty and underhand.
 
I posted a while back about this poor dude that bought from Kid Cars and found out sometime later they took caulking and paint to a lateral crack in the boom turret in a forestry truck. The guy racked it up to a total loss.
I’m not saying Tri-state would do that. But it shows that some used dealers will try to get away with criminal shit.
 
No, I get it. It's easy to say, just buy new, or yoyre not pricing right afford new or whatever, but thats not the case. Were just looking to go fulltime and have a gokd reputation, sometimes were lower priced , often were right there , we get out bid too like we all do. So far we've bought all our equipment either outright , or paid off fast ( chipper in 3 months, large dump trailer almost paid off, etc...)
Other problem is just the fear of buying big and not getting enough work ( lots of new "companies" popping up all the time around here. Just heard I lost a job that was easily 2k to 3 guys doing it for $800, it's been 4 weeks and there's still a mess there and I've seen signs of property damage. No safety gear on site at all, etc...
I don't know if we should pump out a ton of advertising or what . Last year we were super busy, but only doing the work on weekends and a coyoke afternoons and the occasional weekday. I'll be glad to take pointers on what guys did to get more work I've hung flyers, some small ads .I would much rather have new than used, but 50-60k or more. Big payment, plus we gotta make our money to live off i feel we can do it, but i have a partner to work with too.
I also have no intention of buying from a big sales place. Was planning on a private sale, more likely from another tree company
 
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bryan keneally said:
This will probably offend most people that read this. Used equipment is used equipment and no matter how clean the equipment is you're always rolling the dice. If a deal sounds to good to be true than it probably is. If you think buying equipment unseen is a good idea, well I don't know what to tell you. If you have the cash and can roll the dice, that's different.
These big used equipment dealers raise tons of red flags. They buy large volume, paint and re-sell. There's no history of the equipment and anything they tell you about it is a lie. Are these guys shady, unethical business owner, probably, but it goes back to the old saying, don't hate the playa, hate the game. They've scammed hundreds of guys and will scam hundreds more. A sucker is born everyday, welcome to America.
Unless you've done your homework on used equipment, buying new is the way to go. But the problem in this industry is that majority of guys don't charge enough to afford new equipment. They just kill the market.
Ok, let me have it.
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Well said brother ! All points hit accordingly! Especially guys not charging enough or in my case around here guys working for beer and drugs.
 
Went to look at a unit in this guys inventory, when asked what the history of the truck was he said "That's irrelevant, why would you want to know the history? I don't know the trucks history and if I did I would not tell you." After 3 attempts I finally got the truck started up and noticed it had a dead miss, let it run for a few minutes and still missed, tried adjusting the engine speed to about 1000RPM when Joe started yelling at me, I got out because I thought something went wrong with the truck, Joe then started yelling about how I have to give it time to warm up and you never do that to a diesel, whats wrong with you. I promptly left without acknowledging him, I've never heard of someone selling stuff yelling at potential buyers, but this guy is delusional. Truck supposedly had under 100K on it, and it was almost 50 degrees out, if the truck has a miss so be it, don't try to hide it, not to mention he wanted top dollar for an old turd.

Buyer beware!!!
 
It's so nice to have all of the information in this day and age.. This thread will save a lot of people from nightmare experiences judging upon the posts here.
 
JD-350C said:
Went to look at a unit in this guys inventory, when asked what the history of the truck was he said "That's irrelevant, why would you want to know the history? I don't know the trucks history and if I did I would not tell you." After 3 attempts I finally got the truck started up and noticed it had a dead miss, let it run for a few minutes and still missed, tried adjusting the engine speed to about 1000RPM when Joe started yelling at me, I got out because I thought something went wrong with the truck, Joe then started yelling about how I have to give it time to warm up and you never do that to a diesel, whats wrong with you. I promptly left without acknowledging him, I've never heard of someone selling stuff yelling at potential buyers, but this guy is delusional. Truck supposedly had under 100K on it, and it was almost 50 degrees out, if the truck has a miss so be it, don't try to hide it, not to mention he wanted top dollar for an old turd.

Buyer beware!!!
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The history is irrelevant because he has no clue! He picks them up at auction, brings them home and shines the turds... and then finds a poor sucker to buy it. Very few trucks go to auction that aren’t junk that people are trying to get out of and don’t want to lie directly to the buyer.
Noticed you are from pocopson, not many of those around. You can’t be too far from us down here in Kennett.
 
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Hello all, just a little background on this encounter. I'm not a tree service or arborist but am in search of a rollback truck to move my little crawlers and backhoe between properties. We heat with wood so we're always in search of more, that's where moving the crawlers would come in handy.
Anyways, while searching craigslist a truck came up that wasn't exactly what I'm looking for, but it was very close by, and if priced right it could work. Kennett Square is maybe 10 minutes from home btw.
I'm not sure why he had this truck, but it was an 02' GMC T8500 rollback with "86,000miles" on it. It has a C7 and an allison 5 speed. Boy what a gem this thing is! The truck was rated at 56,000GVW, but the bed was only a 20,000lb bed, so something wasn't built correctly, the inspection sticker was 2 years old and the IFTA sticker was 3 years old. That was the whole reason about the history question. The dash had obviously been apart, wires were run everywhere in the cab, the exhaust was made entirely of flexpipe, not to mention the engine was tired! I'm a mechanic by trade, so maybe Joe could tell ,that I could tell how much of a POS the truck was (and how overpriced it was) and wanted me to leave?
Either way, I was so put off by this guy I went and looked up his business and this place is one of the top search results! We need to keep it that way!

On another topic from above, my 2 cents to anyone buying used equipment is (much of this has been covered already) to look it over well, pay a mechanic for a day if you're not mechanical, ask for any and every piece of documentation on the piece you can. Service history or oil samples would be great, ask to operate it and try everything out. Something thats been repainted is usually hiding something. If something seems fishy , RUN! As has been said above, there is usually a reason equipment is sold, especially for auctions, it's bubble-gummed just enough to get across the auction floor then its someone else's problem.
 
I wouldn't argue with posts about watching out for equip that is sold at auction or sold at auction and painted and up for sale. AND if you do a google search for background on this company you will find stories that are far more than a piece of equip with paint covering wear issues. That should be expected by any thinking person. Fraud and gross negligence type work and sending people down the road with it are not routine and expected.
 
JD-350C said:
Hello all, just a little background on this encounter. I'm not a tree service or arborist but am in search of a rollback truck to move my little crawlers and backhoe between properties. We heat with wood so we're always in search of more, that's where moving the crawlers would come in handy.
Anyways, while searching craigslist a truck came up that wasn't exactly what I'm looking for, but it was very close by, and if priced right it could work. Kennett Square is maybe 10 minutes from home btw.
I'm not sure why he had this truck, but it was an 02' GMC T8500 rollback with "86,000miles" on it. It has a C7 and an allison 5 speed. Boy what a gem this thing is! The truck was rated at 56,000GVW, but the bed was only a 20,000lb bed, so something wasn't built correctly, the inspection sticker was 2 years old and the IFTA sticker was 3 years old. That was the whole reason about the history question. The dash had obviously been apart, wires were run everywhere in the cab, the exhaust was made entirely of flexpipe, not to mention the engine was tired! I'm a mechanic by trade, so maybe Joe could tell ,that I could tell how much of a POS the truck was (and how overpriced it was) and wanted me to leave?
Either way, I was so put off by this guy I went and looked up his business and this place is one of the top search results! We need to keep it that way!

On another topic from above, my 2 cents to anyone buying used equipment is (much of this has been covered already) to look it over well, pay a mechanic for a day if you're not mechanical, ask for any and every piece of documentation on the piece you can. Service history or oil samples would be great, ask to operate it and try everything out. Something thats been repainted is usually hiding something. If something seems fishy , RUN! As has been said above, there is usually a reason equipment is sold, especially for auctions, it's bubble-gummed just enough to get across the auction floor then its someone else's problem.
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You are so lucky that you walked away from him. He is the most deceitful and arrogant and pompous ass I have ever known. I didn’t meet him personally, but my husband dealt with him and he was incredibly insulting. He even threatened me, as a wife, to come “beat my ass“ if I didn’t stop posting things about him. He even told me that he called the FEDS because I name shamed him on here for the type of businessman he really is. He even has my husband and I blocked From hisFacebook business page because we posted all of the screenshots of the nasty messages and literally the death threats he sent us.

My husband bought a bucket truck from him and barely made it back home over 900 miles away. He spent over three days in Pennsylvania waiting for Joe to get the truck put back together to even take it home. He told my husband the truck was ready and when he got there it was pretty much in pieces. He was not even allowed to take it for a “test Drive”. He had no idea what he was getting into until he rolled it off the lot. It has been nothing short of a money pit for us.
 
Dwelker said:
You are so lucky that you walked away from him. He is the most deceitful and arrogant and pompous ass I have ever known. I didn’t meet him personally, but my husband dealt with him and he was incredibly insulting. He even threatened me, as a wife, to come “beat my ass“ if I didn’t stop posting things about him. He even told me that he called the FEDS because I name shamed him on here for the type of businessman he really is. He even has my husband and I blocked From hisFacebook business page because we posted all of the screenshots of the nasty messages and literally the death threats he sent us.

My husband bought a bucket truck from him and barely made it back home over 900 miles away. He spent over three days in Pennsylvania waiting for Joe to get the truck put back together to even take it home. He told my husband the truck was ready and when he got there it was pretty much in pieces. He was not even allowed to take it for a “test Drive”. He had no idea what he was getting into until he rolled it off the lot. It has been nothing short of a money pit for us.
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That’s unfortunate , what a scum bag, too bad he didn’t buy a 20” chipper at the time and someone tripped him and accidentally went through it. Oh wait it probably wouldn’t of chipped anyway because it would be a lemon.
 
Dwelker said:
You are so lucky that you walked away from him. He is the most deceitful and arrogant and pompous ass I have ever known. I didn’t meet him personally, but my husband dealt with him and he was incredibly insulting. He even threatened me, as a wife, to come “beat my ass“ if I didn’t stop posting things about him. He even told me that he called the FEDS because I name shamed him on here for the type of businessman he really is. He even has my husband and I blocked From hisFacebook business page because we posted all of the screenshots of the nasty messages and literally the death threats he sent us.

My husband bought a bucket truck from him and barely made it back home over 900 miles away. He spent over three days in Pennsylvania waiting for Joe to get the truck put back together to even take it home. He told my husband the truck was ready and when he got there it was pretty much in pieces. He was not even allowed to take it for a “test Drive”. He had no idea what he was getting into until he rolled it off the lot. It has been nothing short of a money pit for us.
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I’m sorry for the experience you had with this idiot. It certainly is not the way a business should be run. We are located in the same area as he is and all we hear are horror stories.
That said, it sounds like your husband made a few really bad decisions. Truck not ready on delivery date, WALK. No test drive allowed, RUN!!! If you drove or even flew out and either of these were the case, it’s a waste of a couple hundred bucks to get here. That’s the cost of buying used equipment. And... if you put large sums of money down, on and unfinished used truck, shame on you. Being in business, you need to protect your assets, and if that means signed contracts with delivery dates, warranties, and expectations then so be it. Unfortunately, the days of the honest handshake are gone, for the most part. If people would stop falling into whatever shiny trap he has set, he will purge right out of the business.
Again I’m sorry for the problems you have had, but we ALL need to be ready to run at the first sign of bull ! Don’t get attached to a piece, just cause it’s what you want. Convince yourself it’s the right piece of equipment through inspections.
 
flyingsquirrel25 said:
Truck not ready on delivery date, WALK. No test drive allowed, RUN!!!

Unfortunately, the days of the honest handshake are gone, for the most part.
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Very very true statements as well as advise...

Honest handshake shit is such a thing of the past.. Ever since the era of fluid conversation without having to speak live or in person has been ushered in, it's like all honestly has gone completely out the window.. & this goes for everything in life... Everything said can be premeditated, edited & no one is on the spot to explain or be held accountable in real time.

Also.. i heard this from a Snake car sales guy once.. not every car/truck at a auction is a peice of junk, but every peice of junk for sale is there.




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flyingsquirrel25 said:
I’m sorry for the experience you had with this idiot. It certainly is not the way a business should be run. We are located in the same area as he is and all we hear are horror stories.
That said, it sounds like your husband made a few really bad decisions. Truck not ready on delivery date, WALK. No test drive allowed, RUN!!! If you drove or even flew out and either of these were the case, it’s a waste of a couple hundred bucks to get here. That’s the cost of buying used equipment. And... if you put large sums of money down, on and unfinished used truck, shame on you. Being in business, you need to protect your assets, and if that means signed contracts with delivery dates, warranties, and expectations then so be it. Unfortunately, the days of the honest handshake are gone, for the most part. If people would stop falling into whatever shiny trap he has set, he will purge right out of the business.
Again I’m sorry for the problems you have had, but we ALL need to be ready to run at the first sign of bull ! Don’t get attached to a piece, just cause it’s what you want. Convince yourself it’s the right piece of equipment through inspections.
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I agree. It was wrong from the beginning. But joe needs how to spin a web that’s for sure.
 
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