A person in my town is selling this bucket truck. 1991 ford f800 with a 50ft altec boom. Everything starts up and runs like it should. Had the ford 6.6 liter diesel engine. 80,000 miles. Has the regular wear and tear but seems in pretty good shape. One thing I like about it is It can extend fully straight out sideways.This will be my first truck before I start my own business soon. What do you guys think! Best deal was $11,500. I live in the pnw and this is the best truck I was able to find for the price. My budget was $13k.
by LUCKY_MP
10 Comments
It will break down. It will need repair. It might be a great first truck. But you will nurse it along every step of the way. If you think you can put $13k down on a $60k truck do that. Either way you’re paying on it monthly.
Keep saving , I believe altec will not sell parts for a boom older then 25 years old .
There is no mechanic in my state who is willing to touch a truck more than 10 years old. I can’t even buy parts for one over 25. I’m having to upgrade because one can’t even be inspected and certified for use since it’s over 10 years old. Can’t speak to Altec specifically but just be aware of that.
Looks like a pretty basic truck in my opinion. I have worked with new trucks but seems all you gotta worry about in terms of getting parts is the hoses for the boom. Altec is reliable but maintenance may be a problem with the older trucks. I’m not familiar with this model as it is old but it comes down to you and what you can afford. If you want to work with bucket trucks because you can’t climb then work with what you got. If you can climb trees, do jobs that don’t require boom work until you can afford a newer boom. Either way the hard part about the finance of a new boom is consistent work to make the payment. If your company can afford to keep the steady income coming in to pay for it go ahead if you can’t then just wait and grow your business
I would personally pass on that. Its probably not worth what you’ll spend in repairs and headaches trying to fix random bullshit that stops working. Not to mention 50′ doesn’t even get you started on a lot of trees in the PNW. Not sure what kind of work you’re planning on doing, but if you’re gonna have to climb out of the bucket for half the jobs anyway, why spend the money on a dinosaur?
In my experience a boom truck doesn’t really help you do a whole lot that you can’t do climbing. A crane is a whole different story, but I would pass on it.
Lost 50 grand on an old bucket. It was great since I coulde chip into it, but in the long run it nickel and dimed me all the way, broke down a lot and I ended up auctioning it as non running and got 2 g’s for it. Now I have more climbers and a chip truck.
I mean the only way I would buy that is if you could fix it yourself. You can spend loads trying to maintain that. Everybody else has good reasons why. I would work on fixing your credit first and foremost. That way you can use your money more effectively.
Without having DOT inspection I wouldn’t even touch it. Stuff that old you could spend 13k on an inspection.
Nifty lift
Paid 9 for mine and had to replace everything in the boom as the hydraulic lines just kept failing. Bought a crimper and bulk line and replaced them all. Didn’t bother with synthetic as I don’t work power. Not sure I got a deal in the end but I do have a reliable enough truck