I am looking at 2002 Thomas T15 S excavator in good working condition, but have no familarity with the brand. Does anyone have expierence with them and or opinions about them. They are made in Canada - not China - that's a plus in my book. They seem hard to find information on so that makes me nervrous about parts & service. Thanks for any insight.
Sorry almost sure that Thomas is not in business anymore. So no info or parts etc...
here is google info History [edit] Early Days / McCain Group Thomas Equipment Ltd. was established in 1943 by three brothers. Originally, they were in the business of manufacturing farming equipment. In 1964, Thomas Equipment Ltd. was purchased by the McCain Group of companies. The McCain Group is well known for their subsidiary McCain Foods Ltd, who is the number one producer of frozen french fries in the world.[1] The McCain group was founded in New Brunswick, and remains one of the province’s largest employers. Under McCain’s control, Thomas Equipment Ltd. produced the World’s first skid steer loader with hydrostatic drive in 1969.[2] [edit] Maxim Mortgage Corp. In October 2004, the McCain Group’s fourty year tenure as Thomas Equipment’s owner came to an end. McCain sold Thomas to a Delaware based mortgage brokerage, Maxim Mortgage Corp. Maxim had exited from the mortgage business in May of 2004. Upon acquisition, they took on the name “Thomas Equipment Ltd.”[3] [edit] Failed Expansion In December 2004, Thomas Equipment Ltd. acquired Pneutech, a manufacturer of hydraulic systems and one of Thomas’ suppliers. Pneutech’s CEO, Clifford Rhee, was brought on to fill the roll of Thomas Equipment’s new CEO. The same month, Thomas reached an agreement to produce skid steer loaders for Kubota to sell in their select European markets. [4] In January 2005, Thomas opened a new manufacturing plant in Busan, South Korea. Thomas was hoping this move would provide an anchor for expansion into Asian markets.[5] In November 2005, Thomas opened a new 7,000 square-foot (650 m2) European sales headquarters in Brussels, Belgium.[6] The same month, they acquired the Canadian telescopic handler manufacturer, Tovel Manufacturing.[7] In 2005, 2006, and 2007, Thomas had an arrangement with Hyundai Heavy Industries - Construction Equipment Division. Under this agreement, Hyundai marketed Thomas skid steers to foreign markets under the Hyundai brand name.[8] In March 2006, Thomas Equipment was listed on the American Stock Exchange in an effort to raise capital.[9] In June 2006, Clifford Rhee, Thomas’ new CEO, was fired “with cause”. He had lead the company for 18 months, during which time Thomas took drastic measures to expand into foreign markets. The next month, in July 2006, Thomas’ Korean manufacturing facilities were closed due to lack of demand. The Korean plant only lasted 18 months.[10] In August 2006, Thomas entered into bankruptcy protection and laid off 141 employees of their Centreville, New Brunswick manufacturing plant. In November 2006, Thomas started to re-hire some of the affected workers.[11] [edit] The Current Situation In January 2008, Thomas Equipment Inc. changed its name to Osiris Corporation, and then formed Thomas Equipment Inc. as an Osiris subsidiary.[12] In May 2008, Osiris Corp. signed a pact with Guizhou Jonyang Kinetics (GJK), a subsidiary of Singapore Technologies Engineering, to produce Thomas ski-steer loaders. GJK will distribute Thomas products to its markets, including China. The agreement also indicated that production of Thomas products at the Centreville plant would cease by the end of 2009. Customer support staff will remain in Centreville, but production staff will be laid off.[13] Also in May 2008, a local New Brunswick businessman started a new company, Carlton International and hired all of Osiris’ employees at the Centreville, New Brunswick plant. The employees were still working on Thomas products, but were being paid by Carlton. This was done in an effort to provide temporary job security for the workforce.[14] Centreville is a small community of only 523 people. Osiris was the largest employer in town.[15][16] In January 2009, Carlton International ran into financial difficulties and was unable to pay employees for nearly a month.[17] Osiris’ subsidiaries include Thomas Equipment Inc., Pneutech Inc., Rousseau Controls Inc., Samsung Industry Co. Ltd., and Hydramen Fluid Power Limited.[18] New & Used Heavy Equipment http://www.ritchiewiki.com/wiki/index.php/Thomas_Equipment_Ltd.#ixzz2bWArfhXo thxs Richie Bro for info Dam the big Biilionaires for killing a small company
We get calls all the time for parts for Thomas and there is nothing we can do to help. (unless it's a final drive) Stay away and save yourself from frustration.
Not familiar with the T15s, but I have had a T35S mini excavator for about 8 years and it has been great. It was made by Nagano in Japan and imported by Thomas with their paint and decals. It is a very smooth, quiet, and productive machine with great reach, and came standard with three line auxilliary hydraulics. Mine has a little over 5000 hours and in the time I have owned it (about 3200 hours as second owner) I have replaced one hose, the hood latch and two gas springs (hood and left hand control pedestal) and a set of tracks. Thomas does supply parts (thomasloaders.com) through their dealer network, but they are expensive and can take some time to get. The last gas spring was about $100 and two month wait. I believe Coyote Loader Sales (coyoteloaders.com) now imports Nagano in the US. That said, there is definitaly an advantage in buying a machine that has better support. I own a number of oddball machines, but I do nearly all of my own maintenance and repair and have the capabliliy to machine or fabricate much of what I can't get, so I am not too intimidated if I think it is going to be a reliable machine and the price is right.