We are looking at buying a few 8000-9000lb telehandlers for our rental fleet. Currently Im looking at skytrak 8042, JLG G9-43A, Lull 844, CAT TH460B and a Carelift ZB8044. Does anyone have anything good or bad to say about these models or years I should be looking out for? I have heard that skytrak had some problems with breaking axles in some of the earlier models and I know a few other rental companies who have had problems with their lulls. Any truth to this? Any of your thoughts would be appreciated.
telehandlers I always liked the skytrak 8042 from a reliability stand point. The lull was a favorite with ALOT of masonary contractors.
For landing on scaffolds a Lull is unbeatable. Lull has good reach also. Parts have always been good and now with JLG and the parent company Oshkosh big with the military so they should be very stable. resale on Lull is tough to beat. Buying used or new? Deals abound now new and used. Price range if used is? Rental fleet i think I would go with Lull as it is easier to land at anything over two frames. 844C is tough machine and I have heard nothing bad about them. Long Island is 95% Lull or more. Plenty of used parts for Lulls also because of the numbers made which is good. JLG has better visibility so you may what to mix your purchase for a rental fleet.
The usage will primarily be for structural purposes and most often steel and wood frame erecting. We will be buying used machines but not well used. If you had a line on some machines shoot me an e-mail and I will look at them.
I agree with Speedpup that depending on who your primary clients are, JLG telehandlers are very good machines. We have many skytraks and have found that they are very well built. I would also tell you be careful with the newer skytrak. They changed to ZF axles and they tend to fail more than the "old school" Dana Spicer axles. Matt
What year did they change over to the ZF axles? I think I would agree that they are well built. I am defiantly a fan of the Cummins motor in construction equipment. We had one in the shop to do maintenance on and it had 10,000hrs on the clock. I was pretty surprised because it certainly didn’t look it.
Mid 2000 for 8042, 10042, 10054 and mid 2001 6036. Anything newer are going to be ZF axles. We have been dismantling both "Classic" and "Legacy" SkyTraks and have many good new and used parts for both. If you want to save some money on parts please feel free to give us a call. Matt www.AeroLiftUSA.com
JLG seems to be the steel erectors favorite at least here in alberta. The booms are huge and they seem to be a tank at 34000 lbs. Steel gets heavy fast. Also I see the guys that do pre fabricated block wall sections seem to only use JLG. If you're renting them for wood framing, try to buy some jibs as they might be a profitable accessory. In the smaller range go for whatever is cheap. Never heard anybody say anything bad about JLG except the price. If I was to rent one I would take JLG over skytrack any day. Skytrak is not designed for operator comfort and I would call it a rental grade machine. Lulls can be confusing for first time operators. When I use them I keep accidentally moving the transverse arm. Anybody got examples of some of the long term costs of running some of these machines. I would love to see them.
Dont have any experience on the JLG brand lifts, but they certainly have the best resale value (if a lift has a good resale right now!) They look heavy and well built. The steel guys around here are using Skytraks but im not a big fan... just from an operator standpoint. I dont think you will go wrong buying anything in the JLG family of machines. Also, if you buy a newer Cat it will be made by JLG anyways.
Interesting you say that. JLG makes CAT telehandlers and they are almost exactly the same yet the CAT machines bring about 10,000 more in the used market on average. Gotta love branding.
they have a Cat motor and a different CAT quicktach which adds cost. Don't think they bring 10 more on resale but they do bring something extra. Machinces are nade to CAT specs not sure of all the differences in the two. May have CAT controls,& software. I guess that would be good if you have other CAT equipment.
Been on the cat machine before Been on the Cat machine @ the Cat Rental Store. The cat looked like it had lots of bells and whistles, more than any machine i've been in. The rental store which even sells them, the instructor seemed like he didn't like the new machine vs the old machines. Maybe it was just teething pains but who know. Judging by the amount of electronics in the cab I would say :bash it looks like computerization. That means there is probably a lot of computers in the machine. I like full single lever controls which I have, but it did take a break in period. Simple might be best for renters. It seams to me skytraks are going for I higher price than they really deserve on the used market. But skytrak is dead easy to operate.:canada
I have Skytrack model 10054 JLG, please I need help: how to replace Tilt hydraulic hose runs inside of boom thank you
Call Steve @734-516-5675 for removal & replacement help. He also has parts for the repair. Jim