Landscape Managers Look for Products That Give Crews Self- Sufficiency and Higher Productivity
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Landscape managers look for products that give crews self- sufficiency and higher productivity By ROBERT E. REAVES e talked with a cross section of Ram Sport 1500 landscape and Wlawn contractors, property managers and manu- facturers, and found there are definite vehicle buying trends in the industry: • Most contractors stay loyal to a specific brand of truck. • They prefer to purchase vehicles whenever possible. • Preferences include auto- get matic transmission and gasoline engines, especially in snow-belt areas; but diesel engines for medium-duty trucks. • They prefer products that your deter theft and equipment dam- age. • Image is important. Trucks, trailers and vans are moving advertisements. • They are using more work cargo trailers and medium-duty trucks with box vans, such as the Super Lawn Truck. • Contractors use the Inter- net on a regular basis to obtain product information. International done Before you decide to buy a truck or accessory, learn what other contractors are saying around the country. Then check out the latest innovations in trucks and accessories. 54 LANDS C! A P l MANAGEMENT April 1999 So many vehicles, so many solutions! Ford's field third door, crew cab and chassis Current generation Sierra Dodge does trucks • New features of the F-Se- cab design. New Short Box crew ranges in GVWs of 8,600 lbs. • 1998 Dodge Ram Quad ries include: more powerful cab has a much smaller turning through 15,000 lbs. A new cab has an extended-cab, full- 5.4-liter, V-8 engine; standard radius and shorter overall length shortbox crew cab version of size pickup with four doors fourth door on F-Series Super- than the Long Box. Optional the 3500 Series Sierra gives (available throughout the en- Cabs; full rear-passenger com- "Big Dooley" rear wheels help greater maneuverability. tire Ram lineup). partment; and separate plat- give the crew cab a GVWR of • Sonoma compact pickup • Next-generation 24-valve form construction for models up to 10,000 lbs. offers of wide choice of body Cummins turbo diesel engine is over 8,500 lbs. • Rear-wheel-drive Astro styles, wheelbases, pickup more powerful and fuel effi- • Super Duty F-Series cargo van tows up to 5,500 lbs. boxes, suspensions and power- cient than the popular engine it trucks — F-250, F-350, F-450 • Express cargo vans can be trains. replaced. and F-550 — come in 44 used as a service vehicle or as • Savana cargo van and • Rams with five-speed model configurations, 21 of the platform for a conversion Special cutaways range ffom manual transmissions have hp which are new and 15 unique van and comes with two 135-in. to 155-in. wheelbases, increased to 235, plus increased to the industry. Two new com- wheelbases (135- and 155-in.). with GVWs up to 9,500 lbs. torque. Automatics also have mercial trucks in weight classes Three heavy-duty G3500 cut- • GMC and Chevrolet are greater hp and torque, with 6 and 7 (Super Duty F-650 and away models offer wheelbase the only manufacturers to offer better fuel economy. F-750) offer three cabs and lengths up to 177 in. both diesel and gasoline en- • Choice of power trains three diesel engines. • Venture cargo van is gines in the medium-duty cate- includes the 3.9-liter V-6, 5.2- • The Explorer Sport Trac available in a four-door ex- gory. Other featured trucks in- liter V-8 , 5.9L V-8 and the will debut next year; a combi- tended wheelbase model. clude the T-Series tilt cab 8.0-liter V-10, with 300 hp nation sport utility vehicle models in Classes 5-7 and a re- and 450 lb.-ft. of torque. (SUV) and cargo bed. The GMC's full line vised line of W-Series tilt cabs, • Dakota compact pickup cargo bed can remain open or • All-new Sierra comes in aimed at the lighter Class 3-4 continues as a popular contrac- can be closed with a lockable, 1500 Series and 2500 Series market. tor choice as the only pickup foldable, hard tonneau cover. models up to 8,600 lbs. VRW. cont. on page 56 • The addition of a four- door SuperCab to the Ranger line makes it one of only two compact pickups to offer a four- door model (Mazda is the other). • Econoline vans, E-150, E- 250, E-350 Super Duty and E- 450 Super Duty designations are easily personalized. Chevrolet's lineup • Silverado is available in regular and extended cab 1500- and 2500-Series models, with a new four-wheel disc brake sys- tem with ABS. • The C/K pickup in regular and extended cab models have a Sierra 3500 HDf with both carrying and pulling capacity, is the workhorse of many landscape firms. cont. from page 55 • 4700 Lo-Profile or 4700 LPX probably have the best fit with a V-8 engine. Its 6,700-lb. with the lawn care industry, maximum towing capacity and with a chassis as low as 24 2,000-lb. maximum payload inches off the ground for less exceeds all other compact pick- fatigue from lifting. The 4700 ups on the market, rivaling LPX handles narrow alleys and some full-size pickups. tight loading areas with ease. International's diesels Medium-duty Isuzus • Navistar's International • Isuzu was the highest trucks may be the most durable ranked cab-over medium-duty diesel truck on the market, truck in the J.D. Power and As- when you look at the Truck sociates 1997 Medium-Duty Blue Book. International 4000 Truck Customer Satisfaction Series trucks are said to be con- Study. NPR-HD diesel and gas Isuzu medium-duty, cab-over trucks got a high rating. sistently worth more at resale, models are new. one reason why many contrac- • N-Series trucks have low Series trucks come prewired scape industry needs: UD1200 tors purchase International cab forward design, a range of for CB radio, portable com- is rated at 12,000 lbs.; UD1400 trucks and get 300,000 or GVW ratings and four wheel- puter and cellular phone. at 14,250 lbs.; and the UD1800 many more miles per truck. base choices, to accommodate • Scheduled maintenance CS at 17,995 lbs. All three ac- • Maintenance costs may 20-ft. bodies. With a 109-in. on the NPR gas truck gives an commodate various van bodies, also be lower, because routine wheelbase, the turning radius is extra 1,500 miles between ser- flat beds, insulated bodies, tow- maintenance has been engi- 33.5 feet. vice stops compared to the ing bodies, landscaping bodies neered down to a minimum. • The panoramic wind- Ford E-350. and utility bodies. Model DT466E and 530E shield gives good visibility, with • Trucks have a turning ra- diesel engines run a full 12,000 drop-design side windows to UD Trucks dius ranging from 17.4 to 25.9 miles between oil changes. help eliminate blind spots. • Three light-duty UD feet, large windshields for good Middle passenger seat folds trucks from Nissan Diesel visibility and tilt cab for easy • Nissan trucks offer body choices. down as a workstation and N- America meet a variety of land- maintance. • Medium-duty trucks range up to 32,900 lbs. GVWR. Mitsubishi Fuso's haulers • Model FG has four-wheel drive; bodies up to 14-ft. long; payloads to 12,000 lb. GVWR; and choice of two wheelbases (109.4 in. and 133.1 in.), mak- ing it well suited for landscape contracting. • "The FG can face the challenges of some of the most demanding terrain," said Robert E. McDowell, MFTA senior vice president of opera cont. on page 58 Accessories Galore cont. from page 56 Our readers come in lengths from 8 to 24 ft. We can't list all the vehicle tions. "And, a wide variety of Pickup accessories keep tools and tell us what and trailer accessories available equipment safely stored, accessible specialized bodies — dump, today, but here's a sampling: and organized. Call 800/458-2226. utility, tool carrier, stake body works for www. reading body, com and dry vans — can be fitted to Green Industry Innovators' the chassis, making the truck Mulch Mule is the ultimate Oxlite Manufacturing manu- them mulching machine. With the pull of factures loading ramps for trucks adaptable to virtually any land- a hydraulic lever, you can fill a and trailers. Its #49 aluminum ramp scape need." Medium-duty trucks fit wheelbarrow in less than 10 sec- has 800-lb. loading capacity and is the bill onds, or you can swing open the designed to load rear-engine lawn back door and unload the 15-yard mowers on trucks with high tail- Toyota pickups Todd Pugh, president of • The new Tundra full-size Todd's Enviroscapes Inc., pickup truck sports a 4.7-liter Louisville, OH, likes Ford and engine offering the first double- International trucks: overhead-cam, 32-valve V-8 of- "Ourl 2-truck fleet is a mix fered in the segment. It will de- of Ford and International. All liver approximately 245 hp and of our one-ton through Super 315 lbs.-ft. of torque. The V-8 Duty pickups are Fords, and all hauls a maximum payload of of our medium-duty trucks are nearly one ton and pulls a maxi- International. We like Interna- mum towing capacity of 7,200 tional because they have a Mulch Mule is easy to unload gates and long wheelbases. Special lbs. sharp turning radius and the arch prevents drag on equipment • Tundra capacity box in less than two min- with low ground clearance.