What’s Scary About a Used Bucket Truck?

“When I add up the repairs for this (insert cuss word) bucket truck over the last three years, I could have easily made payments on a new truck—and now I still have this #@%&#* truck, and those repairs didn’t add one dollar to its value. Plus, every time it breaks down, my installation schedule gets all jacked up and I wind up with angry customers.”

Those are the words of a frustrated sign company owner who purchased a used hydraulic bucket truck and lived to regret it. Rather than being in the field making money, his truck is in the shop, costing money. It’s the worst of both worlds.

On the other hand, I remember visiting a sign company and seeing their old battle-scarred bucket truck alongside the building. Assuming it was probably a huge source of frustration, I asked, “Does that old truck give you fits?” “Not at all,” came the reply. “That truck doesn’t owe me a thing. It was all I could afford when I bought it three years ago, and it’s been reliable. It helped me grow my business to where I can now consider buying a new truck.”

So, there you have it—both ends of the spectrum—an expensive boat anchor, or a helpful steppingstone across a stream that’s too wide to jump across. It’s a crapshoot, and there are two chronic complaints about used hydraulic bucket trucks that make it a high stakes crapshoot:

• Internal hydraulic hoses – No one expects a garden hose to last too many seasons, right? It sits outside in the elements and gradually becomes brittle. Then, when you move it around to water your shrubs, the hose develops a leak. The same is true of hydraulic hoses. To protect their hoses from damage, most bucket truck manufacturers bundle them together and hide them inside the steel tubing of the boom sections, where they move around with the lift. As the hoses age, they become more brittle and eventually rupture or leak. Because the hoses are inside the boom sections, replacing them is both time-consuming and expensive. It’s normal for service shops to charge $8,000 to $12,000 to install a new hose kit, and you’ll likely wait a month before your truck is back in service. That’s a budget buster AND a schedule killer.
• Diesel engines – Most hydraulic lifts run off the vehicle’s PTO (Power take-off), which transfers power from the vehicle’s transmission to the aerial lift. A diesel engine is required to produce the necessary torque to operate a PTO, so the vehicle’s diesel engine sits idling the entire time the aerial lift is in use. Years ago, this didn’t present a problem because diesel engines were made to idle for long periods. But now, with DEF systems (diesel exhaust Fluid), excessive idling causes soot to build up in the particulate filter. Now idling has become the enemy of diesel engines, fostering more frequent repairs and higher maintenance costs.

My partner has this saying: No one ever sold their old bucket truck because it was out of style. For the reasons I’ve outlined, people try to sell their used bucket trucks before they become a repair nightmare. Owning a truck with internal hydraulic hoses and an over-idled engine is like traveling around a Monopoly board, hoping not to land on Board Walk (with a hotel).

So, if you’re considering purchasing a used bucket truck, make a call to a local aerial service shop and get pricing for a hose kit for that make and model. Ask them about typical turnaround times for repairs. How much will it cost to service that diesel engine? In other words, add the category “Repairs, maintenance, and downtime” to your consideration. It might be that a new bucket truck is more affordable than you think, considering that it will be under warranty. At Van Ladder, we’ve gone to a 5-year warranty on our Chariot lift for both parts and labor. That’s more than twice as long as our competitors. When you add that to the chassis warranty, it might be a strong motivation to consider buying new. Run the numbers and see.

What about when our 5-year warranty is over? Well, from a repair standpoint, the Van Ladder isn’t as scary as full hydraulic bucket trucks because our all-electric lift isn’t powered by a PTO, so the vehicle engine can be turned off while the lift is operating. That not only saves fuel, but it also allows us to use gasoline engines with no particulate filters to worry about. The other thing the Van Ladder doesn’t have is hydraulic hoses hidden inside the boom sections. We have two short hoses that sit stationary on top of the truck, making replacements extremely rare and inexpensive.

I’m not saying you shouldn’t buy a used bucket truck. After all, we sell plenty of used Van Ladders. I’m only suggesting you go in with your eyes open to the realities of repairs and downtime, especially when there are aging internal hydraulic hoses and gummed up diesel engines.