For more than 30 years, Arbor Age magazine has been covering new and innovative products, services, technology and research vital to tree care companies, municipal arborists and utility right-of-way maintenance companies
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/389416
10 OCTOBER 2014 ARBOR AGE www.arborage.com Arbor Age magazine recently asked a wide range of equipment manufacturers and suppliers to share their insights about equipment for professional arborists, and how the trends they are seeing will impact your equipment decisions. Their observations are as follows: What trends are you seeing with regard to equipment and supplies for professional arborists? All spray equipment being installed in fully enclosed trucks; all in the name of marketing, advertising and safety. — Tom Duffy, spray equipment manager at SherrillTree A trend we noticed last year continues to be important to our professional arborist customers — lighter, more cost-effective units. Today's industry regulations have enabled tree-care professionals to work even higher than before, and larger aerial devices need to stay as light as possible to stay on cost-effective chassis. Terex is committed to providing equipment to meet these demanding and ever-changing needs. Also, we continue to see a trend with our customers managing their equipment investments very carefully. That is, when our customers do need to purchase equipment, they are choosing machines that are the right fi t for their particular business needs. Every lineman, operator or fi eld crew team member has specifi c ideas about the design of a utility fl eet truck, including aerial devices and digger derricks, and how it will best suit their jobsite needs. These ideas start with the specs of a base truck, which includes the work zone capacity for digger derricks or working height and side reach for aerial devices, and then they are tailored to fi t the work practices and requirements of each individual utility or contractor's fl eet. With higher price tags and longer lead times on custom equipment, customers are looking for manufacturers like Terex to develop a more standard equipment offering that is more cost-effi cient and time effective to produce. By standardizing truck options and accessory offerings, as well as the installation process, equipment suppliers can improve manufacturing productivity, and utilize materials and technologies that are already engineered and designed in order to better support the product after the sale with an inventory of stock parts. And proven installation methods can reduce downtime. For arborist customers, these benefi ts translate into lower sourcing costs, less production time, and reduced issues. — Tommy Nix, vice president — strategic accounts, Terex Utilities We continue to see a trend toward the use of compact equipment and attachments. Professional arborists are discovering that these types of products can help increase their effi ciency, while achieving a quick return on investment. — Bill Schafer, product manager for Loftness Specialized Equipment We see a trend toward higher reach, increased capacity, increased maneuverability, and the ability to travel and self-level on uneven surfaces. — Jeff Ford, global product director, aerial work platforms, JLG Industries, Inc. Our customers are busy. It seems that 2014 has been a very busy year for our customers and we've been running at full capacity to fulfi ll new equipment orders. It seems there might still be some concern on Tier 4 engine costs and higher diesel fuel prices, as we've been selling more gasoline-powered equipment. — Christopher Smith, Bandit Industries marketing and communications director. Manufacturers are continuously working to make arborist equipment safer without sacrifi cing effi ciency and productivity. Another important trend is looking to alternative fuel sources for our engines. As Tier 4 Final requirements come into effect, we are seeing increased interest in fuel-fl exible engine options, which are offered on all of our brush chippers and stump grinders. Alternative fuel can help reduce emissions and noise levels, as well as fuel and operational costs. We're seeing interest in compressed natural gas, propane and electric engines, and engine suppliers are exploring Equipment Trends 2014 SPECIAL FEATURE PHOTO PROVIDED BY LOFTNESS PHOTO PROVIDED BY TEREX UTILITIES