OCALA, Fla. – It was bound to happen sooner or later. E-ONE, known for aluminum aerial ladders, has made a steel 105-foot straight stick, four-section aerial and the new product is ready for market.
E-ONE announced its new product during a media event at its plant in central Florida and showed off many of the new features the E-ONE team has developed while keeping most of the technology that has made the company a leader in aerial construction for decades.
Nearly a year ago, E-ONE hired an aerial guru named Jim Salmi, a fire service veteran with more than 35 years of experience building apparatus, particularly aerials.
“We tried to keep as much of the E-ONE aerial DNA as we could as we moved forward with this project,” said Salmi, who is the director of aerial product development for E-ONE. He said E-ONE has always had a 2.5 to 1 structural safety ratio with its aluminum ladders and the steel product was designed with same goal and safety in mind.
From the turntable to the jack system on the ground, Salmi explained the steel aerial is the same as aluminum ones E-ONE has built for decades. Pointing to the mounting pins on the turntable, where the ladder fly attaches, Salmi said everything below it remains the same.
Even the aerials themselves, from the aluminum to the steel products are essentially the same in every aspect, except for the material from which they are made, Salmi explained.
But why then make a steel aerial?
“It’s like Chevys and Fords,” Salmi said. “It gives the customer a choice.” He added like Chevys and Fords, they’ll both get the job done and perform as the users expect. “There are some customers who will never buy anything but a steel aerial and some who won’t buy anything but aluminum,” Salmi said. “This gives us the chance to offer both.” He commented that customers who only buy steel aerials might likely now look at E-ONE for other apparatus needs as well.
The steel used for E-ONE’s new aerial is not just any steel. Salmi explained E-ONE chose the brand DOMEX as the material for the new aerial. DOMEX is a low-weight, high strength steel that is well suited for aerial applications, noting the material properties include a high tensile strength and ease in welding. The material is produced like all other steels, but with much better control, especially in the amount of carbon used in its composition.
E-ONE’s highly qualified staff went through extensive training in the welding of the material and those who work on the new aerials were all certified to weld steel, Salmi said.
“The staff has been great,” Salmi said. “They embraced it immediately and got this done in less than a year.”
And with the introduction of a new product, E-ONE didn’t want to miss the opportunity to introduce some new features and improvement on a tried and true design.
“What is the one thing maintenance people don’t want to do on an aerial?” Salmi asked. “Grease it.”
It’s such a nasty job it is often neglected, Salmi said, while explaining a solution that helps with that loathed chore.
The new steel aerial is fitted with a greaseless roller system made of fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP), Salmi explained, adding that the rollers are rated at 8,000 pounds. To illustrate the strength the rollers have, he said they are used in the moving of houses.
The new aerial also has over-sized sheaves and cables to avoid any issues with snapping extension cables, Salmi said.
E-ONE has also addressed the problem of steel corrosion with the new aerial. Salmi said the steel components are sprayed with five mils of zinc and painted with Sikkens paint systems. The caps of all steel tubing are cap welded and no holes are drilled into any of the rails or components, he said. The design does not allow any water or corrosive materials to get into the rails.
Other features include a 1,000-gpm pinned waterway as a standard, high-traction FRP rung covers, side guide rollers and overturning restraints and an egress tip.
E-ONE has also made improvements to the controls system, he said, adding that the system will be revealed with greater detail at FDIC in Indianapolis in April.
“We are very pleased with this new product,” Salmi said, adding the new ladder has been tested and has exceeded expectations. “It came out very nice.”
And stay tuned for more as there are plans for a steel platform aerial in the future.
