Laddertrucks... a Hypothetical

[salvage]

The longest ladder on there is a 40' 3 section Bangor.

[firepundit]

The longest ladder on there is a 40' 3 section Bangor.

The 18' roof ladder is the longest when they are in storage.

[Bones42]

Bulldog, I don't need to look at the drawings. I looked at the rig itself.

The drawings don't do it justice, as far as it's actual size. They are accurate, but seeing it on paper and seeing it live can be shocking to some people.

[RFDACM02]

I'd buy another MM tower in a heartbeat! We had some concern about the maneuverability and so we demoed numerous brands and found that our concerns were pretty much unfounded. Obviously street/road conditions play a role here, but we found that the new MM's were fairly easy to get around. After running our purchase about town with no mishaps and never missing a spot we wanted, I'd not be concerned with the trucks size. Our's is 46'6".

We chose the MM for the aerial versatility. It had to be able to put the bucket on the sidewalk in our downtown district which is fairly narrow, so 4 or 5 sections was a must. It must have a flat cab roof to maximize scrub area going forward. The bucket as MG noted must have angled corners to make more sets for entry/egress. We also went with one tiller bar gun for the reasons already noted.

If you really feel speed of set up is a large factor (immediate arrival rescues), then a two outrigger stick usually is quicker than any tower. But that extra 30-60 seconds seem to disappear with mastering the system. If we had an immediate rescue for the tower, another FF would assist the operator in set up and then go to the bucket.

If you want it all: pump, crosslays and ground ladders a MM probably won't work out well. We carry over 200 ft of ground ladders b/c we have no tank blocking them. Maybe a side stack of ground ladders like the Boston MM Peirce's could work, but that cuts down on compartment space.

We went to the tower vs. the aerial stick as we felt that it would give our personnel the best protection given that almost all new construction uses truss es and the aerial MS work is much safer and more accurate with a FF in the bucket aiming the stream.

Lastly, 100 ft minimum? We aimed for that at the start but did not want to limit ourselves that much for the extra 5 to 7 feet. As TC notes the horizontal reach of his Smeal is 99ft! Our 93' is only 87.5', so there are many factors there that change the end use. Heck the E-One jack spread will allow you to be 3 feet closer to the building than others which quickly eats up the difference between 95 and 100 feet.

[Opinionated]

93' Tower... ALF/LTI I presume?

Sounds like a good - true account for a rig like that.

[Rescue101]

I've seen the rig,it's VERY well laid out.And damn near perfect for it's operational area.We also have over 200' ft of ground ladders AND have a pump and tank.We "stole"a few ideas from Adam's rig to use on ours.Not to mention his white paper to get it in the first place. T.C.

[Opinionated]

Any chance you can forward me the white paper? Anything to help build our case would be much appreciated.

[Rescue101]

Sean,It's in my OLD computer(I think).I'll see what I can do but you might get it quicker by asking Adam(RFDACM02).I think he's got it in electronic format. T.C.

[RFDACM02]

Anyone can send me a PM and I'll send them the justification papers. I might reformat it as there are three or four papers we used to spoon feed our local politicians rather than overwhelm them at once and have them toss them in the trash. Something worked in the end since I saw the truck sitting on the floor this morning again.

[Rescue101]

Seems as though Adam is going for his purple hydrant.For those seeking the Tower project white paper,E-mail him and he'll get it out for you.Or E-mail/PM me for contact info. T.C.

[firenresq77]

Seems as though Adam is going for his purple hydrant.For those seeking the Tower project white paper,E-mail him and he'll get it out for you.Or E-mail/PM me for contact info. T.C.

Wow....... Is that from the Fit-5 "discussion"??????????? I've seen people do much much more and not get Banned!!!

[WoodbridgeFFII]

You're forgetting, it's not an engine it's a Quad! If you look at the drawings they need the length to allow for storage of the long ladders. Quads are not very common today but they used to be in the past when manpower was such an issue.

We had a 1942 Mack Quad that was in service untill 1972, I have not seen one since then. Our Mack/75'Scope is 38' long!