Need Aerialscope help!

[NewJerseyFFII]

Our fire department has a 1974/1985 Mack Aerialscope 75' on a single rear axle that is 37" in O.A.L . Are there any new or re-built Aerialscopes in service at your department with ( tandem axles ) if so what is the total O.A.L. from bumper-to-bumper ! We would like to fit a " re-furbed " 75' scope into one of our pumper bays at our fire house .

[blueflame]

If you re-build your Aerialscope you will have to put a enclosed 4 door cab per NJ NJSA code standards. This will make your truck longer. Then you will have to put tandem axles on the rear to meet DOT-GVW weight limits. It's not going to happen at that 37' length.

[NewJerseyFFII]

I think a new 2006 Aerialscope 75' on a Seagrave chassis cab is 41' O.A.L on a long four door cab model !

[chiefeng7]

I think a new 2006 Aerialscope 75' on a Seagrave chassis cab is 41' O.A.L on a long four door cab model !

The OAL of an aerialscope is made up of 4 components.

1) Cab and Front Bumper
2) Egress area to the turntable behind the cab
3) Length of the turntable (fixed)
4) Length of the body

The front bumper has very little room for improvement if you want to have a tilt cab with pull out front jacks. The cab can be made shorter. There are many versions of custom cabs out there (from Spartan, Pierce, and Seagrave) available in different lengths. You could knock a foot off the OAL of the truck just by choosing a different cab, but the crews will probably be very cramped.

The egress area to the turntable could have been reduced 6" on our truck, but that would have made the steps very narrow. Not good for a mere 6" OAL. Reduce it too far and the boom will hit the back of the cab during operations. Oops.

Length of the turntable can not be changed.

The length of the body is determined by the length of the torque box that the ladder is in. Regardless of the number of axles, the body size is determined by this torque box. If you want to carry 35' ladders (and who wouldn't?), you are stuck with a certain size torque box. To shorten this is all but impossible without going with 3 section 35 foot ladders. Lousy way to make a truck short if you ask me, but a possibility. Also keep in mind that your existing truck body would look MUCH longer if the ladders were enclosed.

Shortening a scope? Not easy. The biggest difference between the old ones and the new ones is the cab. If anybody thinks my logic is flawed and has a better way to look at it, speak your mind, but I dont see much other way to look at it.

Jon

[NewJerseyFFII]

The OAL of an aerialscope is made up of 4 components.

1) Cab and Front Bumper
2) Egress area to the turntable behind the cab
3) Length of the turntable (fixed)
4) Length of the body

The front bumper has very little room for improvement if you want to have a tilt cab with pull out front jacks. The cab can be made shorter. There are many versions of custom cabs out there (from Spartan, Pierce, and Seagrave) available in different lengths. You could knock a foot off the OAL of the truck just by choosing a different cab, but the crews will probably be very cramped.

The egress area to the turntable could have been reduced 6" on our truck, but that would have made the steps very narrow. Not good for a mere 6" OAL. Reduce it too far and the boom will hit the back of the cab during operations. Oops.

Length of the turntable can not be changed.

The length of the body is determined by the length of the torque box that the ladder is in. Regardless of the number of axles, the body size is determined by this torque box. If you want to carry 35' ladders (and who wouldn't?), you are stuck with a certain size torque box. To shorten this is all but impossible without going with 3 section 35 foot ladders. Lousy way to make a truck short if you ask me, but a possibility. Also keep in mind that your existing truck body would look MUCH longer if the ladders were enclosed.

Shortening a scope? Not easy. The biggest difference between the old ones and the new ones is the cab. If anybody thinks my logic is flawed and has a better way to look at it, speak your mind, but I dont see much other way to look at it.

Jon

Jon, We run our Mack/Aerialscope with a 4 man crew so a new smaller cab & chassis will be ok. Do you think a rebuilt scope can be built under the 40 ft O.A.L so we can use our engine bay for the aerial ?

[chiefeng7]

Yup.

~J