Doing a middle of the build inspection...any advice?

[ducken]

you can try going to this website to host your photos, it is free.

http://imageshack.us/

Then copy and paste the url to your post. Still a pain but I think you can get your larger pics posted.

Truck looks nice from what I could see.

[FyredUp]

Hopefully this worked and these pics will show up!!

http://img119.imageshack.us/my.php?image=mvc031s3nr.jpg
http://img118.imageshack.us/img118/8563/mvc013s4ar.jpg
http://img118.imageshack.us/img118/2978/mvc018s3fr.jpg
http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/6303/mvc004s6hy.jpg
http://img117.imageshack.us/img117/4449/mvc008s6rc.jpg

A little more of a taste.

FyredUp

[BC79er_OLDDELETE]

Chief Dog,

Any particular reason for the 370HP and the lighter weight drivetrain as the choice you went with? We have two pumpers with 370s and we are flat around here, only 750gal tanks and they are dogs. With another 2 tons of water on board and hills to play with that seems like it will be light under the hood. If you're planning on building a 20 year truck that drivetrain will suffer in the long run. Ours are 6 years old with 30K miles on them and both have had major motor and drivetrain repairs performed. Hence the reason we're sticking with 500HP minimum motors and Allison 4000s on every new truck we're ordering. Rust can be cleaned and painted over, but the truck goes nowhere without the right powertrain.

Fyred - like the black over red. Good luck with the new buggy.

- Brian

[ChiefDog]

Chief Dog,

Any particular reason for the 370HP and the lighter weight drivetrain as the choice you went with? We have two pumpers with 370s and we are flat around here, only 750gal tanks and they are dogs. With another 2 tons of water on board and hills to play with that seems like it will be light under the hood. If you're planning on building a 20 year truck that drivetrain will suffer in the long run. Ours are 6 years old with 30K miles on them and both have had major motor and drivetrain repairs performed. Hence the reason we're sticking with 500HP minimum motors and Allison 4000s on every new truck we're ordering. Rust can be cleaned and painted over, but the truck goes nowhere without the right powertrain.

Fyred - like the black over red. Good luck with the new buggy.

- Brian

BC79er,

Bottomline Cost and keeping the power down to keep people from getting into trouble. (I have had to gradually increase the power every truck we buy 300, 320,370) We are in the Champlain Valley (extreme northwestern VT on Lake Champlain / I89 on a map) so we are not as hilly as you would think it would be in Vermont. There are places, Killington / Stowe who need the big boys to climb the ski area hills, we don't.

Our quint (89 E-One 80'/1500gpm/300g) is a 8v92 445hp geared for a top end of 55mph. It will smoke my car out of the hole from a dead stop. We presently have 4900 International 320hp/World trans, carrying 1000gal which is doggy at first, until it warms up. Then it is acceptable for most of our applications.

We have only one hill that we will not get a run on. We are a smaller village with lots of traffic, so we really don't need the 500hp hole shot most of the time. We get out of the village and on more open road (they aren't great this is VT) and 55-60 is all you want unless you have one of the guys who drives truck all the time.

I have one guy who wants 600+ cause he drives a 550hp TT unit.

We ran 246 calls last year and the 1999 has about 20,000 miles on it. So we have a hard time justifying the added expense of the big block motor. We also really need to purchase another vehicle sooner than the long range plan said. The big scheme of things makes us compromise to get functional but not kick-a## motors.

[BC79er_OLDDELETE]

Makes sense, I was just curious since we have people around us in the flatlands having drivetrain issues.

I agree completely with the top end speeds, we have ours geared at 68 unloaded since we do have several high speed roadways and need to avoid getting rammed from behind while responding. But I don't worry about the top end speed per se, doing 65 on an open highway worries me less than doing 45 in a 25 zone and they all do that. Stupid people can make stupid decisions and get in trouble at any speed.

And I agree on the cost issue too, it was $45K to go from the 12L 400HP DDC to the 14L 475HP in the heavy rescue we got in 2003. But we didn't want to face the issues we were having with the other two pumpers already. Good luck with the new buggy.

[ChiefDog]

Makes sense, I was just curious since we have people around us in the flatlands having drivetrain issues.

I agree completely with the top end speeds, we have ours geared at 68 unloaded since we do have several high speed roadways and need to avoid getting rammed from behind while responding. But I don't worry about the top end speed per se, doing 65 on an open highway worries me less than doing 45 in a 25 zone and they all do that. Stupid people can make stupid decisions and get in trouble at any speed.

And I agree on the cost issue too, it was $45K to go from the 12L 400HP DDC to the 14L 475HP in the heavy rescue we got in 2003. But we didn't want to face the issues we were having with the other two pumpers already. Good luck with the new buggy.

Yes, the big picture plan is to have a truck payment of $43,000 so adding 45K to the price adds another year before we can get another truck.

The original plan was to get rid of the reserve '76 two door engine and keep the '86 as the reserve. But with all the changes that have come about, we really should get rid of both and change plans.

But, it is still better than what other towns in VT have to deal with....

[FyredUp]

We got the 370 engine also. But we run about 40 calls a year and won't put 30K on it in it's life time.

We saw the 370 as a major bump over the 330 being offered by almost everyone else.

We will only have one rig not black over red when this arrives. We like the combination and we are the only ones in our couinty with it.

We are psyched about this truck and it is supposed to be delivered next week.

FyredUp

[donethat]

I've asked 13 different people how the black over red paint scheme came about and got 13 different answers. Care to make it 14?

[FyredUp]

Black over red? Hell we just like the way it looks!!

FyredUp

[2004F550]

we dont use the color but i think it is the best looking combo...we have about 2 thirds red and then 1 third white...not as bad as all white i guess...but black over red or just red is he best imo

[ChiefDog]

We got the 370 engine also. But we run about 40 calls a year and won't put 30K on it in it's life time.

We saw the 370 as a major bump over the 330 being offered by almost everyone else.

We will only have one rig not black over red when this arrives. We like the combination and we are the only ones in our couinty with it.

We are psyched about this truck and it is supposed to be delivered next week.

FyredUp

The cost vs. gain was a no brainer for the 370 vs. 330 in our case. The torque jumps too. Same as changing from the Q-flo to Q-max. Once the initial up charge was done it was no difference in price for a larger pump. (1250 to 2000gpm)

I talked to our dealer earlier and he will be getting the final paperwork for line by line sign-off headed my way tonight. I want to get this thing going.... Looks like we will even be more than $8.88 below the approved spending limit. 1998 we were approved for $199,900 spent $199,891.12 this time $285,000 limit and it looks like it will be around $280,XXX.00

Couple more options and the big motor.......... but that is just not in the cards.

[NewJerseyFFII]

Good luck guys with your new Hme pumpers , also seems like a very fair price tag for a fully loaded rig , to bad there are not any Hme dealers in the New Jersey area!...

[ChiefDog]

Good luck guys with your new Hme pumpers , also seems like a very fair price tag for a fully loaded rig , to bad there are not any Hme dealers in the New Jersey area!...

I am looking forward to it. We did look at E-one and Pierce. I liked options that they all had. But it seems that the HME offered a cross between a program truck and 100% custom one of a kind for a price we could afford. It appears that HME engineers the options for their various bodies etc and then you can pick the part number for a price. Their list has much more to choose from than an E-one Tradition and probably similar or more to the Pierce Contender. Pierce did not bid, I am not sure what their reason was but it could have been the 285,000 max we had.

I still believe that the true measure is the dealer support you will get, cost and that you are not dealing with a company that is ready to fold up shop. That is why we talked to the dealers we did. We know them, have done business with two of the three and will continue to do business with them after this purchase. We used their collective experience to come up with the end results.

They all make good rigs, they all make lemons once in a while, some are better than others. Think back in history, Pirsch, Maxium, Old ALF, Ward Lafrance, Hahn... Would you have thought they would close their doors when they were booming?????

[FyredUp]

We als talked to Pierce, Seagrave, Custom Fire, Darley, Toyne, and Elite Power Products. In my opinion they all on any given day can build a fine piece of fire apparatus.

It boiled down to valu for the dollar. HME gave us far more rescue engine for the dollar than the others.

6 man custom cab
370 hp Cummins (all the rest were offering the 330)
2000 gpm pump with no upcharge (others wanted to charge for this even though it is the same pump)
1020 gallons of water
Class A foam system to 6 discharges
rescue style compartments that are, well huge
overhead ladder rack
20 inch deep hose bed to carry 1400 feet of 5 inch and 1000 feet of 3 inch
10 kW hydraulic generator
2 cord reels
2 Hurst tool reels
4 telescopic 1500 watt lights
1 1500 watt eyebrow lights
all warning and turn signals are LED
heat and A/C to the rear of the cab
front bumper crosslys for 2-200 foot preconnects
mid mount crosslays for 2-300 foot preconnects
2 rear discharges
rear suction
and the option that we paid for ourselves...an am/fm/cd 4 speaker stereo!!

No one else came close for the money we had. They all build good rogs but when it boils down to cash at hand you have to go where you get the biggest bang for the buck.

FyredUp

[ChiefDog]

Sounds kick-a@@. How much did it end up being?

I thought about the brow light but we have lived without one on the other trucks and $$$.

Very similar to what we are talking... I was suprised on the Q2B in the grill from the picture.

[FyredUp]

ChiefDog..

It is an eQ2B..electronic. The real Q wouldn't fit because of our front bumper hose beds.

$255K and change


Fyredup

[ChiefDog]

That makes sense now. We are over 280k now.

Looking forward to seeing your finished truck pictures.....

[k1500chevy97]

Great unit so far 215k .....
2003 HME 1871 P2 6man
450 HP Cummins M11
Allison 4000 transmission
1750 Hale Qmax
900 Gallon tank
Ladders through Tank
1000' 5"
Front bumper 1 1/2" jumpline
Q2B


http://ImageEvent.com/k1500chevy97/firepics2

[ducken]

Nice looking rig. Good luck with her and hope she is everything you are expecting.

[RFDACM]

I truly hope the HME's work out for you. As for us:
1999 HME SFO/Cental States
1250 pump
750 wt
100 Bfoam
40 A foam
1500 ft' 4"

Serious rust on Body (not HME issue)
rust on chassis frame
cab wiring issues that have taken the truck from service 2-3 time a year
screws fall out of door panels (must be tightened weekly)
Expected life no more than 14 years.

It works, but we've defineately decided to go in another direction for all other apparatus.