Smeal Demonstration in Roanoke
Smeal apparatus demonstration at the service center. Smeal brought an engine and a rear mount platform truck to the service center for us to check out the other day. Prior to this day, I had not been around a Smeal that I knew of. Hampden-Sydney just took delivery of a 75' Smeal Sirius Quint. The pictures below are that of demo units they brought by for us to check out.
This is an engine with a 1000 gallon tank on it. The Sirius cab is roomy, however it still doesn't compare to the Quantum cab of Pierce.
This rear mount 100' ladder was impressive in its compartment space. The Sirius cab is the same as on the engine shown above. One interesting note was that in this cab, the seat belts have an alarm on them. When you sit in the seat, it recognizes the weight, and an alarm will go off if the truck is in drive while the seatbelt is not being used.
This is the hose bed. It comes out and shifts down. They boast that it will hold 1000' of 5" hose. This makes it easier to load the hose.
On a historical note, from what I understand, Walter Lambert made a similar contraption on one of our Grey Ghosts. The hose bed slid out and had drop down wooden legs to hold it up.
All in all, the Smeal company makes a decent firetruck. But then again most manufacturers do. The biggest issue when buying a firetruck is, the longevity of the truck you are purchasing, and the maintenance costs along the way.
This is an engine with a 1000 gallon tank on it. The Sirius cab is roomy, however it still doesn't compare to the Quantum cab of Pierce.
This rear mount 100' ladder was impressive in its compartment space. The Sirius cab is the same as on the engine shown above. One interesting note was that in this cab, the seat belts have an alarm on them. When you sit in the seat, it recognizes the weight, and an alarm will go off if the truck is in drive while the seatbelt is not being used.
This is the hose bed. It comes out and shifts down. They boast that it will hold 1000' of 5" hose. This makes it easier to load the hose.On a historical note, from what I understand, Walter Lambert made a similar contraption on one of our Grey Ghosts. The hose bed slid out and had drop down wooden legs to hold it up.
All in all, the Smeal company makes a decent firetruck. But then again most manufacturers do. The biggest issue when buying a firetruck is, the longevity of the truck you are purchasing, and the maintenance costs along the way.
2 comments:
We looked at that platform that comes out for loading hose once too. It was also for a ladder truck. Keep in mind that the motor that moves this is in a tight spot (a real $$$ maker if service needs to be performed, also in the north east remember road salt) And lastly, how often does your truck dump a hose bed? We decided that we've been loading hose the old fashion way for many many years without any serious injuries and decided not to go with the option. I also believe that it takes up a considerable amount of compartment space and ground ladders as well. Just some food for thought and NO I'm not the lunchlady!
Glad to see RFD looking toward the future. Remember Black/Red!
I don't think we have to worry about this option. But you never know. And as far as our ladder trucks dumping hose, it rarely happens.
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