Tweet
Ok. so the ember is completely made in Louisiana, cab chassis and body? Are there any in service in NJ?
-
-
The Ember cab sure looks like the Intruder cab (built by HME) with the Ferrara grill that is used on the Inferno and Igniter cabs. It makes me think that possibly the cab shell (at least) for the Intruder comes from HME to Ferrara where the build is completed. Anybody know for sure? I know that both Smeal and Rosenbauer have "their own cabs" that are actually built by Spartan that feature a different fascia. The Spartan cab shell used to be manufactured by Marion but I'm not sure if this is still the case.Comment
-
I was talking to a Ferrara rep at Harrisburg who I think was from long island and he said the embler chassis was made by HME and is a lower end lower chassis option to save a lot of money.cpComment
-
Unless something has changed, the Ember is an HME product. I looked at one at FDIC and the builder's plate says so. Snazzy new Ferrara specific grill on an HME chassis.Originally posted by tomr View Post
No different than a Smeal Sirius which is a Spartan with a Smeal specific grill."Share your knowledge - it's a way to achieve immortality." - Stolen from Chase Sargent's Buddy to Boss programComment
-
Sorry my mistake, I was thinking of the Ferrara built ( Igniter ) chassis built in house with the same grill !Originally posted by tomr View PostComment
-
What ever happened to the good ol' days when the name on the truck was the name of who built it. Jeesh.Career Firefighter
Volunteer Captain
-Professional in Either Role-
Originally posted by Rescue101Comment
-
-
HME Chassis ?
Is the HME chassis cab that bad that no one likes, or buys there product. I think that if you can only afford to spend so much on a apparatus and want a ( custom cab & chassis ) then you have to go with the low budget chassis. May it be a Typhoon, Metro, Intruder, Panther, Saber, Shields, etc. It is still much better than commercial cab with less room for firefighters and a better turning radius, shorter wheelbase, etc!Comment
-
The HME chassis is an alternative that some like, some don't. I have customers that are devout HME fans, other's don't like it. The same can be said of Spartan, KME, etc.Originally posted by WoodbridgeFFII View Post
The price for admission to a custom chassis is substantially lower for the entry level HME than with Spartan. And no matter how much you dislike HME, I would consider it a vast improvement in many areas over a conventional commercial chassis."Share your knowledge - it's a way to achieve immortality." - Stolen from Chase Sargent's Buddy to Boss programComment
-
The only problems that I heard of with the budget HME Intruder is that a few years back, some units had weld cracks in the cab ?Originally posted by npfd801 View PostAttached FilesComment
-
-
Our 1999 HME chassis had torn sheet metal in the floor of the cab, but this was replaced by a thicker gauge in later models. While overall we're not to pleased with the HME in general, they took care of our issues once we got past the Big "R" who was less than little help.Originally posted by WoodbridgeFFII View PostComment
-
We've always had very good luck with Spartan. Good product in our eyes. Never had any HME cab/chassis units. Balto County had a few years back but don't really know how well they liked them. Elkton MD has several HME's but now are going with Pierce. I've heard that they've had a lot of quality problems with HME but that's just hearsay. HME has to be better than the Simon-Duplex junkers that we had several years back.Comment
-
Much of HME's cab issues from the past seem to have been taken care of by switching to Marion to build their cabs, who happens to also build Spartan's."Share your knowledge - it's a way to achieve immortality." - Stolen from Chase Sargent's Buddy to Boss programComment
-
That's one of the reasons I like the Sutphen brand, most, if not all, of their apparatus are on Sutphen chassis. I say most because their commercial rigs are built on the chassis of whatever brand they use be it International, Freightliner, etc. But all of their custom rigs are built by Sutphen and on Sutphen chassis. Dang good rigs too.Originally posted by GTRider245 View PostComment
-
Ding ding ding!!! Well said. The automakers have been doing this for decades. Many of Chevy's compact cars are Japanese built to GM's specs. Same for ford and the Ranger series. It keeps the price of admission down, and allows them to offer a wider variety of models.Originally posted by npfd801 View Post
I don't know much about HME, we've never owned one, nor have any of our neighbors, until now. One of our most frequent mutual aid partners just got an HME rescue. Word on the street is that they've had issues with the chassis already. However, Chicago has used them for years, and they seem to like them.
My only beef is that one model, the SFO, I believe, looks like a box with wheels. Whether or not it is a good chassis, I don't know- just that I think it is ugly as sin...
Back on topic, FFA advertises the Ember as a lower cost customizable chassis. The Inferno is the flagship chassis. As the NFD bid seems to be based on $$ as the deal breaker, FFA would be dumb to bid pumpers on their most expensive option. Basing the bid on the ember lets them compete pricewise, and still have all the custom options Newark expects.
Imo, the problem with a low cost uber alles bid system, is that you end up with the cheap stuff. Granted, budget dollars are limited, and your chief has to stand in front of the city, town or commission and justify every stinkin dollar, but a little creativity, and a list of what you will compromise on and what you won't can help you get the rig you WANT at the price the bean counters will pay. If that means playing favorites, too bad.
FWIW, not every dept beats the snot out of their trucks like FDNY or Newark do. A rig that the brothers in the Bronx hand back to the manuf in pieces in 3 years may very well last most depts 15 years or more, lol. That kind of call volume over those "roads" tends to wear stuff down in a hurry!Comment
Comment