Bronto Switches To Pierce From E One

[pumper8032]

Coming from a country that exclusivley use Bronto's and working for a department that uses Bronto's exclusivley, I can tell you that Bronto's just don't suit the American fire service from what I have seen. They are slow to set up, which just doesn't suit the American way of working.

Perhaps it would be a complimentry piece to ladder companies etc, but for the traditional market perhaps not. If your response area was mainly industrial the Bronto would be a good idea, great platform.

One piece I have used and I still think would be good for America is the Metz Ladders, so incredibly fast to set up, and are so small and nimble....and yes you guys bang on about ground ladders, but for a small department they would be sensational.

The Bronto really is geared towards the european way of firefighting, which is they way we operate in Australia. We only run with 2 crew, and pretty much have no gear on it, just the boom.

[FIREMECH1]

Nope you are correct. Bronto has been owned by FS since 1995.

Thanks, I think I have it now. Bronto is/was the name of the company, and not a piece of equipment that was built or designed by another company in Finland.

Damn, it sucks being the noob on fire equipment, companies, manufacturers, etc, etc.

FM1

[Rescuechief72]

Jay, VT has a 174' aerial?

I know they have a couple of 3 and 4 story hotels at the ski resort ... or at least that's what they had a few years ago.

I can imagine that driving that thing must be a bear on the access road.

http://www.jayvt.com/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC={63644070-49B7-4A95-B849-8BDE90A1759D}

[sven73]

Nope you are correct. Bronto has been owned by FS since 1995.

[FIREMECH1]

Anybody care to nick pic this??? Found it while doing a search on its history.

Bronto Skylift and E-One have teamed up to bring the Bronto F118 HDT emergency vehicle to North America. "The Bronto brand has typically been a European product," said Paul Stephenson. E-One product manager. "Bronto Skylift is headquartered in Tampere. Finland, and was purchased by Federal Signal in 1996.

"The Bronto F118 HDT was based on customer input gathered during our initial market penetration with a model that didn't exactly meet requirements. We were able to make a few small modification to our plan to more closely meet our customer requirements for more side reach for access buildings."

The Bronto vehicle is powered by a Detroit Diesel series 60 engine rated 470 hp at this application. The engine drives an Allison HD456PR five-speed transmission with output retarder to assist in vehicle speed management and increase service brake life. Meritor supplies the front and rear axles, with a 21,000 lb. FL943 axle in front and a RT-58-180 axle rated 58,000 lb. in the rear.

The vechicle's hydraulic system uses twin Rexroth model 71 load-sensing hydraulic pumps.

The aerial device is mounted on an E-One Cyclone II chassis with an all aluminum E-One cab and body. "The chassis and body work is done right here in Ocala, Fla.," said Stephenson. "The aerial device comes over from Europe as an integrated, completely operational system and we just bolt it to the top of the truck."

The elevating platform has a side reach of 84 ft. and is capable of heights to 118 ft. The platform is capable of swiveling 45[degrees] left and right for a total swivel of 90[degrees]. The vehicle is equipped with a 2000 gpm Hale Qmax pump and a 300 gal. Ploypropylene water tank.

From the reading of the first paragraph, Federal Signal owns the Finland company. Am I reading this wrong??

FM1

EDIT: Here is the link of the information: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m...5/ai_58062914/

[firepundit]

Oh please... you aren't accurate at all about Pierce being originally involved with the Bronto. Bronto entered into North America in the mid 80s in Canada and then they tried to work with the management of Pierce for the US market but they (Pierce) did everything they could to discourage and ruin the market for the Bronto hence it didn't go over in the US for a number of years until Fed Sig bought it when they owned E One but then E One didn't do a good job either obviously.

Oh well as they say time will tell! Bets anyone?

There used to be a guy that posted on a regular basis that could give us some insight to this. C'mon gig buy give us your take. You sold enough Bronto's to get that big ring. Talk to us.

[Aerialguy11]

Bronto & Pierce

Pierce was originally involved in Bronto red side distribution & mounting in the mid 90s, but when Federal Signal purchased Bronto in the late 90s, those responsibilities shifted to E-One.
Now that Federal has sold E-One, but still owns Bronto, those responsibilities had to go somewhere. Pierce/Bronto always seemed like a better fit...

Oh please... you aren't accurate at all about Pierce being originally involved with the Bronto. Bronto entered into North America in the mid 80s in Canada and then they tried to work with the management of Pierce for the US market but they (Pierce) did everything they could to discourage and ruin the market for the Bronto hence it didn't go over in the US for a number of years until Fed Sig bought it when they owned E One but then E One didn't do a good job either obviously.

Oh well as they say time will tell! Bets anyone?

[rmcatee1]

Question to those who know (really...lol) IS is the articulating feature of the Snorkel that CFD like or just the 50 ft. of vertical reach with a platform? Would a smal telescopic boom with a platform do the job that met their rigorous wear/tear.

As I understood at the time, the short, articulating Snorkel worked well for the elevated trains. I have also seen them being used in alleys as well.

[skylifter]

Bronto back to Pierce

Pierce was originally involved in Bronto red side distribution & mounting in the mid 90s, but when Federal Signal purchased Bronto in the late 90s, those responsibilities shifted to E-One.
Now that Federal has sold E-One, but still owns Bronto, those responsibilities had to go somewhere. Pierce/Bronto always seemed like a better fit...

[Aerialguy11]

Chicago Snorkel Need

I'm 99% positive Rosenbauer/Metz has a smaller version of their articulating boom, I'm sure Bronto does too already developed for other markets/regions. Pierce could probably tap Bronto to "fire" rate a smaller platform already in production for substantially less than engineering a new solution.

The return on investment though just to sell three booms to Chicago seems pretty slim. If everyone wanted Snorkels, ALF would be selling the crap out of them. And while I'm pretty fond of what the Metz product can do, I'm the first person to say they haven't taken the American fire service by storm...

I think the idea of Chicago having a small, nimble Snorkel style aerial device while also meeting compliance with the latest industry standard rules and regs, just isn't feasible. Yes, I know in Europe there are such monsters, but they are not meeting the U.S. fire service standards for capacities, etc.

Question to those who know (really...lol) IS is the articulating feature of the Snorkel that CFD like or just the 50 ft. of vertical reach with a platform? Would a smal telescopic boom with a platform do the job that met their rigorous wear/tear.

[Rescue101]

Hehe,guess my mechanic is showing. T.C.

[FWDbuff]

Hater,Realist,Kool aide drinker the list goes on and on. But the TRUTH is,if they fell off the planet Monday you COULD still buy a firetruck tuesday. That undoubtably would respond to emergencies and make them go away. Around these parts,rhere are many brands being used and I don't see any that are WAY ahead of anybody elses.But we don't run tons of fires so who knows. Or more to the point,who cares. T.C.

TC leave the poor boy alone. Where he comes from, they can afford the ovals.....They light their cigars using $50 bills. You need to see their newly renovated museum. Show the man some pictures of the museum and the Ward Lafrance, Matty.

[Rescue101]

Hater......

Hater,Realist,Kool aide drinker the list goes on and on. But the TRUTH is,if they fell off the planet Monday you COULD still buy a firetruck tuesday. That undoubtably would respond to emergencies and make them go away. Around these parts,there are many brands being used and I don't see any that are WAY ahead of anybody elses.But we don't run tons of fires so who knows. Or more to the point,who cares. T.C.

[mtg55]

Sean thats just a figment of your imagination.

Hater......

[FWDbuff]

1+ is Pierce builds a good chassis... except for ours that the rear keeps shifting on

At least they circle the problem.

Sean thats just a figment of your imagination.