Whats so great about an aerialscope?

[NewJerseyFFII]

But don't you wish you could get another solid Mack chassis for it? A good CF one. They were tough and kept on going as well. (and I know you meant the chassis, not the boom)

This is the last Mack CF chassis vehicle we have , the other three have been retired or sold over the years . It is starting to get difficult finding replacment parts for the " Mack CF " fire service trucks after mack stopped building them in 1991, They are one solid " Bull Dog " !...

[Bones42]

But don't you wish you could get another solid Mack chassis for it? A good CF one. They were tough and kept on going as well. (and I know you meant the chassis, not the boom)

[NewJerseyFFII]

I got a 75' 1963 Snorkle that was rechassised once and is a second due piece. Why do you have to keep having the Aerialscope rebuilt so many times?

We are not rebuilding the Aerialscope boom & platform , just replacing the 32 year old Mack CF canopy cab with a new 4- door cab & chassis , body , and paint .The boom will have new hydro hoses replaced at the same time as the re-chassis, a new body must be installed because of the change from single axle to a tandem axle due to the total GVW of the vehicle! you can't build a Aerialscope on a single axle any more , you need a 44,000 - 58,000 lb rear.

[Bones42]

I got a 75' 1963 Snorkle that was rechassised once and is a second due piece. Why do you have to keep having the Aerialscope rebuilt so many times?

[NewJerseyFFII]

Ran with an ex-FDNY 75' Aerialscope in Vermont for about 10 years, the replaced it with a 95' Stuphen. We were actually the 3rd owners of the Aerialscope, as it was originally bought from NY by the city next to us, who ran it for about 7 years, until they replaced it with something longer. We thought about another aerialscope, but the price was just too high, plus there were concerns about the lack of a user firendly escape system.

Tough as nails. Reliable. Stable. Lots of advantages to it. We never used it on ground level "FDNY style" as we felt that what apparatus deck guns and ground-level master streams were for. It served the purpose but the new buildings it town dictated a longer aerial, so we replaced it and yes, sold it to it's 4th owner, a rural department about 50 miles northeast of us. Ten Bucks says it will still be running with them in 10 years.

That being said, I found the Stuphen aerial to be just as sturdy and stable, and liked the outrigger/support system even more than the Mack's. Bucket was bigger and allowed for the mounting of more tools, and liked the twin master stream system as well. Obviously the escape system on the Stuphen much better as well (we purchased the high rail option).

Our Mack/Aerialscope is over 32 years old and still operates like a clock , we are in the planning stages of doing a Aerialscope Re-chassis ,new body etc. The truck was rebuilt in 1985 by " Baker " and we could most likely get 20 - 25 more years out of this tough as nails tower ladder . How many trucks other than a scope have been rebuilt over & over again ! ... you can't kill a "Scope".

[LaFireEducator]

Ran with an ex-FDNY 75' Aerialscope in Vermont for about 10 years, the replaced it with a 95' Stuphen. We were actually the 3rd owners of the Aerialscope, as it was originally bought from NY by the city next to us, who ran it for about 7 years, until they replaced it with something longer. We thought about another aerialscope, but the price was just too high, plus there were concerns about the lack of a user firendly escape system.

Tough as nails. Reliable. Stable. Lots of advantages to it. We never used it on ground level "FDNY style" as we felt that what apparatus deck guns and ground-level master streams were for. It served the purpose but the new buildings it town dictated a longer aerial, so we replaced it and yes, sold it to it's 4th owner, a rural department about 50 miles northeast of us. Ten Bucks says it will still be running with them in 10 years.

That being said, I found the Stuphen aerial to be just as sturdy and stable, and liked the outrigger/support system even more than the Mack's. Bucket was bigger and allowed for the mounting of more tools, and liked the twin master stream system as well. Obviously the escape system on the Stuphen much better as well (we purchased the high rail option).

[NewJerseyFFII]

Does the aerialscope meet NFPA?

The Aerialscope brochure we recieved from Seagrave Fire Apparatus lists the boom ladder compliant with NFPA ,and a available folding handrail. Platform capacity 1,000 lbs while flowing 1,500 GPM at any boom angle !...

[fdsq10]

You are correct, we the Officers, and Firefighters know that, even the apparatus group could not convince the higher up's this is the way to go. One big reason is our Chiefs want pumps on our ladders which really jacked the price up on the aerial scope. So with that we have ALF's. and periece tower ladders, Periece straight sticks quints with extrication equipment. STAY SAFE.

[BVFD1983]

You could have had that Scope refurbed and remounted on a new chassis for around 500k.

[fdsq10]

Our Department just placed in service one of those peirce (Dumpster Buckets) and has ordered another one with no cat walk, what do we know as the operators of this truck (SCOPE). We had a Baker aerial scope $$$$$$$$$$$$ was the reason we did not replace it with another one.

For the operation they are the work horse of the fire service from setting the outriggers out, to the operation of the bucket, the fire knock down power is great and it allows you to operate as previously metioned from ground level FDNY style. Our peirece and ALF towers have had outrigger problems working from this position. Never once had an outrigger light, alarm, or overload problem with our aerial scope. Yes they are expensive but the money you spend now on a SCOPE, will save you in the long run with *****E, **F & **E. STAY SAFE.

[RFDACM]

JfTL14-
Not that its the same thing, but our new ALF tower has a large amount of catwalk on three sides, hand-stick controlled gun, and full hieght openin doors (inswing, some others swing out, how stupid is that?). And while we didn't opt for it, ALF will install a single "aerialscope" joystick in the bucket. Saw this on Waterbury, CT's new Tower 2.

The one that I can't understand is the Peirce "Dumpster" bucket. You know that monster thing with not catwalk at all? What's the point? I'd defineately prefer soemthing with the lip edge to work from.

[chtucker]

Now would you buy a Seagrave knowing that there are not very many in your area (if at all?)

[jfTL41]

From speaking with shops personnel, no FDNY buckets have been "ripped off" from being overloaded, they have been ripped off by collapsing parapits, but for the amount of use the amount of incidents has been miniscule.

As for some of the benefits of the Aerialscope the biggest benefit in my mind is the bucket itself, with the single joystick control large catwalk, and full opening doors (in both directions) clear of that stupid limbo bar that many mfgrs use on their buckets.

[Bones42]

You obviuosly don't use one do you?

No, the ones in this area have been replaced with tower ladders. Something about being able to get guys (and victims) up and down from the bucket...

I always thought this "option" was a nice feature over the straight snorkle (aerialscope)...

[chiefeng7]

I'd love to see how you fit that much weight in that little bucket.

You obviuosly don't use one do you? :-D

Seriously, it was during an aerial test with weights, not people. BUT it is not uncommon to see 6 firefighters pushed into there at over 200 apiece.... not quite 2 grand in people weight but it IS a lot....

At some point you have to ask yourself what the weakest link is... if you overload it TOO much, what is going to give? In case anybody's curious its the leveling cylinders for the bucket leveling system.... they operate on a maximum of 2200PSI (or so) and applied over about 24 square inches between the two cylinders.... you are looking at about 52,000 pound of counter-force against the bucket... with its unibody design that much weight would probably crinkle the buckets frame before anything would snap.... the pins that hold the cylinders in are VERY thick and the backets are large, thick, and welded....

Makes ya wonder about the couple times FDNY sheared the buckets right off... NOT good times.


Jon