Luverne pumpers

[pcf355]

My City council has recently chose to purchase a Luverne pumper on a commercial chassis. The Dept. recomended a different mfg.. The apparatus was bid twice and the second time around we were not allowed to spec. anything on the chassis besides being of the commercial type. Therefore this Co. came in substantialy cheaper. I have not heard of any one liking the Luverne but I would like to hear good or bad points and any problems that others have had. Any info would be much appreciated.
Thanks

[Brtengr]

Chicago uses exclusively Luverne apparatus, but they have a very specific specification for each type of apparatus and there is some economy of scale when they order their apparatus.

[HOTDOG]

A year or so ago we spec'd a new ride and Luverne brought a rig by for us to look at. To be quite honest, I was in no way impressed.

The rig was on a Spartan chassis, 4 man cab. Their compartmentation, although large, wasted a lot of space. All piping is done with flexible hoses, the pump panel (top mount) is awkward to operate (the controls are hard to reach). The thing that I was disappointed in the most was the electrical system. All relays, etc are in the off side forward compartment. There is a sliding door and all of the electrical components are behind this door. The electrical compartment is in no way water tight and looked succeptable to damage.

I have never "ran" a Luverne, but these are the reasons that we purchased a Pierce.

[mediator]

I think I would have to agree with hotdog!! I was not impressed either. The electrical system was just in the wrong place with very little moisture protection. Also the wasted space and the flex hoses. It really reminded me of a red bread box on wheels!! There was just something about it that it was just to square!

[pcf355]

We also didnt like the idea of flexible hoses and they also ran the rear suction through the tank to come close to making the required 1500gpm we required. Plus we were not really happy with the single arm ladder rack they use either. the electrical deal sound like a BS set up, Ill have to bring that up. The thing that made us maddest was the way the reps treated our chief, and firefighters who drew up the specs, with no respect. Ten we got blamed for the bad attitudes

thanks for the info, its much appreciated

[NYSmokey]

A neighboring department got a Luverne rescue pumper. I was not that impressed with the craftmanship. The company did not pay attention to the little details. The fuel door was corroded in no time and some of the parts looked shoddy. To be fair, I have never ridden in one or seen it in action at a fire. As far as Chicago goes, I think I read somewhere that Luverne either lost the new bid or came close. I want to say that American LaFrance may have won some of the contract. Someone please correct me if I am wrong

[HOTDOG]

pcf355,
I feel your pain on the truck specs. When our truck specs were written, our city more or less told us we didn't know what we were doing. When you put your heart and time into making something that will benefit you the most, some political horses backside who wouldn't know a firetruck from a sedan says your an idiot. Hang in there, your not the only ones who have to put up with it.

Best of luck.

[d308fd]

O.K. here we go. A local dept. has a luverne pumper truck. It seems to me for all I know to be a good one. the unit is a chevy 4x4 with a 750 front pump and a 1000 gallon tank. The main problem they had at first was with the plastic air hoses under the truck. They got cought by a range fire and when the fire run under the truck it melted the lines. a little while latter in the fire the transfer case whent into neutral and had to be fixed right quick. The question that I have for you guys is what is wrong with flexible hoses. Our trucks have to have all of these flexible along with a lot of other things to maintain good off road unit. The one thing I am sure of is at least it is not a E-one I know we have H#$% with ours.

Hope the Info helps
D308

[SCOOBY14B]

We just recently purchased four new Luvernes. We spent 5 full days in Branden inspecting these trucks with their guys. Before you make a decision on ANY truck go to their facility!!! I have been to Saulsbury, E-One, Luverne and Ferrara. Luverne's guys impressed me more than any of them.

Something most might not know is that Luverne has had a total change in management top to bottom in the last year or so. They are much more focused on customer's needs thant before.

[Rescue101]

One of the towns I work for just purchased a Spartan/Luverne 6 man cab 1000 gal tank 1250 pump top mount.Fit and finish is very good wiring well laid out and neatly finished.The company and it's reps have done an excellent job of adressing a few small problems that we had on delivery.It has the single post ladder rack that works flawlessly.We did set it up so if the ladder rack failed they could easily be removed from the back.The local field rep.,D&B fire equipment in Freeport has provided a lot of extras and great followup.About the flexable plumbing you all whine about,if you had to do any major pump work you might take a different view of the setup.All in all we're very happy with the unit and I'll post if anything changes.T.C.

[mediator]

Who wants a flex hose,inside a compartment to be in the way and to take up space! Not to mention clamps to replace when they start leaking.

[Rescue101]

On ours all the flex hoses are in the pump house,no problem.The "clamps" you refer to are Victraulic couplings.Now I've only been around this type of coupling for around 33 yrs so I'm a little new at this but I've NEVER SEEN ONE LEAK!They are designed for hydraulic equipnent running at several thousand pounds of pressure,I'm quite sure they will hold all a little old Fire pump can produce.Some one mentioned earlier"you get what you spec"Well we Speced what we wanted,Luverne built it,it meets or exceeds all our specs and we're happy with it.Being a mechanic by trade and a fabricator by hobby I can pick anybody's truck apart.But I don't 'cause what works for me doesn't necessarily work for you.I don't know about Luvernes early years but most of the stuff you guys are complaining about doesn't exist on our truck.Only time will tell how it's gonna hold up. T.C.

[HOTDOG]

Rescue 101 - Sorry if you thought I stepped on your toes 'cause you have a Luverne. If you are happy with it, kudo's to you. I was just stating what I saw on a truck....and if 6 months ago was Luverne's earlier years, boy time surely flies.

I am not questioning your mechanical ability, nor your expertise in fire apparatus, but as an engineer I was not impressed with the apparatus that was brought to us to look at. Yes, no one builds a perfect truck, there are flaws in all of them, but, in my opinion, there are fewer flaws in several other manufacturer's rides than Luverne's.

That is just my opinion. I saw the same problems that others saw.

[mediator]

Dont want to **** anyone off but I think I know the difference between a victaulic and a regular hose clamp. If not I wouldnt have the job I have now. As for whining about the flex hoses I would rather hard plumb the whole thing than half plumb it with flex lines. As for one of of the clamps leaking I have saw one leak, regular and Vic. I work for a fire truck refurbish co. and Ive seen all kinds of them and assisted in rebuilding a few in my time. Its just my 2 cents worth .