in urban parts of New York. We consid- er several things to help clients select the right knuckle-boom truck.” The experts shared a few simple ques- tions to help buyers clarify their needs: • What species of trees are common in your area? • What is the tallest size tree that you typically remove in your area? • How many of those do you remove in a year? • What is access like for most of the tree care jobs you have? • What is your budget? “Answering these questions makes for a great starting point to better un- derstand the size machine you need,” emphasizes Creekmore. “Don’t think you need the biggest, tallest, baddest machine on the market. That simply is not the case.” Some manufacturers offer a single size or version, but with optional variants to customize the equipment. “When de- ciding which Fällbach variant is best, we can guide customers through select- ing appropriate tire width, whether the quick-change system would be useful and adding more counterweights to en- sure the equipment is suited to the work they’ll be doing,” says Frühholz. “When special solutions are required, we work with customers to implement them.” Many owners with smaller knuck- le-boom trucks do exceptionally well. The experts suggest that selecting a machine that will do at least 75% of what the business requires will make the most financial sense. Some owners add larger units to their fleet later but will keep the original unit because it gets used every day. NEW VERSUS USED Much like purchasing a car or truck, there are pros and cons to new and used knuckle-boom trucks. Buying new comes with significant advantages over buying used, especially for first-time owners. Reasons for this include hav-
The best operators for these trucks are someone who has done the work the manual way and can think critically about how to approach cutting the tree with a remote. Photo courtesy of Altec.
ing the latest technology, zero wear on the product and warranty coverage. On the flip side, disadvantages of new ma- chines include high initial investment, possibly high transport costs and po- tentially long delivery times. Investing in a used machine can come with lower purchasing costs and units readily available, making it easier to fill immediate needs. However, used machines can have hidden defects or damage due to misuse by the previous owner which could result in unantici- pated downtime, frustration and costly repairs that are no longer covered by the warranty.
New or used, it is helpful to have a team member who is handy with repairs to per- form regularly scheduled maintenance to avoid downtime as much as possible. TRAINING THE CREW Taking the most experienced climbing arborists on the crew and putting them in charge of the remote enables busi- ness owners to leverage those team members’ significant knowledge “The best operators for these trucks are someone who has done the work the manual way and can think critically about how to approach cutting the tree with a remote,” says Price. “Not only
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