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Linde, Taylor or Kalmar reachstacker?

Number of messages: 14

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DavidL
Guayas, Ecuador

We're considering on buying a new reach stacker for our port in South America. (Very hot and humid weather year round.)
We've narrowed the search to Taylor RT-9968, Linde C4531 TL/5, and a Kalmar DRF of similar specs.
I lean toward the Linde due to their reputation, but our company has a good long term relationship with Taylor, while other ports around here are getting Kalmars.
My main concern is maintenance costs and parts availability in the US (once there, getting them to S. America is no problem.) Please your suggestions or experience with any of these machines.

Posted 29 May 2009 08:41 AM

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ian_p
Victoria, Australia

Hi David, all of the machines are running similar drive lines, Cummins (option on the DRF, Volvo TAD 1250 standard) Dana, Axletech / Kessler. the Kalmar DRF is slightly different as it uses the Dana TE 32000 gear box (the Linde uses the TE 27000) . Service costs should be similar based on the drive line. With regards to parts supply Kalmar has offices in a number of areas of the US and a manufacturing plant in Kansas, as well as one in Ecuador. if you look at the Kalmar web site it will give contact details for the office in Ecuador.
Regards
Ian

Posted 2 Jun 2009 09:49 AM

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daniel_g
Flevoland, Netherlands

I would suggest looking at Konecranes (SMV) as well if you haven't already, and they seem to have a dealer in South America which might make things easier. I heard on the grapevine that Taylor was having some big issues at the moment, but how big those issues are and if it has any significant consequences for the business is something else.
The Kalmar is the premium pick of the bunch, but you pay for that.

Posted 3 Jun 2009 04:49 PM

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martin_p
Maryland, United States

Please call us. We specialize in benchmarking manufacturers creating a profile that will provide customer experiences, warranty history, parts capability and most importantly, operational history. In USA 443-249-3301. Contacts with people who own Kalmar, Taylor, Fantuzzi, Liebherr, Linde, Hyster, Konecranes.

Also have excellent used equipment available.

-------------------------
"Equip-Right-The Equipment Advisory."

Posted 4 Jun 2009 11:29 PM

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sam_c
United States

You should take a look at the Crown RR5700 trucks. The RR5700 has industry-leading performance, both in hydraulics and traction. The On-Trac system is very impressive on wet or slippery floors, which may be a concern for hot, humid environments. Also, they are readily available in the US with a good parts and service network. For further details, see crown (dot) com.

Posted 5 Jun 2009 00:08 AM

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EasyM
South Carolina, United States

Sam C,

He's talking about container handlers, not Class II reach trucks.

I don't believe that Crown can handle an 80,000 lb. 40 foot container with a reach truck.

Posted 5 Jun 2009 02:50 AM

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kevin_k
dumfriesshire, United Kingdom

ha ha . loadwheels would take a poundin shiftin 40foot iso,s .

Posted 5 Jun 2009 05:41 AM

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vic_k
Ayrshire, United Kingdom

Why not have the Hyster Yardmaster on your list?

Posted 5 Jun 2009 07:00 PM

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bill_reimundus
Essex, United Kingdom

You are right to be concerned over maintenance issues but perhaps the most important mistake to avoid is being fixated on initial truck cost when making comparisons between different makes. It is crucial to compare lifetime costs between various machines as these can vary widely. To give you an idea by how much read my piece on SMV reach stackers in Shipping Times. Go into Google and tap in "Poor container truck buying costs ports dear".

Posted 5 Jun 2009 07:44 PM

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Ricky
New Jersey, United States

I would go for the Taylor. I read that the new TS-9972 is built for 1.000.000 cicles, or 40% more than all other brands, that stand on 600.000 cycles. That impressed me A LOT, as this means 40% LESS maintenance costs, and 40% LESS downtime.

Taylor used to be REALLY expensive, but it seems that their price now is equal or lower than Linde and Kalmar.

This upper message from Bill reinforces that. Thinking long-term, there's a BIG difference on maintenance costs from one brand to another, and you cannot buy a machine just looking at the initial cost. There's a lot to be considered before spending over $400,000 in a piece of equipment.

And, when I hear that some brand has parts distributors on every corner like McDonald's, for me it is a good sign that parts brake a lot...

Posted 16 Oct 2009 04:10 AM

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duodeluxe
New Hampshire, United States

Ricky; Wow! How to turn an positive into a negative. "Too many parts distributors"?
Where did you read about the 1,000,000 cycles? Maybe in the same magazine that rated Toyota # 1 with the it's end users?
You know the only people I know that know anything about forklift trucks are those that are in the business-which is a tiny fraction of the population. Now, what %age knows anything about reach stackers?
My guess is that any company that has made the capital investment to build these machines probably knows what they are doing and I'll take another claculated guess and figure they all make good ones. Maybe some may feel that one is better than the other, but they are all good machines.

Posted 16 Oct 2009 10:20 PM

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Ricky
New Jersey, United States

No, Duodeluxe, this information is not in any magazine, it is right here, on this week's Forkliftaction! Just take a look at the first page, and you will see this info on the section "Product Watch".
Here's the link to it:

www.forkliftaction.com/news/newsdisplay.aspx?nwid=7713

We all know that there are strengths and weakness on every brand...

As there are Subarus and Jaguars, and both companies feel that they make good machines, we all know that there are BIG differences between them. Their investment is also huge to build these machines, but some of them fight for price, while others prefers to stay with a niche that relies on quality. This is not different on heavy equipment business. Some companies take every cent possible from their machines, while others prefer to build machines the old way, to last longer. If they are all the same, why can't we all go for the cheapest? Simply because there is A LOT OF difference under the hood.

Now, what would you rather be driving, if I tell you that there's a Jag for sale by the same price of a Subaru, both brand new?

Modified 17 Oct 2009 01:00 AM
by poster.

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johnr_j
Georgia, United States

Since when has a Jag been known for low cost of ownership? Ask any Jag owner.

-------------------------
Have An Exceptional Day!

Posted 17 Oct 2009 02:11 AM

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Ricky
New Jersey, United States

Johnr, I agree with you. My point here was not about cost, I wanted to show that there ARE differences between machines, and not all are the same.

You get what you pay for, and there are clients for Subarus and clients for Jaguars. Same thing on heavy equipment. If you are going to spend over $ 400,000 in a machine, and be stick with it for 5 to 10 years, you should consider how much $ you will be your cost on parts and downtime.

When we talk about heavy equipments, ALL machines are Jaguars on prices. And they ALL brake.

But some brake more often than others...

Posted 17 Oct 2009 03:04 AM

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