The ongoing question if Crown will ever introduce a IC lift truck has been answered? I seen three unusual IC lift at a facility today. My first glance at a IC lift that had alot of Crowns modern day FC electric counterbalance look. It was a prototype called the RTS-50. The thing just looked like a CROWN no doubt. It had a John Deere power plant. Very deisel looking the valve cover was almost a foot wide. The engine was running on propane, but even sounds like a deisel. The truck looked very basic somewhat like a KOMATSU (nothing to fancy very common place machine) Some say Crown has been working on this for years. Looks like it is almost hear. Word is the lift is being built in there Indiana facility with production to start very soon. Is it to late for Crown IC indeavor? As I drove away from this facility this question kept coming to mind, because of the company just down the street. Plug Power motive power division. The hydrogen fuel cell people. I was a very short distance (15 miles) from Crowns New Bremen, Ohio headquarters. Plug power has two marketing people from Crown. Times might be tough, but Crown Lift Trucks has got more going on than you can imagine. Good Luck to all.
Showing items 21 - 40 of 52 results.
Your rumor of the Crown built IC trucks were also unofficially confirmed. They admitted to having 100 Crown built proto types across the country.
Will start with 4-6000lb. Won't be released until early 2009,provided no real problems with current proto types. Will still use Komatsu for anything outside this product range.
It will be the komatsu trucks, they have made an announcement
You are correct liftpopguy. However, untill the truck in question gets final approval ( and we know it can take years for Crown to go from beta to production ) they are mating with Komatsu the " Hamech " line.
I checked this out, and can tell you that is not the lift I seen. I have talked with the Crow Technician who is supporting the beta trials of there ice truck. It is a Crown made unit with Deere power plant look for it late this year. Trust me!
You guys might want to check out wwwcrown.com for the IC news of the day. From what I am told this is part 1. Haven't a clue what part 2 is yet.
I agree, it does benefit a dealer to be a turn key operation. Most of the customers I have dealt with, desire to have one company handle all their material handling needs. Like you said Crown having an IC truck could hurt their customer base but I also look at it like this, I worked for Toyota for 9yrs. Their sitdown trucks IC or electric were great but their reach and counterbalance truck sucked and that did not hurt their customer base they just dont sell alot of those trucks. I think Crown could get into the same situation, IF their IC truck happens to ***, not saying that it will but if it does, i dont think it will hurt their narrow isle truck sales, But all eyes will be on the new crown ic truck so initially it could be shakey ground. I also think Crown will put a lot of quality in this IC truck since it will be their first one to debut. If you look at the past model or series of any brand, the earlier forklifts were more durable and reliable and built more heavy duty than the later model trucks that are coming out now. With that said I think Crown will put a lot of emphasis on thier first IC truck. We will see.
More sales, more profit, and a good head start for customer base who only want crowns.Just like we all want just one type of truck so do some customers.As a salesman or tech we know A electric shares almost no parts with a ICE the name plate on the outside might help boost sales but it had better be a great truck or sales will fall like a rock and might hurt the base they have now.Just my 2 cents.
I agree with you pro. I have worked on all brands and they all fail at some point. As Mechanics we all have some preference to the brand we like due to the design or ease of repairing it. I like the Toyota, not because I think it's the best, it's just what i'm most familiar with. With the new technology and all the software that is crammed in todays forklifts, it is making it difficult for the independent guys to make the repairs, unless you have some good friends at the dealers who will let you borrow their laptop or will give you info that is exclusive to the dealer. I really dont care what brand it is, I get paid all the same. I dont think Crown having an IC truck will help them initially, but down the road it could be good for them. Crown is known for their narrow isle equipment and that is their bread and butter. Since did not major in business, I'm sure the Crown executives see something I do not.
Newer trucks seem to require less and less service.We dont get the same amount of calls we were getting 10 years ago.We do how ever have a large customer base.The service end of thing are changing so are sales.Reguardless how tough they are I dont see them fixing themself.Woulnd be suprised to see a crown ic in the near future
HEY pro i think the same way,,,on the quote,
Dont care who made them as long as they keep breaking and giving me a job.
Just going back to earlier in the thread, Cesab(BT, part of Toyota) uses John Deere engines in its 4 ton up trucks.
Crown makes a good solid truck.Used to service a lot of them,now I just get the bugs out and let them roll.Lot of old crowns still running in this area,along with raymonds.Very few Toyotas and for the most part IC trucks
Dont care who made them as long as they keep breaking and giving me a job.
I agree with what your saying Joe, but you want get Crown to believe that. The Crown guys that I know are good guys they just believe that Crown is the best and there is nothing better. They have this chip on there shoulder and it's fun to get them worked up.
Crown hired an IC guy from Komatsu 1.5 years ago or more and tried to get an agreement stamped out with Komatsu to PL the trucks under the Crown name as Crown does with Doosan outside the USA.
1. I am positive Crown would not be the OEM, too risky.
2. I think this move is a poor decision, which will bring some red to their comfortable black.
3. Although Crown dealerships carry IC trucks and attempt to sell along with the ELTs --- IC and ELTs are two completely different animals.
4. The US market is already too saturated with IC OEMs/brands.
5. Crown should stick to what has made them great; I'm am sure this is a direct knee-jerk reaction to Toyota purchasing Raymond. Raymond dealers now have an association with the best selling IC company/trucks in the US and Crown currently has nothing.
Did you like that? It's always good to stir it up a little with all the Crown lovers. Crown knows they cant compete with Toyota sit down electrics and especially IC, with a john deere motor,,,cmon. Look at the ITA numbers, Toyota is number 1 for a reason. I know a lot of Crown Techs who hate anything to do with IC trucks, some Crown Techs, not all but some are just like the Raymond techs, They hate getting dirty and only want to work on electric trucks. If it's not a Crown they dont like working on it, especially in Chicago land. Now remember I said some Crown Techs and they know who they are, I also know some very talented Crown Techs that are class acts. So before i get the beat down from all the Crown guys, just remember what I have said and dont take it out of context. Also what i am saying I heve either seen or heard from the Crown techs themselves. In the Chicagoland area I always hear from the Crown guys and how crappy they are treated, being tracked constantly, no raises and the list goes on. I'm just callin it how I have seen it. Sorry if I **** anyone off, But Toyota is one Linde is two, wheres Crown? I'm not sure.
Did you like that? It's always good to stir it up a little with all the Crown lovers. Crown knows they cant compete with Toyota sit down electrics and especially IC, with a john deere motor,,,cmon. Look at the ITA numbers, Toyota is number 1 for a reason. I know a lot of Crown Techs who hate anything to do with IC trucks, some Crown Techs, not all but some are just like the Raymond techs, They hate getting dirty and only want to work on electric trucks. If it's not a Crown they dont like working on it, especially in Chicago land. Now remember I said some Crown Techs and they know who they are, I also know some very talented Crown Techs that are class acts. So before i get the beat down from all the Crown guys, just remember what I have said and dont take it out of context. Also what i am saying I heve either seen or heard from the Crown techs themselves. In the Chicagoland area I always hear from the Crown guys and how crappy they are treated, being tracked constantly, no raises and the list goes on. I'm just callin it how I have seen it. Sorry if I XXXXXXX anyone off, But Toyota is one Linde is two, wheres Crown? I'm not sure.
I doubt they will ever be a number one contender in the IC market, look at Hyster, Clark, Yale, they havent been a number one contender in years and they have been in the IC arena for decades. Rember Crown will have to beat out Toyota which makes a better sit down electric than Crown, I will say Crown makes better narrow isle equipment than Toyota. But Crown will never be able to compete in the Sit down arena wether i'ts electric or IC. I think Crown should be concerned about their ifostructure of their employees, lay offs raise freezes and etc. It wont matter what number they are because they wont have anybody to work on them. This is my opinion though so take it how you want.
How about the old , early 70s ,Clark UT with JD tractor chassies. The whole mast side shifted on round bar on rear,... front,... big wheel end of tractor.
Manitou uses JD diesels in some of their telehandlers. I think these are built in North Dakota.
"However, it would give Crown a "made in USA" truck that is actually made in the USA with US parts."
Sorry to say that wouldn't be the case even with a JD engine. I bought a new JD 7220 a couple of years ago. It was manufactured in England. JD smaller diesel tractors (I think under 30 hp or so) are actually built by Yanmar. Many of their small gasoline powered units use Kawasaki engines.. I'm sure there are still many products they manufacture in their American facilities but many parts are imported.
These days the only thing in this country that's 100% made in America are Americans and the tried and true Americans seem to be in short supply...Makes me miss John Wayne
Forkliftaction accepts no responsibility for forum content and requires forum participants to adhere to our rules of conduct. Click here for more information.
If you are having trouble using the Discussion Forums, please contact us for help.