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 16 - 30 of 52 results.
The John Deere engine in the Crown R series lift does not supprise me. It is very true they approx. 100 beta lift is service through out the USA. If I am correct one of the VP,s at Crowns Corprate office came from Deere. It is my guess that is part of the relationship. The beta units that I have seen in this area all have the Deere engine in them.
Lets set the facts straight. Deere/Hitachi builds contruction equipment( excavators, mining equipment, etc.) John Deere builds the agricultural, commercial equipment, and powerplants that go with them. 2 different entities. See below.....
Deere-Hitachi Company Description
Deere-Hitachi Construction Machinery (DHCM) produces hydraulic excavators in North Carolina and in Saltillo, Mexico. The company sells new and used equipment that includes compact excavators, rigid frame trucks, mining excavators and shovels, and forestry excavators. DHCM was formed in 1988 as a joint venture between Deere & Company and Hitachi subsidiary Hitachi Construction Machinery Co. The companies integrate their marketing operations in the Americas to streamline decision-making, improve customer support, and strengthen both the Deere and Hitachi brand names.
You can read the time line at:
wwwdeere.com/en_US/compinfo/student/timeline_1980.html
Ever hear of Deere Hitach?, Guess who is 50% stockholder of Derre Co. (John Deere)
Hitachi Construction AKA another Japaneese Company.
Google this "President Bush Visits U.S.-based Deere-Hitachi Construction Machinery"
Have a nice day!
Doc
Everyone is sort of right... Why would anyone here know that Crown hasnt released the RST w/ the JD engine? The Hamech deal is not putting all your eggs in one propane tank. R&D still goes on, among other things you know nothing about and they still sell an IC truck.
When was the last time Crown ever failed at anything that they have come to market with. Who knows what they are up to but you an count on those boys being some tough competition. My money is on Crown.
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.
Forkliftaction.com accepts no responsibility for forum content and requires forum participants to adhere to the rules. Click here for more information.