meliftman,
Hey the bashing coment was not directed towards you and I apoligize greatly if you took offense to that! Just by reading some of your post I can tell you are a very inteligent man. I have been on forklift action for about 4 years under a different name, I just started posting again, I felt it was best. You know the old saying "If you have nothing nice to say don't say anything at all"....LOL!! I had such a bad ending with barlo I just kept to myself! Anyway I enjoy a lot of comments on here from a lot of people and some not so much. Again I apoligize and retract my bash statment!!!!

Budman,
Was speaking of the large lifts. Working for the dealer would mean you work for Thompson. No danger of me working there, not because of the product but Thompson and I have a conflict of interest. They are interested in me being clean shaven and short haired, neither of which fits my persona. Had an interview in Anniston several years ago, that issue killed the deal. My son worked there until the big layoff. Decatur and Huntsville are too far away from me, anyway.

mitsiclark,
I don't bash anyone or any product to the customer, here it is meant for ribbing, which is my nature. Why shouldn't I think the product we sell is the best? Like I try to tell some of our folks, we draw a check from Barloworld but in reality, the customers pay us. Treat them like you want to be treated, be fair, honest, upfront, and all will work out in the long run. I try to have good relationships with all my customers to make sure I am needed and get a paycheck. There have been a few people at our place that got caught with their faces red but it would be hard for me to catch them only visiting the shop once a month or two. Lift trucks are like cars and pick-ups, if you maintain them properly, they, for the most part, will give dependable service. there are lemons in every group and cream of the crop also. Maybe all this will work out great for all involved.

meliftman,
Yes I am pretty excited!!! Our company is relitivly small and we have been on a continuous climb to getting bigger but with that said we are owened and operated by a family of brothers and they don't want to get much bigger, hopefully that will not change but growth is good for all in the company all the way down to the little guy. Also not to bash anyone but talking trash about competitors is a sign of weakness! Don't down others to make yourself look or feel better. Be as good a tech as you can be, work for your company as if it were your own, work for the customer as if you were paying the bill, comunicate with all, and pump up your product not put down others, everything else will come and speak for itself. I used to work for barlo and could really bash hard and have pocket cam videos to prove things but I choose to build myself and my company up and be profesional! Also I think we all have worked on just about any brand forklifts that there are out there, with that said the mitsi is a very good and tough truck! We do very minimal repairs to them if customer allows for proper maintenance, as for the clarks..... I choose not to bash, LOL!

Michael, when you say Kalmar are you talking the Fork Lifts or Trailer Jockys? If fork lifts, we're the dealer for the large ones. I just saw the realignment map for LiftOne & Briggs. It's going to be interesting. Looks like LiftOne will have all of Alabama north of Dothan. Briggs will have Dothan south. In Georgia, it's about the same except Briggs will have the Metro Atlanta area also. If you're ever interested in moving to another company, we're always looking for good technicians. We have facilities in Tuscambia, Decatur & Huntsville up north Alabama.

Knew you weren't actually calling me cutthroat. I know many up here who are that way too. I get a good variety but not many cats and mitshis, not newer ones anyway, Thompson has done a good job of cornering their own up here. I am anxious to see what happens myself. There were more than a few hiccups and some of the changes barloworld tried to implement just drove a wedge in things. The VP from LiftOne who spoke with us said they were going to meet with each one personally and allow us to voice concerns so maybe we can avoid some of the pitfalls. Who knows how it will go but I do have some things I want to address when the time comes. By the way, I have had the "pleasure" of dealing with a few Kalmars. Birmingham is my base, but I go their only on rare occasions for meetings and such.

Michael, I didn't mean to insinuate that you were cutthroat, but know some competitors people that are. I think the people that came up in the business from the service side has a different opinion than the sales side. Cat & Mitsu still use the GM 4.3L in our larger lifts. only difference is an additional external trans. cooler. From your comments, I would assume you work out of North Alabama area. I work out of Tuscaloosa and get the pleasure of working with all different brands. Just curious how smooth the transition to LiftOne in North Alabama will be. I know when Barloworld took over from Brungart, there were some hickups.

Mitsiclark,
You sound quite excited by the opportunity to include the rest of the mcfa line. I really hope it all works out well for G&W and for the customers. That will really be a big change for many. Personally, I am looking forward to what may come our way from this venture. It seems we have been backing up since Barloworld got involved several years ago. I am sure there will be snags for all, but in the end, it may well be a great venture for all involved.

Johnr__i,
Didn't know about the engine changes. Don't see many cats or mitsis in my neck of the woods. Folks up here don't trade as often as big city markets. Probably a step up. I know the GM4.3 has served Hyster well over the years and I do recall it being in some Toyota models.

Budman
Wasn't intending to be cutthroat. One must always believe his product to be the best. I guess I haven't seen many newer cat or mitsi lifts. Can't say they aren't in the area. I have seen application tell the real story on lift trucks' and it still maazes me how they perform differently for different customers, but all fail quickly without proper care. One of my customers newest lifts are 1999 models, still used three shifts per day. They have been well maintained and still are. I don't generally bash any product to the customer unless I do know serious issues with a particular brand or model. I've been doing lift trucks for about 20 years. Quality service at a reasonable price will win out in the end.

MCFA still use's the Mitsubishi diesel S4S & S6S in their trucks also. If you ask me, it's a better product than before MCFA was formed. When most of the lifts were manufactured in Korea by what became Daewoo and is now Doosan. Either way, MCFA, Hyster, Yale, Toyota, etc. all manufacture a good product. No reason to be cutthroat. I've been in the business going on 25 yrs. and have always gotten along with my competitors. I'd rather let the machines, parts & service speak for itself. The cream always rises to the top. If you bash your competitors, it just makes you look bad to customers.

meliftman;
Those Cat & Mitsubishis with Mitsi engines you saw were older models - MCFA changed to the K21/25 engines several years ago (over 4 years ago) & the GM several years before that.

I think its great!!! A small family oriented company "G&W Equipment will be taking over the cat line for we are already a mitsi dealer. I used to work for barlo where a tech is just a number and now work for G&W where they honestly care about they're tech's! And yes mcfa has nissans and bigger trucks have gm's!

The Cats and Mitsubishis that I have seen around here are using the Mitsubishi engine. Haven't seen any with the 4.3GM in them. Hyster uses the 4.3GM engine, the 2.4 GM engine, a Mazda engine, and the Cummins diesel. They were using the Perkins engine but got away from it in recent years. Hyster is using some dana drive axles, and a duramatch transmission.

The Mitsubishi and/or CAT is made in Houston has Nissan K21 K25 or GM4.3L engine, masts, frames, OHG, etc are made in Houston - the trans/drive axles comes from Japan. Guess one can say they are built (not screw driver assembled) in America.

Me thinks NACCO sources engines, trans axles from overseas (Japan & elsewhere) too.

Used to work at MCFA.