Junheinrich will not let you service your own truck. a company rep told me it was to complicated to let us work on it. a trained distributor had to do it. $70.000.00 later the trained distributor comes to fix our new machines and spends the whole time on the phone getting his training I assume. Go with Raymond.

Bet this guy has already made his decision - his original post was in May 2008.

I would go with the Raymond 7400 for these reasons

1) dependable truck
2) excellent ergonomics
3) excellent support

If you want durability, check out Yale. I is really a good product. We like ours a lot.

CROWN has the best reach truck in the market. You can see and operate CROWN reach truck

Our local Yale/Hyster dealer offers added support when the manufacture fails to. In my dealings with this local dealer they go above and beyond what the manufacture is willing to do. Again putting aside the Mfg the local dealer is the deal breaker.

I have to agree with you cownd, and I might add that "choice of support" would be a big plus too, but as long as Raymond dealers work so hard to keep the information about their product such a proprietary secret, that counts against them, in my humble opinion.
of course I also count it against Crown that they have been so unapologetic about the way their "new" employees are treated in their corporate take over of dealerships and what appears to me to be their desire to control/own each dealership.
I would also note that when this thread started, there was no MCFA/ Jungheinrich support agreements, so I think the arguments about no local support for the Jungheinrich brands no longer hold as much weight as they may have in the past.

# one for me as an end user is local dealer support #2 is brand

Crown is by far the best compaired to Raymond. Just look at the pin boss and bushing sizes. Raymonds frames crack above the battery over the drive unit side. Raymonds also use half plates which go around the load wheels which bend easy costing $1000 dollars at set.
As for the Yale. Nacco VNA Yale parts come out of Italy, very expensive, and take forever to get.
Crown is by far the better truck, built right in Ohio. The factory also listens to concerns and acts in contact with there customer.

The two Reach truck powerhouses in North America are Raymond and Crown. In NC, my choice would be Raymond. I would only consider Hyster/Yale if I had a lighter duty operation and aftermarket support is strong in your area. I'd avoid the European trucks, they are good trucks but aftermarket support is an issue despite claims to the contrary.

Crown hasn't been at ProMat in years. I can't remember why they stopped going, perhaps a spat with ProMat commitee - anyone out there know why?

Raymond should be the best. I have a lots experiences for Hyster cases and Jungheinrich cases. By the way, anyone who know about Hawker Powertech charger? High frequency charger?I like to change the configuration but I don't know the password.

Interested in Gary's comment about the Hyster being old technology, can you be specific, Technology is always moving so everything is out of date once its made. On the other hand the comments may just be "sour graping" as you dont work for barlows anymore..... for the second time, (dont "dis" people who helped you out)..

Forums are great, but meant to be honest and give help, not muddy the waters.

jeff,

try Bt reachtruck model rre140 up to rre 250, if you want i send you a demo video proving that bt reach truck is the Best Truck :)

regards,
cesar

I didn't see Crown at Promat 2009. I do like the new NACCO Yale/Hyster. I have a friend with 5 new Yale NR reach trucks and he is getting 2-3 hours more run time with them. They put power pack into the battery when being lowerd. Who dosen't like free money? I am looking at a new one for our plant in the spring and keeping a close eye on his Yale's,so far so good after 1 year in service. There are some real nice reach trucks in the market today!!! I remember the Namco LP reach truck in the 60's..........lol ouch!

try bt instead of jungheinrich.. bt/raymond and toyota is a great truck that i meet.. all the quality you need,service,quality are great here ,in the philippines bt/raymond and toyota no other truck can give a satisfaction on the customer

Jungheinrich has no local customer support and the parts will darn near break the bank. If you want to wait 3 weeks for parts. I seen"ALOT" better technology come from Germany than a Forklift. To many wiring problems is what I have seen with them and down time due to no local dealer support and parts on back order.

Crown is so far behind its not even funny. I was at promat in illinois this year and if crown had a booth there i could not find it.

if you want to judge by productivity and battery life.
which company wins the sysco forklift rodeo every year?

model 7400 raymond.

Raymond invented the reach truck literally.

CROWN is the best equipment in reach trucks

All the opinions here are great and useful but, the bottom line is, how important is down time to your business? If it's important to have your machine producing for your business than I would consider local dealer support 1st, brand 2nd. The foriegn brands may beat the US brands hands down (not my opinion), they can be the best lift in the world, but as a value to YOUR business should depends on machine uptime.