Spider lift

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B-Edwards

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Haven't heard anything about these in awhile. I am seeing other brands being advertised more and more. You guys that have them, what do you think of them at this point? How have they performed? Have there been any mechanical problems? Was Tuepen fast at repairing them? How would you rate customer relations? Would you buy another lift from them? Has anyone tried another Brand (by that I mean one comparable to the tracked gt23). I am seeing more and more guys doing tree work with the little tow-able units. That is good and bad as it lets people do tree work who couldn't otherwise but it also puts inexperienced people in a position to get great parking for the rest of their lives or a funeral party.
 
I think we spoke about my Teupen 23gt before. If you do a search Ive shared my story. All in all I love the machine for what it does, getting into places where the bucket truck can't fit or doesn't belong; i.e a nice lawn, swampy terrain, steep slopes, etc.

As for comparing it to other lifts. I have been watching the competition closely. Teupen's closest competitor for the 23gt model is the Reachmaster LL76. It has a nice outreach of 38ft, but the outreach can be achieved only at a 38ft work height. While the Teupen has an outreach of 36ft, but can be achieved at 45ft. So the Teupen can go up about 8ft higher and provide 2ft less of out reach. Having that extra 8ft when you need side reach is real important. Also when you are below 38ft you will get less than 38ft outreach because the boom folds on the Reachmaster. The teupen lower boom telescopes so you get your full outreach from 15ft high continuously to your 45ft max height. The Reachmaster does not have a telescoping lower boom, therefore it is fixed, collapse only by folding. If this doesn't make sense carefully examine both charts on their respective sites to see the range.

Same story with the Italmec R21. Max outreach is 39ft, but this can only be achieved at a mere 28ft high.

This all relates to the higher you can go up and reach over the canopy or even through the canopy(good luck doing that with the Italmec and Reachmaster two man basket). Going up over higher and reaching out allows you to reach more of the tree's structure without repositioning and since you are using this lift because you are in close quarters to begin with repositioning may not even be an opton to get that back side of the tree.

The other design flaw on the Reachmaster and the Itlamec is the way the basket is mounted in the middle of the cage. The basket can't be rotated to become streamlined. Unlike the Teupen 2 man basket is mounted on the corner. The rotation allows the basket to be as narrow as a regular bucket truck basket.
Both the Reachmaster and Itlamec are Italian made lifts. The Teupen is German. The German's usually do a bit better in engineering than the Italians.
 
Alternative to Teupen

Check out www.manliftengineering.com
Their Atrium spider lifts are very similar in design to the Teupen. Many features of these lifts are very smart. For example, the lift can deploy from a trailer without ramps and any problems with the unit can be diagnosed from the factory in Wisconsin through your laptop (if you have one ).
The best thing is that all of the parts are domestic, which means you don't have to wait for the part to ship (literally- in a ship) from Germany.
I'm heading up to check one out in February.
Gerasimek
 
Thanks guys. Yes John we spoke before and I appreciate you taking the time to respond to this question. I have kept up with the threads on here and was just wondering if any opinions had changed and also what the competition was doing. I have stated on this site that I had a heart attack in march of this year and was getting out of the business. That is true but I am thinking that I may just get out of the business of hiring anyone and might possibly be interested in a lift like this and try and do some things on my own. Maybe just a thought but atleast I'm still thinking. Thanks again for response.
 
B-Edwards

No prob for the writeup. I left out that company the Gerasimek just posted. That lift looks excellent. Height and side reach ranges are right on par with the teupen. Upper and lower telscoping booms as well. Looks like a great machine, but one thing. That two man basket mounted in the middle is no good for tree work. The option I see when you click for the insulated options shows a much slimmer one man basket. Thats a must have or you can always cut and reweld the standard basket to be smaller. The At70 is the 23gt's newest competition, perhaps even better?

Gerasimek,

Please post your experience after you demo that unit and thanks for sharing this new co.
 
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After Gerasimek's post I have been in contact with MLE about their spider.
It definitely has some feature that the 23gt Teupen does not have.

+Most notable are it fits through a 36" gate. The Teupen is 38". 2" difference may not seem like much, but I have had to take down many fences and come to despise the jobs with the PVC plastic fences with 3 ft concrete bases. an average of 1-3hr to take down and put back up

+On board LCD screen. The 23gt does not have a self diagnostic screen. In a few instances something like this would of saved me a lot of time while learning the machine.

+Insulated upper boom 46kV. Teupen does not offer this. To me this is a nice plus but not necessary since I have a bucket truck plus my spider. Where high voltage street wires are a concern access has never been a problem with the bucket truck. For someone who wants just one piece of equipment the $15,000 insulated boom option would make sense.

-Now to the big thing here. Price. I was expecting a price lower or very close to the Teupen. US manufacturing should make it less expensive that importing a machine from Germany? No.

Here is my price qoute
Base Unit: 70 ft Platform Height, 48V Battery $138,900.00
Diesel Engine $2,200.00
Tree Care Package: Protective Guards, Diesel Engine $5,200.00
Gas Generator $4200.00
Diesel Generator $4900.00
46kV Insulated Package with Diesel Engine $15,875.00

The options I chose put me at $144,100 plus tax = TOTAL $154,187 + whatever shipping charge . If I were to sell my bucket truck and opt for the insulated package id be at $154,775 plus tax = TOTAL $165,000 + shipping

In summary, I think this unit may slightlly offer an advatange over theTeupen 23gt, however for being $20,000-$45,000 more costly I think it makes sense to continue taking a few fences down in those yards with the smaller gates, which happens to be only a small percentage.
 
I hear that John. I have not had that problem in my area, most small gates are around 40 inch openings. 36" gate plus hinges and latch. Anyway no problems with the lift so far, replaced a few hoses, still going strong.
 
Unless I am mistaken, only Teupen has the adjustable height tracks. Correct?

Wouldn't that make a huge difference when traversing slopes? Aren't all spider lifts prone to flopping on their sides? They look top heavy when in transport mode.
 
pdqdl,

Teupen and MLE have height adjustable tracks. With the Tuepen you can just adjust one side at a time when travelling on slopes to balance the machine. I hardly ever do this since there is usually a way to drive straight up the incline instead of traveling on the incline.

I am not positive the MLE adjusts the tracks independently or both at the same time. I would assume its one at a time for stability, but I am not 100% sure.
 
I don't think they have it, but I only have this evidence:

1. They don't mention that feature in their literature or on their website.
2. I looked at all the machine controls shown in their literature, and nothing looks like it would affect the tracks. It's in English, and nothing I saw looked like track controls.

If they have this feature, they are doing a pretty poor job of marketing their product.

I would think (just by looking at the spider lifts in general) that they are easy to flop on their side if traveling on a side slope. They are only 36" wide, and something that cost $150,000 and weighs a delicate 7-8,000 lbs would not be the sort of machine that I would like to take chances with.

So how is the Teupen on a side slope with & without using the adjustable track? If operating in a wide enough area, could you lower the downhill outriggers enough to protect against turnovers?
 
I don't think they have it, but I only have this evidence:

1. They don't mention that feature in their literature or on their website.
So how is the Teupen on a side slope with & without using the adjustable track? If operating in a wide enough area, could you lower the downhill outriggers enough to protect against turnovers?
It clearly states retractable tracts as the 1st the product feature on the pdf file of their website
http://www.manliftengineering.com/products/atrium/pdf/A70TD/A70-Features.pdf

So how is the Teupen on a side slope with & without using the adjustable track? If operating in a wide enough area, could you lower the downhill outriggers enough to protect against turnovers?

no need to lower your outriggers. you could if you wanted. you retract one track and the machine is level. The machine is very stable when taveling, before you could tip the machine you would notice track digging into the ground on the side with all the pressure. I have never felt the machine was going to tip because I am a safe/good operator. In the wrong hands, yes, it could tip.
 
Ok. I missed that, Thanks. I guess it is still a presumption that it can be used to level the machine?

I would think that an important feature like that would be highlighted better. Teupen certainly shows theirs off. These guys have such poor marketing skills, I can't believe they are making any money. Only two pages of information on a $150,000 machine? Ridiculous!

I would tell some engineer to take pictures of every feature on that chunk of iron and put together a 20 page brochure. I'd put the owners manual on-line, and I would have hundreds of pictures available of the unit in operation.
 
I asked them that question. Answers!

I found that MLE has a live chat feature, so I asked. Here is the text:

*********************************************************
Sarah: Welcome to our real-time support chat. How can I help you today?

Guest: Your sales literature on line does not state whether or how the spider lift tracks are adjustable. Can they be used to level the machine? (Teupen does)

http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?p=1367996&posted=1#post1367996

You may wish to bring this thread to the attention of the sales department.

Sarah: The tracks are adjustable in an out (up and down) for driving.
However we have an automatic leveling system for the outriggers while the lift is being used

Guest: My question remains unanswered. Do the tracks adjust independently to accomodate changes in grade while driving the machine across a slope? Outriggers are only good if you are parked.

Sarah: I see, let me check on this for you really quick. can I get your name, number and email in case we loose connection?

Guest: David Little. [email protected]

Sarah: We also do have the independently adjusting tracks as an option
Thank you David for bringing this question to our attention

Guest: Thank you for answering. Bye.
********************************************************
So if you think you need to level your machine, you can pay extra! I can't believe that would not be standard option. I guess if a machine was only used indoors, that would allow the machine to be cheaper to buy. But that also makes it more expensive for the majority of applications.
 
Wow. So the retractable tracks are standard but idependently adjustable is a cost added option. More $!

I really like this lift, and will strongly consider it when it comes time to buy another spider. I could really use two spiderlifts and had planned to add another this year, but with the cost I can't justify spending more than I spent for the Teupen, especially in this economy.

MLE could become a fierce competitor for Teupen. They have redesgned their 23gt and made some nice improvements, but they should of kept pricing in line with the 23gt. Design these machines with a price point slightly lower than their competitors and take over market territory.
 
As you might have noticed, I made them aware of this thread. I think they read it. They sent me a personal e-mail, indicating that they would be taking my marketing comments seriously.

Maybe they will become a forum sponsor. Who knows?

I would like it better if they sold me a deeply discounted unit, so that I could become a factory rep, take some action photo's, and otherwise pump up their market share. Somehow, I don't think that will happen.
 
Teupen does a decent job at marketing their lifts. Full page 1st page ad in TCIA mag every month. Attending every trade show. Previous sponsor of this site(which didnt go over so well). Very detailed website. Plus a lot more.

This all adds to their overhead. If MLE markets more... would their lifts then become even more expensive? In theory, yes, atleast initially.


On paper MLE makes a very well designed lift. Their price is what will hold them back gaining a big presence in the tree care industry.

When I bought my lift board members here couldnt believe that something so small costs so much and attacked Teupen for being outrageous in their pricing. Given they are importing these machine from Germany paying big import fees, playing our US dollar against the EURO, and are a middle man(dealer) in the process.....Teupen America has done a good job at keeping costs relative.

MLE...hmmm..perhaps are using their current profit margin ratio and applying it to their newest lineup of spiderlifts? I understand the R&D process is crucial and extensive in designing something so cutting edge, but I feel they may have set their margins a bit too high.

I know the euro dollar keeps effecting Teupens price. Anyone have a recent price qoute from them on a new 23gt? Last I checked it was $128,000 with all options needed for tree care.
 
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just wanted to update ya'll. The MLE tracks idependently adjust as a no cost standard option.
 
What did they do, change their mind?

I was live chat with one of their representatives. She didn't know, and had to inquire from a higher authority. That thread posted above.

Do you know if they adjust at an outward angle, or just up and down? I would think that an outward/downward angle of 45° would be best.
 
She told me that they can offer the tracks to retract simeltaneously or idependently. For those doing glass cleaning want to hit one button tracks retract pass through the front door. For those doing tree care want to retract one side at a time. They will offer the machine either way. Standard for both industries.

I had a good convo with them today. I basically told them they need to be competitive with Teupen's price. I explained to them that designing a product very similar to their competition they should be less expensive since they are a US based company. They dont have to compete with the euro dollar, ship a machine and pay import fees associated, pay a dealer. Teupen goes through a high cost with this. Also their machine is steel, which less than the price of aluminum(teupen) If we were in Germany buying a Teupen it would be 10's of thousands less than it costs here in the US. So this should apply to MLE also. She seemed to understand my points and was going to speak to her boss. They havent sold any of these machines yet, therefore pricing I am not sure is exactly finalized.

I plan to fly out to their headuarters to meet with them. PDql what do you feel this machine should sell for?
 
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