Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: *tjuk on October 07, 2007, 07:05:30 am
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Hi guys have not been on for a while, got the motorbike out of the garage after it had laid for several years, and cant stay off the bloody thing, talk about born again biker.
anyway I was approached by alan of hamilton several months back regarding carbon fibre modular poles for window cleaning, which at the time I was using the mavers pole.The maver pole was ok but the backup from the suppliers was terrible when something went wrong,I sent several sections back to be repaired and it took nearly 2 months for them to come back, something you cant have in this industry.When Alan approached me I was only too happy to help as it meant another supplier in the mainstream.Anyway Alan looked at the mavers pole and wanted to better the pole and make it a lot cheaper for the industry.
So we went about correcting all the bad points of the pole, as in general it was not a bad pole for cleaning at height,The biggest problem with the mavers pole was that the top 3 sections was rather light and prone to breaking.Alan took this on board when he designed his new pole and he had these sections super rapped in extra sections of carbon to make his sections even stronger, but still keeping to the same priciple of the mavers pole by keeping it light.Another thing we noticed was that the bottom sections of the mavers took splinter cracks when you were placing sections on and taking sections off, this happened when the sections accidently touched the ground.So he designed base caps for each section and took this problem out of the equation.
Ok this is where the good news starts
40ft pole for £380 plus vat, probably the cheapest price in the uk if not the world for a carbon fibre pole, but on top of that alan sells this as a full package which includes 30 metres of hose, bently brush with jets and all fitting.
[bWow[/b] 40ft carbon fibre pole, hose,brush,velcro alll fittings to work straight out of the box for only £380 plus vat.I told him at that price he should be onto a winner as I remmeber paying more than double that for my mavers pole.
We then got onto talking about service and this is where alan comes into his own
He told me order before 2pm and it will be with you the next day
I said what about if you break a section again he said no problem phone before 2pm and the new section will be with you the next day, again i was impressed.I went one further and told him that several of the guys cant get replacements for their mavers poles, it seems they are made in china and mavers iis only a stockist in the uk and once their stock goes you have an obsolete pole.
Alan assured me this pole is made in the uk and if you wanted sections even 20 years down the road then they would be there.I must admit I did not tell him that I was presently interested in alex gardiners new pole, but after finding this pole is a good bit cheaper, can be delivered the next day, has great backup with section being delivered instantly and also being reassured that I can get sections later if they break and total backup for years to come, then i placed my order with Alan in Hamilton.I am not saying it is a better pole than Gardiners pole, but after experience the bad service with the mavers pole then i did not want to go down that route.
ps I have a mavers pole for sale will load it up later on
details for Alan as follows
Emporium Ultralite Pole
Emporium Poles
01698285524
pps Alan assures me that the poles will be ready for the 20th of October and the website where you can view the poles will ready as well so watch this space
oh pppps forgot to say he takes the following
cash,cheques,visa,switch, and as alan said probably even green sheild stamps if you have enough of them
Jinky
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Have replied to the question you raised here...http://www.window-tools.com/cgi-bin/yabb/forum/admin/1191736885.html
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guys here is the update to this topic
good interesting reading
Hi guys popped thru to alans to see the new poles as they just got delivered yesterday.I had used a prototype recently in the past and thought it was pretty good, but when I saw this new pole it was total woow.
lovely finished in gloss back with gold writing having alan.s phone number there all the time incase of emergency.All the safety signs and information regarding over hanging electric cables etc.The bottom sections come with a nice tidy cap lip to stop the sections hitting the ground.This also acts to help pull each section out with ease and they fit into each section.I hated this with the mavers pole, when you tried to bring out the sections they all flew out at the same time and the edges got damaged hitting the ground.This also helps to reduce water going between the sections creating tightness with sections to pull apart, a problem that happened regular with the mavers.The top section alan is working on at the moment and hoping to come up with a universal fitting that will allow any brush to fit on along with all the Unger different fittings. The brush that comes with the pole is fitted witha roller on the back, this really helps at height when you are rolling the pole up the wall, no need to take of the wall jump it up a bit then jump again when you are adding sections or taking sections off.You simply roller the pole with brush up and down the wall with ease and sections can be easily added by one man
Another good thing I liked was the throwaway price to the sections,Alan has got this spot on.I remember in the past, I had a few sections that got snapped and I had to send them away to get repaired,apart from finally finding someone who would repair the sections at a cost of £30 each along with £15.00 postage and then waiting for 2 months and constantly on the phone, I also had clients getting thrustrated being delayed.
Alans pole to replace the sections are as follows
taper section £42 plus vat
next section or no 2 £42.00 plus vat then small increases as the sections get wider.With Alan promising to replace sections the next day if you phone in before 2pm, and at these great prices, would you even contemplate having sections repaired.
Guys i have got to hold my hat up to this guy, for someone coming into pole manufacturing,
finally listening to the man in the street to what we actually need and at a cost that suits.And getting it spot on first time,I can only say I wish him every success and hope his high standards of service carry on in the window cleaning industry for years.
ps if other suppliers are out there, then you need to take heed of the service this guy is offering and understand the level of service, not that we are demanding, but what we as customers should be receiving
hope this has helped
Jinky
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guys here is the update to this topic
good interesting reading
Hi guys popped thru to alans to see the new poles as they just got delivered yesterday.I had used a prototype recently in the past and thought it was pretty good, but when I saw this new pole it was total woow.
lovely finished in gloss back with gold writing having alan.s phone number there all the time incase of emergency.All the safety signs and information regarding over hanging electric cables etc.The bottom sections come with a nice tidy cap lip to stop the sections hitting the ground.This also acts to help pull each section out with ease and they fit into each section.I hated this with the mavers pole, when you tried to bring out the sections they all flew out at the same time and the edges got damaged hitting the ground.This also helps to reduce water going between the sections creating tightness with sections to pull apart, a problem that happened regular with the mavers.The top section alan is working on at the moment and hoping to come up with a universal fitting that will allow any brush to fit on along with all the Unger different fittings. The brush that comes with the pole is fitted witha roller on the back, this really helps at height when you are rolling the pole up the wall, no need to take of the wall jump it up a bit then jump again when you are adding sections or taking sections off.You simply roller the pole with brush up and down the wall with ease and sections can be easily added by one man
Another good thing I liked was the throwaway price to the sections,Alan has got this spot on.I remember in the past, I had a few sections that got snapped and I had to send them away to get repaired,apart from finally finding someone who would repair the sections at a cost of £30 each along with £15.00 postage and then waiting for 2 months and constantly on the phone, I also had clients getting thrustrated being delayed.
Alans pole to replace the sections are as follows
taper section £42 plus vat
next section or no 2 £42.00 plus vat then small increases as the sections get wider.With Alan promising to replace sections the next day if you phone in before 2pm, and at these great prices, would you even contemplate having sections repaired.
Guys i have got to hold my hat up to this guy, for someone coming into pole manufacturing,
finally listening to the man in the street to what we actually need and at a cost that suits.And getting it spot on first time,I can only say I wish him every success and hope his high standards of service carry on in the window cleaning industry for years.
ps if other suppliers are out there, then you need to take heed of the service this guy is offering and understand the level of service, not that we are demanding, but what we as customers should be receiving
hope this has helped
Jinky
I think I saw one of these pole on youtube, if I saw the right one I need the address to buy one no messing with the lockes etc just push and up odd the way i explain but looked the nuts, will go back and find it now and post bacxk in a min or update this post.
Here it is can anyone explain how the hell he got the pole up so fast and back down again? and what the price and website address is??
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_srS3QRPnE
is this what you call a standard telescopic pole ? as I have never in my life seen it like that and I am truly shocked
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Thats Peter, he uses this site
http://www.window-tools.com/
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Thats Peter, he uses this site
http://www.window-tools.com/
where is that pole ?????
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http://www.window-tools.com/new%20pole.htm
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do you have one of these John? if yuo dont can you give honest opinion on it, looks great on the vid
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No I dont have one , I saw it at the Fed show in Blackpool but could not get near enough to have a good look as his stand was really busy.
I must admit it does look good though
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hi guys, long time, no internet :(
so jinky, do you have one of these new poles already, or are you still awaiting delivery?
and can you get add-on sections (parallel extensions i suppose?) to go higher?
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No I dont have one , I saw it at the Fed show in Blackpool but could not get near enough to have a good look as his stand was really busy.
I must admit it does look good though
http://www.window-tools.com/images/newpole.asf
thats the link to watch the pole in action, loved the way you get it up and down
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Alans new pole:
I cannot comment on the actual strength of this pole but here seems to be alot of emphasis on ease of replacement to sections when they break, does this mean they are flimsy like the Maver before. If so quick replacemnt isnt a solution, a solution is it not breaking in the first place so you dont miss out work or spend time phoning somebody to part with money. Could somebody who has held the pole tell me more as I cant come to a conclusion properly. But it does seem angled towards quick replacement of sections. Luke
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on the other forum it says Jeff Brimble is to receive one come wed, maybe he could make you a bit wiser, or perhaps why not phone the guy up
problem solved
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Ive got one, make me an offer and it could be yours
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I think ppl are getting confused between Alan's new modular carbon pole which I think is a 60' one(Similar to the Superlite II?) and Peter's clamp-less 24' pole?
I've got the clampless one,.. and I'm waiting eagerly for the MK II version, as it really is very fast to use,.. and I'm waiting for some 1st hand reviews of Alan's one, which should reach a lucky few in the next few days.
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how do you get on with the bung falling out all the time
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Put a bolt thro.
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I unscrew the base,.. push the bung inside, and screw the cap back on,.. job done,.. it'll never fall out again! I also used a bit of araldite to stop the reinforcing rings coming loose.
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we mus have different bungs. Mine has a plastic type outer with a rubber one in the middle
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A bolt is non permanent for when you need to disassemble the pole.
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Hi Guys,
"ring ring, .....ello ?
Hiya Jeff, its Dave Turley here,(see reply #9) guess what- I just got one of Alans poles, Its absolutely great ! just like your F16 but better. :) He was excited !
What !.... oh well done then, you got yours before mine and we both had a good laugh.
He has the first official off the production line pole, I have to wait till friday to test it. Its to do with a modification to the brush angle.
I dont want to steal his thunder but hopefully he or someone else will give you some feedback, but hes not on line at home so have to give him time to get back to us.
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Jeff would you be able to post a review and pictures of this pole when you get yours? thanks, Luke
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Yes but no but... Review, no prob but this site wont take immage shack pics which I am used to using, will have to download diff software and learn new procedures etc but if I can then yes ! But it will have to be good to be better than the cheaper F16s which funnily enough I quite like.
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adding pictures is quite easy with image shack. Use this symbol to do it (http://www.cleanitup.co.uk/smf/Themes/classic/images/bbc/img.gif), it will make these symbols (img)(/img) between them you paste the images address. You get the address by right clicking the image in image shack and copying its address....then pasting between theese (img)(/img)....... I can do it for you if you give the pictures names when on image shack. Just upload them with a name like : alan pole 1, alan pole 2 etc etc. Then I can do all the techy stuff for you, Luke
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Cheers Luke will try the tip tonight :)
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hi guys, i've had my new emporium pole for a few days now.
I'm really pleased with it, it's very light and the overall quality is brill.
i especially like the roller on the back of the brush head.
the fact that you can get 9am next day replacement sections sold it to me.
oh, i haven't got any suitable work to test it out properly yet, will report back when i have