[Sir Squeaky]

Why anyone would bother getting air con fitted as an extra is well beyond me!! I would understand If you lived in a very hot country but this is Britain. Just my opinion.

Because it's up to 30c at some point every summer, and most of the time when you're working in the 20's the van is hot inside.

Air-con cools you off and you feel refreshed for the next job, not hot tired and sweaty.

Since I've had air-con I can work longer and harder in the summer.
It's a no-brainer. :

[gsw]

once upon a time there was a young window cleaner called squeeky who was never ever ever going to go wfp as ladders and hand tools were all he ever needed.... now look whats happened...... he's getting a new van and its got air con...... most amusing!!!

sorry off topic, i am looking at the sl29 as then you get 1200kg payload which  means full tank of fuel, 8oo litres of water, two men plus ladders if you want them and you are still legal.
and it will seem like loads of space compared to my berlingo!!

[Paul Coleman]

I would have thought the same as you squeeky, its just the french version of a transit so it shouldnt be that  small in the back, somewhere around the 2.3 metre mark I would have thought

I believe that load lengths are 2.4 mtrs for SWB and 2.8 for LWB.  Not a huge difference between the two really.

[Paul Coleman]

once upon a time there was a young window cleaner called squeeky who was never ever ever going to go wfp as ladders and hand tools were all he ever needed.... now look whats happened...... he's getting a new van and its got air con...... most amusing!!!

sorry off topic, i am looking at the sl29 as then you get 1200kg payload which  means full tank of fuel, 8oo litres of water, two men plus ladders if you want them and you are still legal.
and it will seem like loads of space compared to my berlingo!!

Things might be a bit tighter weightwise than you think.  When I had mine MOT's last year, they wanted it as light as possible for the 3 tonne ramp.  So I ran the water to empty, ran the fuel down low and the only bits left in there were tank (obviously), and the leisure battery and pump.  Like this, it came to 1.9 tonnes without me in it (I checked at the weighbridge).  So adding the 800 litres of water would take it to 2.7 tonnes.  2 guys in there would probably be anything from 150 to 220 kilos.  It only needs two burly guys in there with 800 litres of water for there to be no more payload left for poles and diesel.  I suppose my tank isn't the lightest (an Omnipole 800 litre) but even with a lighter tank, you could be pushing it a bit.

[marc]

got to agree with squeeky with the air con if your buying new its a must have and good for the resale later its like sitting in a fridge in the summer months

[gsw]

http://www.lowcostvans.co.uk/Products/Fiat-Ducato-30-SWB-Diesel-23-Multijet-Van-120__11267.aspx

I thought these looked ok with the extra load space and extra payload compared to the trafic especially for the money.

does anyone have/had a fiat?? are they any good?

greg

[edd]

we have a lwb Traffic and its just big enough but the swb transit will be the same size as the lwb Traffic
I think we will go for the Transit next time with the bigger engine

[Clear Vision]

This is the van I had on demo and I tried the tank for size. The only problem is that I couldn't mount the hose reel at the side door beside the tank. I would have to work the reels out the back door instead and i dont really like working that way.

[Ian_Giles]

I have the Nissan Primastar swb version of this van, and totally love it, and I totally agree with Squeaky, no way on this planet would I have a vehicle without aircon...what a difference it makes in the summer
I've a 650l flat tank in it, have a 3 tier ladder in there, 100m hosereel and 35ft of carbon fibre pole plus other incidental stuff, loads of room.
If I wish to work out of the side door then I can do so, hosereel is fixed at the back as I prefer to work out of the back doors.
Whatever van you go for, be flexible, work out how best to work with the equipment you have, each van will require a different approach - unless you go for the same van as you've had before of course - so keep an open mind!!

Oh, and anothe rreason I went for the Nissan version of the van was the insurance costs...it's cheaper than the vivaro or traffic versions!

Ian

[NWH]

Just have 1 fixed hosereel at the back dors and have the system setup so you can have a stand alone reel so you can point it where you want.