[robbie14000]

Hi, We have been IPAF qualified for a while now and worked on various machines.
I had the experience of working on a 15.75 tracked access machine last week for a builders clean on a fire station for both internal and external.
What a fantastic piece of kit, fits through a standard doorway and under 2 ton.
so impressed  we are going to purchase one in the next few weeks.
Just trawling through companies for best deals to make purchase in the next week or two.
So if anyone needs to hire a access platform and qualified IPAF/window cleaner for a day please leave me a email with contact details.
We are based in Harrogate, North Yorkshire
Ideal for hard to access areas (domes/high internal glass etc)
Thanks Robbie
Clearshine Ltd
Email:robbie.clearshine@hotmail.co.uk
or
sarah.murphy15@ntlworld.com

[Seers]

Hi,

Was it a spiderlift or omme? Have you seen the price of these things new? Unless you've got work for one every week or can hire it out, it may not be feasible. We looked into it last year and have kept hiring them in as and when.

Cheers,

Huw.

[robbie14000]

Hi Huw,
We are looking at a second hand spider with trailer.(approx 22k) as new are £40 k +
With the contacts we have and response from our clients I am fairly confident we will be able to keep it busy.
Going to take a calculated risk as been building the business up for over 5 years and feel it is time to try to take it to the next level.
Had lots of interest over the last week and it will be great for work we currently have/ picking up at the moment...
Had lots of interest from building Companies/sparkys/council and aim to really market the machine to make it pay.
All sounds good in practice and I know it will be a lot of hard work but got to start somewhere.
Any advice would be much appreciated from members who have experience in dealing with this type of work.
Thanks Robbie
P.S Did you manage to send me a pack for picking up work in the North/West Yorks areas if it is still available ?

[bluez]

I have used track machines a good few times and find them very useful..............but I find that it is only every couple of months that I come across a job that actually needs one. Track machines are specifically designed for height access in areas where access is very narrow, there are other more suitable machines for work that doesnt have the access issues.

Ask yourself honestly for the next month if a track machine is the right piece of kit for the job at hand. My experience was that I liked the novelty of it but by the time I bought a flat bed truck to transport it and the machine itself that the payback was decades(didnt buy in the end). I also found that it regularly would have failed to reach the heights or over reach necessary for work which ment that I would be back to hiring machines.

One other potential pitfall that I came across was that when you hire machines they come certified and inspected, if it is your own you will either have to pay through the nose to get someone qualified to inspect and certify before you hire it out or learn to do this yourself otherwise you and your potential clients will have H&S problems, whatever about risking yourself you would be mad to risk it with someoen else.

Not trying to put you off just suggesting you check out your market fully before investing.

[bluez]

Sorry Robbie I just read that back and it sounds a bit preachy it is not ment to be. I am sure you know your market. good luck

[macmac]

Sorry Robbie I just read that back and it sounds a bit preachy it is not ment to be. I am sure you know your market. good luck

I just read it & thought it was good advise.

[robbie14000]

Bluez - Sounds like great advice.
I will certainly think long and hard before I part with the hard earned.
was going to get a truckmount but this limits the work we can do.
Also a lot of jobs we get are not over 15-17 meters high as the spider is also excellent for outdoor work.
We have 3 employees that are IPAF trained so will be looking longer term to buy more than one to rent out - if it all goes to plan.
Must admit I have been thinking about it a lot last night after reading Huw,s post as they have a larger business than ours and decided against purchasing one.
All comments are much appreciated as want to make a balanced business decision.
Thank you
Robbie

[Seers]

Hi Robbie,

The charges for hiring them in are sky high, and the transport costs are unbelievable from the big hire outfits. So if you knew you needed one at least once a month then financing your own machine would probably work out cheaper. Also I would also agree that there are times when you will still need a larger boom or outreach and your machine will be left in the yard whilst you hire in someone elses.

Why don't you speak to someone like Charlie Price at JV Price in London, they've got plenty of boom lifts or there's trac-access.com, I think his name is John who hires out a Teupen Leo 23GT about maintenance costs etc before you take the plunge.

That said I would love to own one.

Cheers,

Huw.