Feel of the machine??

[Speedpup]

I was in a Genie telehandler two years ago. The hydraulics felt horrible compared to my 86 844 Lull and my 90 1044B. Wondering how other machines felt for control and feel?

[barklee]

I always liked the genies/ terex lifts, at least the square shooters. I like the feel and all the operations of the Gehl i have. Its just a little light in the rear when the boom is low compared to a lull. Dont like the feel of the skytraks, i think its the seating position. Really like the older gradalls except the steering, always worried i would clock something with the back weight. Ever run a Carelift, i hear those are real nice?

[Speedpup]

No just my Lulls and the one Genie. Gradall 544 in 91 at the factory and a Gradall in 86. One thing I hate in my 1044B is the seat is off center to the left of the pedals

[icestationzebra]

One thing that makes a big difference is how the valve is actuated by the lever. A couple of machines are direct, but most use cables or pilot control. Sky Trak's (except the Millenia) use cables which stretch and can have too much friction. Lull and Gehl use pilot control. I'm not sure about Genie.

ISZ

[Speedpup]

forgive me but what is meant by the term pilot control? thanks

[Framer]

Maybe stay away from genie. They are to big and have the longest turning radius of any machine i've ever run. I think they are the lowest price but if you ask me quality seams quite poor. Also boom mount is extremely high. Pilot control is more kind of like a simulation. Actions are not as jerky. On my old JCB i could bounce the forks up and down quite violently, I would consider that direct control. By pilot I think it means lag time. My manitou 1745 is simulated(pilot), in other words very smooth and somewhat proportional. I think the cats before cat started being JLG were very similair to manitou on controls. My fork tilt lever on the manitou has 8 wires that feed into the harness, so it's all electronic. By the price of this part because I've had to replace it , it seem like its from aviation, or crane.

[Speedpup]

I think new Genies have horrible resale in the auctions.

[Framer]

They seem squeaky to. One contractor I work for has 2 of them. He bought them cause they're cheap and he liked the service plan the dealer offered. When I bought my Manitou he had been looking at them also. I told the salesman that he had bought genie and he said that was the worst decision that could have been made. He never bad mouthed skytrak, jcb, jlg etc. He said the hydraulic system will run into problems and start bleeding basically. He also said Manitou's vs skytraks, jlg are cheaper to run overall in the long run, this was based on a comparison of one company that owned a bunch of each. He said the skytracs were like double on maintenance, 80 vs 40. That company has a reputation for being hard on their machines. ie: 3 tips during one year. I don't know weather to believe any salesman though.

[icestationzebra]

forgive me but what is meant by the term pilot control? thanks

I forgot to include electric actuation, which some brands use in the extend, tilt and outrigger functions. The list below is generally from cheapest to most expensive.

Electric

Bang/Bang valve - on/off, no proportional control
Electric proportional valve - proportional control, uses a variable switch of some type. (like a light dimmer)

Hydrualic

Direct control - control lever is mounted directly to the control valve (rarely used in telehandlers)
Cable control - control lever actuates the valve spools with a cable in a sleeve (a big version of the cables on a 10-speed bicycle)
Pilot control - the control lever is actually a little hydraulic valve, and actuates the control valve spools with a stream of oil
Hydro-electric - Different technologies used, but all lend themselves to computer control (Accuplace)

ISZ

[Speedpup]

thanks!