By Bill Adams
Shortly after World War II, the late Paul Harvey had a radio talk show that ran for nearly 60 years. It featured odd-ball and interesting short stories. He’d tell 99% of a story and then, often after a commercial break, he’d follow-up with an equally interesting or surprising ending and the catchphrase “and now you know the rest of the story.”
After listening to Harvey for years, it became second nature to look for more in a story. His influence as well as reaching Raisin Squad maturity level (old age), and an inquisitive mind makes me guilty of always waiting for or wanting a sequel. Two recent Fire Apparatus & Emergency Equipment articles sparked my interest. Forgive the wandering off topic; that’s also an age thing.
Money
Al Petrillo’s recent article (https://www.fireapparatusmagazine.com/features/melrose-ma-fd-returns-to-seagrave-for-another-tractor-drawn-aerial/) about a new tiller (ladder truck) purchased in Melrose, Massachusetts pointed out the new rig pretty much mirrored its 2007 Seagrave TDA (tractor drawn aerial) with one big exception. “The biggest change on the new tiller was that they dropped the generator and went with two Honda 2-kW portable generators, along with a lot more outlets on the truck to charge their assortment of battery-operated tools.”
What started the money rant? Being an inquisitive white hair, I wanted to know the difference in cost, something vendors usually don’t discuss in the open. Several apparatus vendors would not go on-the-record when asked about the cost of a 10-kW onboard generator. They claimed there were too many variables which included what kind of generator, how much it costs in a crate, shipping costs, where its mounted affects installation costs, and extras like cord reel(s) and the number of outlets. That is understandable. An off-the-record budget price ranged from $30,000-$35,000 dollars.
Kevin Steeves, an old friend, semi-raisin, and former volunteer fire chief is the owner of Tele-Lite, Inc. in Rochester, New York. Tele-Lite is also a Honda dealer. Steeves says depending on the options, the list price of a Honda 2-kW generator is between $1,400-$1,500. $3,000 versus $30,000 is a pretty big spread. But wait – that’s not the whole story!
The last sentence in Petrillo’s article is important. It mentioned battery-operated tools, which today runs the gamut from handheld reciprocating saws to hydraulic rescue tools (HRT) and smoke ejectors. The cost of ba