Through my 20 plus years, my reputation has grown to be the guy to talk to about new/used equipment. It is not unusual to get a dozen calls a week from people looking at a used machine wanting my opinion or seeking some guidance in the decision making process.

        I received such a call last week, actually from a friend. He rents cleaning equipment And he found an American Lincoln 7760. He said, “Mike, what do you think about this Model?” This is what I talked about:

        The Model 7760 American Lincoln is one of the premiere machines. It was well designed and engineered. The frame and sheet metal is heavier than others in its class. It is a pierce of machinery perfectly designed for the industrial market, therefore, an excellent choice for a rental business. I told him to watch for the following things:

        #1 Find out where it was used in the past. For example, don’t buy scrubbers used in food warehouses that go in and out of cold storage freezers. The constant changes in temperature creates a lot of condensation and, therefore, rust damage occurs over time.

        #2 Make sure it is LPG. That way it is a more rentable piece of equipment.

        #3 Check the hour meter. Be leery of anything over 1500 hours. Don’t buy anything over 2,000 if it is going to be used as a rental.

        #4 Check the solution and recovery tanks for rust damage. Avoid the ESP Extended Scrub water recycling in rental equipment. Most people do not understand its function and will not know how to use it.

        #5 One of the most important items to check is the hydraulic system. Check this out thoroughly. A main hydraulic pump could cost you $1,000 or more.

        #6 Check the hopper. Manual hoppers are sufficient, however, I prefer the variable dump hopper system, which can hold around 1200 pounds of debris.

        #7 Things not to worry about are brushes, squeegees and the filters. These are high fatality items so expect them to need replacing. However, do check the squeegee frames and make sure they are not bent.

        My final advise to my friend was that it is better to “Pay a little more for a good piece of equipment than very little for bad equipment. What you spend in labor and parts will kill you in the long run.”

        I went on to tell him a story of one of my experiences years ago. I bought a group of eight sweepers and scrubbers. I needed only three models but I had to buy the whole package of eight. A couple of weeks later, when my people were unloading the machines, one of the guys yelled out, “there’s noise coming from this sweeper.” We all walked around scratching our heads. I said, “What the heck is that noise? Let’s lift the lid off.” The noise got louder and louder. It was a high pitch screech by this time. When we finally removed the lid, someone yelled “Look out!” It was a family of baby possums and a very angry mother! I guess it happens to the best of us.

        Contact me if you have any questions or comments about sweeper/scrubbers. You

can e-mail me at mikec98423@yahoo.com or call me at 1-800-346-2319.

Thanks,

Michael R. Creamer