Mid mount vs. Rear mount Arial devices

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Permalink Reply by Adam Miceli on October 11, 2009 at 8:05am

There are many factors to consider when determining RM or MM. We recently purchased a MM tower to replace a RM stick after a pretty long detailed review of our needs. But here are some highlights of the two types:

Rear Mount:
Tend to be shorter in overall length
Tend to be taller in overall height
On the towers the bucket is a large visual obstruction over the front
Due to aerial being longer overall they can use less sections (turntable to over the cab vs. mid turntable to the rear)
If you nose in the aerial can be up faster

Midmount:
Shorter in overall height where station or general street overhangs might be a factor
More scrub area due to more range of length from more sections
Can be brought to the sidewalk in a shorter distance (tower ops)

We went MM as we wanted the ability to put our bucket on the sidewalk in our downtown district, as well as keeping the OAH down. Even with 12 ft. door the angle of our apron makes the MM a tight fit, a rearmount would likely not fit. We also were not fans of the bucket obstructing the operators view, but I know like anything, this can be trained for. As for one being better than the other, I don't think anyone can make that determination without far more facts. Nothing's perfect, whatever you get some will be unhappy with, but most likely everyone will make it work.

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