Boss Industries LLC, an Indiana-based maker of air compressors and other truck accessories, introduced six new products at the annual Work Truck Show in Indianapolis.
Chuck Hamilton, the company’s director marketing for OEM sales, told Service Truck Magazine about many of the features of those products. Here’s what he had to say.
Boss Lift Force
Boss Industries’ LiftForce, a new diesel-driven hydraulic power source, produces up to 13 gallons per minute of hydraulic power and up 3,000 pounds per square inch of pressure.
“So you can shut your vehicle down to operate your lift gate or lift a crane. But it also has a 180-amp DC continuous output, so you can run lights, meters, air conditioner units, all that,” Hamilton said.
The LiftForce “is perfect” for such vehicles as crane trucks, lube trucks, rail road trucks, utility bucket trucks, he added.
A self-contained unit, it taps into the fuel tank and battery but also uses an “industry standard” three-cylinder engine, he said. That engine, according to the company’s website, is a tier 4 final 25-horsepower Kubota diesel.
The LiftForce also features “automated shutdowns for high engine coolant temperature and low engine oil pressure and is rated to operate at -15º F to 120ºF ambient conditions,” noted a display card the show.
“With the vehicle engine turned off and anti-idling laws becoming more common in the work place, you have plenty of power to operate lights, inverters, strobes/beacons, power tools and is safe for communication devices. Save fuel and extend the life of the vehicle.”
The unit also keeps the battery charged but doesn’t require a power take-off. And the LiftForce promises no more plugged diesel particulate filters from extended vehicle engine idling.
“It’s green, shut everything down,” Hamilton said.
Infinity 35
For its new Infinity 35, Boss took its standard 35 series rotary screw air compressor series and made it more streamlined and lighter, Hamilton said.
“We decreased it by 20 percent overall width, gave it 20 percent weight savings, improved our fan cooling location, increased the ambient temperature ratings, and just taken one of our standard grade products and made it a great little sweet package,” Hamilton said.
Despite the changes, the Infinity 35 has the same mounting pattern and electrical connections as its predecessors. So users wishing to upgrade can make a direct swap, he said.
“With a built-in access panel, virtually all components are accessible for maintenance and service,” says a product brochure. “Other features include a spin-on oil compressor oil filter and separator element manifold.”
The new model can handle temperatures up to 110ºF ambient while delivering “instant pressure and continuous output” of 35 cubic feet per minute at up to 175 pounds per square inch gage.
Titan EZ-Lift
The Titan EZ-Lift from Boss is also a streamlined version of a standard Boss product, in this case the HL-300. Where the HL-300 is an electric-hydraulic tool lift, the Titan is an all-electric tool, Hamilton explained.
It can be mounted in a standard 50-inch cabinet of a service body or the back of a van.
“You can put this anywhere,” Hamilton said. “We have guys who put these on docks for loading air tanks. This is one of our products that we still don’t know all its uses.”
Capable of lifting up to 300 pounds, the Titan can hold up to three tools and raise and lower them to the ground as required, says a product brochure. The unit itself weighs 190 pounds and has a 34-inch lift/drop.
An original use of the Titan EZ-lift was for jackhammers, which can weigh up to 100 pounds. “Those things are heavy. Those guys use them eight hours a day, and when they’re done, they’re done,” Hamilton said.
An added benefit of the EZ-Lift, which can do much of the work of a small crane, is that it can reduce back-injury insurance claims. And to guard against accidental operation, the unit has a dead-man switch. When it’s in storage position, it cannot operate, he said.
The safety features prevent weary workers from injuring themselves at the end of a long day.
“Now they can take the unit — it has built in braking system into it — they can bring it to waist height, drop the tool on, store it away using standard safety chains, and lock all the tools in place.”
WorkMaster GW
The Boss WorkMaster GW is the company’s entrée into the entry-level piston compressor market. The GW, which stands for generator and welder, is designed around a proven gasoline engine, Hamilton said.
It delivers 13.1 cfm, with a 150-amp welder, and four-kilowatt generator.
The WorkMaster retails for about $4,600, which is about one-third the price of a mechanic’s level unit, he said.
“It’s purposely designed in weight and in width so that these guys can get under that DOT weight limit,” he said.
It has a wet weight of 400 pounds, according to company literature.
Powering the WorkMaster is a 14-horsepower Kohler four-cycle slant cylinder engine or an optional 13-horsepower Honda GX390 four-cycle motor.
The unit, which has a 22-inch bolt pattern, can be installed on a truck deck or cabinet, Hamilton said.
Compressor features cited in the product brochure include “heavy-duty single-stage ball Bearings, cast-iron twin cylinders, cast-iron valve plates with Swedish lamellar reed valves, and aluminum alloy connecting rods with automotive-style inserts.”
Journeyman 18
The new Journeyman 18 from Boss is a piston compressor designed for “single-use” truck operators, Hamilton said.
Product literature aims it at contractors and the tire service industry.
Hamilton said it’s an ideal way to bring power directly to a work site for a truck that doesn’t have a crane or large tools.
Its compressor has the same features as the WorkMaster GW. The Journeyman 18 is powered by a 6.5-horsepower Honda four-cycle engine.
Weighing 179 pounds wet, the Journeyman 18 has a nine-gallon tank and produces up to 135 psi. At 100 psi, it delivers 13.1 cfm.
Journeyman 30
The Journeyman 30 is powered by a 13-horsepower Honda.
At 175 psi, its compressor displaces 29.5 cfm and delivers 23 cfm. A display card beside the unit at the Work Truck Show warns, “Don’t trust a company that only states displaced air specifications,” adding that cfm delivered “is an actual airflow amount rated at a specific pressure and should always be used when sizing an air compressor.”
The Journeyman 30 comes with a 30-gallon tank. However, it is also available as a base mount unit, where the tank can be set up remotely, “if you need that space savings,” Hamilton said.
