HydraMaster acquisition

Nostalgic is the best word to describe my feelings about HydraMaster, a truck-mount pioneer, being acquired by a Danish company. As a WWII dinosaur, I always regret seeing American companies sold to foreigners, especially good competitors.

The news release said that CEO Steve Brandt and Chairman Mike Palmer will stay on as advisers. I never met Steve Brandt who got his start with Ed York's Steam Services. But I met Mike's first salesman, Bob Langley, at a convention in 1975. He tried to sell my wife a HydraMaster. Of course he didn't know who she was when he told her, "You won't have to carry around a pocket full of fuses like Bane-Clene people do." Justice prevailed when he couldn't get the machine started for a demonstration.

I met Mike Palmer at a convention in Atlanta in 1981. He came by my booth and patiently listened to me talk to prospects about the economy of electrical machines over those (like his) that use gasoline. He politely introduced himself and then bluntly asked how many trucks we were selling a year. Caught totally off guard, I told him the truth, which was not very many. There was no hint of reciprocity, because he never did tell me how many he was selling.

As old timers in the business bail out, any animosity that may have ensued over the years is veiled by the mists of time and only good memories remain. Congratulations to Mike Palmer on a great career, and I sincerely hope he enjoys a lot of golf before we play together on that great course up in the sky. That's assuming we both get a tee time there.

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