The day of reckoning has come. Decisions have to be made. It has been a good run but something has to be done. What in the world could I be talking about? Your sweeper is a Model 240EH Tennant. You purchased it new and you’re now saying “We need to buy a new sweeper, it’s time!”

Actually, I don’t see how you have kept it going all of these years. First, let me give you a little history on this machine. The Tennant Model 240EH was an electric rider sweeper. “EH” stood for Electro-Hydraulic. This machine was developed in the early 1970’s as the answer to a cleaner business environment. At the time it had the latest technology. It had a 36V system powered by two 18V batteries. Tennant used the latest GE contactors, relays and electric motors. It had a total 53” sweep path from a combination of the main and side brushes. Most were low dump versions. However, the high-dump was available and I remember seeing some of these units. At that time a good used machine was highly sought after and a premium price was paid.

Even though it was electric, the machine had a very reliable hydraulic system. It had the Vicker’s brand propelling motor that controlled the hopper cylinder, side- brush hydraulic motor and drive wheel hydraulic motor.

The hopper capacity was around 1,000 lbs. of debris. An operator could perform a lot of sweeping with that kind of hopper capacity. A commercial building of 100 to 150,000 square feet was this sweepers comfort zone and could sweep this in a few hours.

At this time in history there were no electrical actuators or push-button side brooms. Oh no, everything was done with levers. This machine has a main broom lever, side brush lever, main brush adjustment lever and a hopper raise and lower lever, just to name a few.

Jumping 35 to 40 years to today’s sweeper, the Tennant Model S30 becomes available. The sweeping path is around 62.5” width with a hopper capacity of 1,200 lbs for the steel version. There is also a plastic hopper available and it does not rust, but the debris capacity is still 1,000 lbs.

The S30 is only available in Gas/LPG or Diesel, so if you are needing an electric riding sweeper, the Tennant Model 6200 could be for you.

E-mail me at michaelc@hi-gear.com if you need a specification sheet, or visit the Tennant website at www.tennantco.com.

As always, thanks for reading.
Michael Creamer