My partner bought a truck from Joe this month and it has been a disaster. We picked it up and started our cross country drive home. The truck lost its transmission in the first hour of use, Joe said change the fluid and filters, which we did and the transmission lasted another 6 hours of driving, and then more tranny problems. We tried another fluid change and 8 hours later the transmission was finished. We went to a tranny shop and they said the tranny needed replacement and that the tranny had been throwing codes for months, thus Joe knew of the worn out transmission. Joe had given us a 30 day guarantee on the truck but refused to pay for the transmission. After many hours on the phone receiving verbal abuse laced with non stop mockery, Joe agreed to pay for $4700 of the $8000 total bill. We felt OK with this as we ended up with a new transmission. Once we got home and used the bucket for the first time, the hydraulic control valve in the bucket failed. We took the truck to the local Altec dealer, which Joe opposed, and got a quote of $5000 to repair the the valve. Joe answered the phone and began a tirade against us and hung up. He flatly refused to pay anything. We started with some online reviews and now he is speaking to us again. No resolution at this time, will update as the saga continues. We are at day 14 of our 30 day guarantee. With all of this, I can only say, DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH TRI STATE, as our experience has been horrible and offensive. read more

I Came all the way down from Massachusetts to look at a few trucks that were for sale online. None of these trucks were actually there and I was told by the owner Jo ."They were just for advertising purposes" . There was one truck however we we're interested in , a international 4300 65 foot bucket with Forrestry package. I called back and was telling him we we're interested in this truck and just needed to check the vehicle history report when cut me off "NOT Interested " he says.? I ask him what he means " im not interested in selling you the truck if you don't trust me that's it's never been in an accidents. " . I clarify asking him " so you are not interested in selling a truck to a customer who checks it out first? Why should I trust a used truck salesman who I don't know? " He then says " it will sell today or tomorrow anyways and hangs up.. Sketchy to say the least read more

Joe Ward is nothing but a Facebook bully! I was inquiring information on a bucket truck and he did nothing but slam the person who was selling the truck but me as well. He went as far as screenshots of my business and then posting lies. He is a rude person. read more

Joe Ward is probably the biggest crook in the business. Stay away and save yourself the time and money. Truly unprofessional and a liar. The equipment is generally junk, and when you tell him obvious issues with said equipment before you even buy it, worn out pins leaky hoses and rear main seals, he tells you you have no idea what you're talking about, and if you don't like the shotty equipment that we drove 5 hours one way for because it was supposed to be impeccable, to get off his lot and go somewhere else. Been in this industry for 25 years, and am a certified diesel and hydro mechanic. STAY AWAY. Truly a rude scam artist. Just read the reviews. I wish I had. read more

Joe, I am writing to inquire about this truck we just purchased. I am well aware of the "as is" nature of purchases such as this and I am just asking if this is the standard condition a truck would come from Tristate Forestry Equipment should I buy from you in the future. Below is a list of items I would have expected to be included on this truck when purchased, as they come standard with other firms that I have bought from. Overall the truck looks and drives good and would give it a 7.5 out of 10 rating. These are the areas I feel were lacking. Aerial Lift and outrigger controls have no labeling or safety decals as required by law. No seat belt receivers for passenger seats as required by law. No front mud flaps required here in Texas. No bucket liner required by law for operation around power lines. No safety tringles as required by law, (would have thought the transport driver to take issue with that as a potential fine). Other minor items would include ; no bucket cover, missing threshold piece at driver's door, no weather-stripping for tool boxes, filters, controls, knobs, hydraulic cylinder rams and other items painted over. No sign and wheel chock holders on the truck. Leaking rotation motor and worst of all for me was that you stated this truck came from Georgia yet the previous title was in New York and I can only hope that the rust was all sandblasted off as it is quite pitted and noticeable. As I stated, I am aware of the as is nature of this and would just like an answer as to if this is SOP for Tristate. I will not go as far as saying I won't make another purchase but would just like to know if this is the condition all sales or some correction could occur. Thank you for hearing me out and I look forward to your response. Sent over 10 days ago, and no response. He also stated to me that he would have this truck to me in 2 weeks, it took 6. Still not bad but goes to the credibility of the person and company. read more

The owner Joe has to be one of the biggest D-Bags I have ever dealt with. He kept badgering me to make a decision on the trucks I was buying from him and lied about me telling him to go ahead finance them. He is the most unprofessional business owner I have ever talked with and will never buy any of his trucks or do any sort of business with him ever. Stay far away from this A-Hole! read more

I'm new to the forestry business and needed some help purchasing a bucket truck and chipper. I was searching around the internet and came across tristate. By their website it looked like they had a big inventory. I called the number, on a Saturday, and it went right to the owner Joe. He walked me through what exactly I needed, answered all of my questions, and after we hung up, I tried looking up the same trucks for price comparison, and Joe came back competitive. I decided to purchase my truck from him, went to go pick it up and he had everything ready for me. The transaction took no time at all, everything he said that was going to be fixed on the truck was, haven't had a problem with it since I've had it. Thanks Joe, and Tristate for helping me through what could have been the most stressful purchases in my life. read more

Joe's a crook. I fell for his "custom, ready to go, guaranteed for 30 days" load of nonsense, and it has cost me in a painful way. It didn't have a driver side seatbelt, even, and the left front turn signal comes on every time you touch the brakes. I had paid for a boom inspection that supposedly happened 3 days prior, but when my driver arrived to pick up the truck, there was still paint on the boom cylinder shaft, the pistol was floating in 6 in of water in the bucket, and it leaked hydraulic fluid immediately when tested. My guy waited for 2 hours while they "repaired" the leak. The transmission was slipping within an hour of his shop, and he advised us to keep going. My driver had to change the fluid twice on the way, just to get it to Nebraska. I had it diagnosed, to find the dummy light had been on for many miles ... Joe apparently cleared the code, and sent me down the road. He wanted to ship me a used tranny he had at his yard, all the while insisting he had never seen an Allison fail. He finally paid for the tranny, but refused to pay for installation. I was stuck for 3 days in Omaha, and nearly $4000 poorer when I left. The hydraulic leak reappeared as a waterfall of fluid in the first hour of operation the day after I got back. The control valve was warped, and totally irrepairable, yet he refuses to help with the costs in any way. I'm stuck with something like $10000 in additional expenses for a "guaranteed" truck. He's a crook, and I'm pursuing whatever legal recourse I can unless he's willing to own up to his failure. I will be happy to change my review if Joe can honor his so-called guarantee and simply provide what he promised. read more

To me, it was a gamble flying to buy a vehicle with out ever seeing it. With that said, I got the truck that they said they had, and I drove it 14 hours with no issues. I like the truck and I couldn't find anything wrong with it or anything he lied about in the ad. I will say this though, for the typical cost of the vehicles that they sell, they were not too eager to provide me with extra photos of the truck. Saying that they never do that and people always come buy from just seeing one picture. This did bother me but in their defense they did provide me with a few extra photos after hearing about how they don't do that. Also, I was not able to test drive the truck before purchase. I had a valid cdl to drive the truck and had Insurance on the vehicle but I still couldn't. Maybe find a good way to allow potential clients the ability to do so in the future. Joe sold me the truck he said he had and I'm happy with it. That's all it comes down to. read more

We also bought a truck from Tristate, and got there to pick it up to find it did not even have the transmission in it, we waited and took it home, because we needed a truck ASAP and found, they painted over rust, it would not pass inspection, and when we approached them about the repairs we made to get it to pass inspection we could not get any resolve. Recently I took to their Facebook page and wrote a bad review there, multiple other people had the same problem, I was discouraged to find they removed my review and reported me to Facebook, I then wrote on their wall about my issue and they say I am harassing them..... Sounds about right, all we wanted was for them to pay for the repairs that needed to be made $1632.00 in order for it to pass inspection, we had receipts for them and everything. BUYER BEWARE!!! read more

Stay away! We purchased a truck from this dealer and had it shipped across country. From the photos, it looked like a wonderful truck. He assured us that there was no rust anywhere on the truck. He assured us the truck was 100% work ready, six brand new tires, no violations on the diagnostic computer code system, etc. We asked a lot of questions because we were unable to view the truck in person, and had reservations about buying it that way. When the truck showed up, everything the dealer said was a misrepresentation. We went to take it off the shipping trailer, and realized the emergency brake handle Was missing! Further, the brakes and disks were rotted away from rust - no rust, indeed! - and the brakes didn't work. The estimate to fix the brakes alone was $2000 additional. The promised new tires were old, damaged with big chunks missing. From photos, you would think the paint job was perfect. It was already rusting when the truck arrived. And the L-toolboxes leaked water. The truck also had little power. The turbo had problems, the motor had problems. When we wnt to smog it, seven different codes showed up. As TriState is a dealer, it was illegal to ship a truck with defective brakes to anyone. Free shipping is part of the scam. The buyer can't afford to ship the used vehicle back again and he won't return your phone calls. There's an identical truck online today as the "special" - upon inspection, it's the same truck Tri-State sold to us 12 months ago!!! Also part of the scam. When we tried to talk to the owner about it, he started swearing and hung up. Do not do business with this company. We made a mistake with this purchase. Please don't do the same. read more

Stay away!! Joe sold us a truck that was a salvaged and continued to lie about the details after he was exposed. Very bad man, very bad company!!! read more

Beware this company is a fraud We were taken advantage of on our repair bill we were billed for work that was not done.DONT take or buy anything from these crooks I am reporting them to the BBB and I won't stop until I am refunded money read more