Various industries use aerial lift equipment to work at elevated heights safely and efficiently. Aerial lifts feature platforms and extending arms, but they differ in size, weight capacity and maneuverability. The ideal type of lift for your next job or project depends on terrain, reach requirements, load weight and the number of workers who need to use the lift simultaneously.
What Is an Aerial Lift, and What Can You Use It for?
An aerial lift is a piece of heavy equipment with a raised platform, allowing people to work at various heights. Companies and individuals use aerial lifts for numerous applications, such as:
- Power line repair and installation
- High-story construction and maintenance
- High-story window washing
- Outdoor and indoor construction tasks
- Landscaping and forestry applications
- Overhead signage repair, adjustment or installation
- Film production tasks
- Warehouse organization
- Vegetable, fruit and tree nut collection
The Advantages of Aerial Lift Equipment
Aerial lifts are often much easier to work with than similar tools, like ladders or scaffolding, helping you stay safer and work more efficiently. Aerial lift equipment offers the following benefits:
- Stability: An aerial lift has more stability than a ladder, making it a safer option when working at elevated heights. Rather than working while standing on small rungs, you can plant your feet on a stable platform and focus solely on your work.
- Mobility: Aerial lifts are more mobile than scaffolding, making it easy to move from site to site or between different parts of a site. This mobility also makes lifts a short-term option, as you don’t need to install scaffolding and tear it down after your work is complete.
- Convenience: When working from an aerial lift, you can easily bring your tools with you. A ladder requires you to wear a tool belt and carry a limited number of supplies, but a lift provides a stable platform to hold all of your tools and essentials while you work.
Types of Aerial Lifts
Using the right lift type for your tasks and job site increases efficiency and safety. These are some of the most common lifts you can choose from:
Scissor Lift
A scissor lift is a fantastic option for vertical projects. It lifts a platform directly above its base using metal bars that extend in an accordion shape. Scissor lifts can vary in width. Companies and individuals often use scissor lifts for:
- Large machinery inspection and maintenance
- HVAC inspection and repair
- Ceiling damage repair
- Warehouse pallet loading and unloading
- Retrieving heavy products from shelves
- Hanging signs
- Filming and recording events
- Working on tall sculptures or murals
A scissor lift’s straight, up-and-down motion provides enhanced stability to support heavier loads. This movement reduces your ability to reach challenging spaces, but a scissor lift is an excellent option for lifting heavy loads vertically. Manufacturers can also construct this type of lift with stronger bars if your application requires additional weight support. These are the most common scissor lifts:
- Rough terrain: A rough terrain scissor lift features adaptations such as four-wheel drive and tires with additional tread. These features make it easier and safer to operate the machine on challenging outdoor terrain.
- Slab: A slab scissor lift is great for indoor use because of its small base, allowing it to operate on solid, flat surfaces such as concrete floors.
Boom Lift
Boom lifts can move vertically and horizontally, making them adaptable and versatile options. This motion enables faster task completion because it eliminates the need to continuously lower and relocate the machine when transitioning to a new area. For example, fire departments use boom lifts to reach higher floors in multiple-story buildings.
Boom lifts also help with the following common applications:
- Beam installation
- Painting the exterior surfaces of buildings
- Accessing challenging areas
- Building maintenance, such as repairs, heating and cooling inspections and window cleaning
- Agricultural harvesting and crop inspection
- Fertilizer and pesticide spraying
- Electrical line inspection and maintenance
- Utility work
Boom lifts often feature specialized attachments like insulated platforms, making them especially useful for utility work. An insulated platform helps protect workers from electrical hazards, so they can repair and maintain electrical lines and utility infrastructure more safely. The following types of boom lifts are common in various industries:
- Telescopic: Telescopic boom lifts are typically one of the most stable options because they feature straight arms. These arms remain straight and extend vertically and horizontally from the lift’s base.
- Articulating: An articulating boom lift is also known as a knuckle lift because it features a joint arm with multiple boom sections. This design allows the lift to bend and reach challenging areas, and many articulating boom lift models can swivel 360 degrees.
Vertical Personnel Lift
Vertical personnel lifts are also known as one-person lifts because they can lift a single worker at a time. A vertical personnel lift is lightweight and compact for easy set-up and transportation, making it perfect for small indoor applications such as:
- Film or theater set building
- Holiday decoration installation
- Indoor building maintenance and repair work
- Inventory management
Vertical personnel lifts come in various sizes and weight capacities, and these types of personnel lifts are popular:
- Manual: A manual vertical personnel lift requires the operator to push or pull it to relocate the machine to a new area.
- Self-propelled: A self-propelled vertical personnel lift features a power system that allows operators to drive it between work areas.
How to Choose the Right Aerial Lift
Choosing the right aerial lift for your application depends on many factors, like where and how you plan to use it. Before you buy, consider the following factors:
- Work area: Do you need to work indoors or outdoors? Vertical personnel lifts and slab scissor lifts are ideal for indoor applications because of their compact designs, but boom lifts and rough terrain scissor lifts are excellent options for outdoor applications.
- Terrain: A rough terrain scissor lift is perfect if you need to work on uneven ground.
- Reach requirements: In some cases, you may need to reach challenging areas. In these situations, an articulating boom lift can offer the greatest maneuverability.
- Weight capacity requirements: Consider the type of supplies and materials you need to load onto your lift. For example, if you need to hang heavy signage or lift heavy product loads from shelves, consider using a scissor lift.
- Number of workers: While a vertical personnel lift is perfect for one worker, you will need a larger lift, such as a scissor or boom lift, if multiple workers need to use the platform simultaneously.
Explore Aerial Equipment From Eastern Lift Truck Co.
With the right aerial lift, you can complete projects efficiently and safely. Eastern Lift Truck Co. offers a vast inventory of aerial lift equipment, and we can help you choose the best option for your specific needs. We also carry used aerial equipment, which is the perfect choice if you have a limited budget but still require durable equipment.
Contact us to learn more and talk to a pro about finding the right aerial lift for your next job.
