Types of Aerial Lifts and How to Choose the Best Lift for the Job

Mobile elevating work platforms (MEWPs), as defined by the new ANSI A92 standards, are aerial lifts that transport employees to difficult-to-reach locations, generally at a height, without needing a scaffold. Innumerable jobs would be impossible without them. But how do you choose the ideal lift for the task when there are so many different kinds of lifts?

To begin, answer the following questions, then proceed:

1. How much weight can you handle? It’s important to consider the lift’s dynamic load capacity (the ability to carry equally balanced loads) and static capacity (the side/end load) when selecting a lift since the weight of personnel, equipment, and materials adds up.
2. To what height or distance must you aspire? You may have to select between the lift’s maximum height and horizontal reach if you’re looking for construction lifts.
3. How confined is the space in which you’re working? A lift’s footprint and platform size should be compared to the location where it will be utilized.
4. Is the job you’re doing indoors or outside? When working inside, you’ll need a power source with minimal emissions and tires that won’t scratch your flooring. This kind of machinery is typically used for outside tasks.
5. Learn about the many kinds of aerial lifts and the most important characteristics and capabilities of each one.

What is A Scissor Lift?

Scissor lifts have an enormous platform containing cross braces. These braces enable the platform to go upwards and downwards in a straight line on scissor lifts. The platform lifts employees and equipment right over the machine’s base, making the lift very stable. The load capacity of scissor lifts is often greater than those of other lifts.

You may use this lift if you want a large, solid platform that can carry a lot of people and a lot of weight, but you don’t require horizontal reach. Slab, rough-terrain, and single-man are all variations on the scissor lift design.

Scissor lifts have a variety of functions.

Window cleaning, building restorations, warehouse operations, and industrial maintenance are a few of the many uses for scissor lifts. On flat slabs, electric scissor lifts are often used. Working outside, rough-terrain scissor lifts are ideal since they can handle slopes, uneven ground, and even mud.

With regard to various lift options, how do scissors compare to other models?

1. From five hundred to twenty-five hundred pounds of weight may be carried. It would be best if you used a lift with reinforced scissor bracing to avoid swaying while lifting heavy goods.
2. They can reach from nineteen to forty feet in height.
3. Smaller electric-powered scissor lifts may be able to fit into tight locations where standard scissor lifts can’t, but larger electric-powered lifts may not.
4. Is this for usage indoors or outside? To avoid damaging the floor, the weight is evenly distributed. Hence electrical scissor lifts are a smart option for interior usage. For outdoor work, rough-terrain scissor lifts with heavy-duty wheels and combustion engines are the ideal option.

What is A Boom Lift?

In comparison to scissor lifts, boom lifts provide a significant height advantage. A telescopic boom lift’s reach extends far and wide, allowing people to operate adjacent to or even on top of big buildings. Despite its shorter horizontal reach, articulating boom lifts enable operators to raise workers over or beneath obstructions. Moving the deck upwards and downwards and from right to left is possible by extending the jib boom.

Several Applications of Boom Lifts

Telescopic boom lifts are used for cleaning, tinting, bridge assessments, power line repairs, and commercial maintenance.

Routine maintenance on bridges, arenas, depots, and convention halls is easier with articulating boom lifts.

How boom lifts stack against other lift types

1. They have a weight range of about five hundred to twenty-five hundred pounds.
2. An articulating boom lift may go from forty feet up to one hundred and eighty-five feet.
3. Requires a lot of room: Boom lifts with a long reach aren’t the best choice for working in tight quarters. It takes up more space than an articulated boom lift to accommodate the bigger turntable and outriggers needed to keep the telescopic model balanced. Since the extreme ends of turntables do not reach the drive chassis edge, articulating boom lifts may operate in narrower work zones. Smaller articulating boom lifts, with their narrower shapes, are better suited to tighter locations than their larger counterparts.
4. Is this for usage indoors or outside? Electric boom lifts are a low-emission way to access high places in a building. In terms of speed, power, and ease of refilling, boom lifts fueled by gasoline, propane, or diesel are preferable for outdoor operations.

Lifts with Vertical Masts

Doorways, freight elevator shafts, and narrow racking are all places where vertical mast lift systems may be used. In addition to being an effective alternative to ladders, telescoping masts allow them to be controlled and propelled from the platform, making them safer. Stability is provided by the mast-guide system, which minimizes deflection and wobble. However, the lifts are designed for mobility and convenience rather than high loads.

Examples of vertical mast lift applications

With its push-around and self-propelled electric types, these lifts allow personnel to go right up to the task and are ideal for low-height, inside maintenance operations in confined spaces. They’re often employed for tasks like painting and lighting and scooping up inventory in warehouses and places of worship and business.

1. When compared to other kinds of lifts, vertical mast lifts are superior.
2. It has a weight range of three hundred to five hundred pounds.
3. From fifteen feet to thirty feet in height and reach.
4. Requires a lot of room: A vertical lift is a great solution if you’re in a tight spot. It’s possible to use models with small platforms to operate on ceilings without removing the grid.
5. Is this for usage indoors or outside? Lifts with vertical masts may be utilized both inside and outdoors. Vertical mast lifts driven by electricity don’t harm flooring and don’t produce exhaust.

About Clockwork Training

In 2014, Kelly Falconer founded Clockwork Training, a locally run training, and certification provider.

As a tradesman, Kelly has extensive knowledge of the programs he has worked with for much of his life. Safety specialist has spent the past 15 years working across many sectors, including the domestic, business, and industrial sectors.

Businesses, workers, and even Kelly himself were irritated by the number of incidents that occurred because of poor or nonexistent training. A gap in the system had become apparent to him, and he resolved to use his years of knowledge to help address it.

The founders of Clockwork Safety & Equipment Instruction set out to teach businesses and their employees at an affordable cost with thorough, high-quality instruction. We believe that having more knowledge makes one’s self and others around them safer. Spending more time with each class, rather than hurrying them, guarantees they retain what they learned. Everybody can benefit from this commonsense notion.

Clockwork is a family-owned business that cares about the local community. The outcome is that our services will meet your needs at a price that is within your means.

Both excellent and terrible training has been seen by us, as well as the effects of each. Each and every time, quality is more important than quantity.