Get FinancingTips & Considerations For Buying A New Or Used Personnel Lift
Among the thousands of new and used telehandlers, forklifts, scissor lifts, articulated boom lifts, and other lift equipment for sale every day on LiftsToday.com are scores of personnel lifts for sale. Also referred to as “man lifts,” “mast lifts,” “vertical masts,” “push-arounds,” “spider lifts,” “cherry pickers,” “aerial work platforms,” and other names, these compact, highly versatile and maneuverable machines are used by contractors, construction companies, homeowners, and others for construction, renovation, retail, shipping, warehousing, agricultural, and other applications. Here are some features, technologies, specs, and other considerations to weigh before buying or renting a new or used personnel lift, whether from Genie, Haulotte, JLG, Skyjack, Snorkel, or another leading manufacturer.
Know Your Type
While all personnel lifts enable workers to access elevated spaces, there is diversity within the category. Push-arounds, or manually propelled models, for example, are often used on indoor jobsites and feature lighter frames that enable one person to move them around. Spider lifts, meanwhile, take their name from their extendable legs that provide additional stabilization. Heavier, sturdier self-propelled models use batteries and electricity to support various functionality, including potentially moving about with the platform fully extended. These lifts produce zero emissions and low noise levels, making them ideal for indoor use in highly trafficked retail and commercial spaces. Elsewhere, heavy-duty industrial models built to withstand harsher work environments are also available.
Multifaceted Machines
While historians suggest personnel lifts got their start in orchards replacing less-efficient and more labor-intensive ladders used for harvesting fruit, current models can handle dozens of tasks requiring access to low and medium heights. This includes window washing, ceiling installations and repairs, replacing lights, loading/unloading goods, renovations, electrical wiring, tree pruning, and changing signage, whether in schools, hospitals, office buildings, warehouses, churches, retail stores, or elsewhere. The compact, lightweight nature of personnel lifts also enables them to navigate tight spaces, pass through narrow doorways, and work on flooring susceptible to damage. Some models can be loaded/unloaded and set up by one person, as well as fit into elevators for multi-floor access. Rough-terrain models, meanwhile, are specifically designed for rougher ground conditions.
Size, Capacity & Specs
Depending on lift capacity, which can range from about 300 to 500 pounds (136 to 227 kilograms) and up, personnel lifts are generally rated for either one- or two-person operation. Overall machine weights can range from less than 1,800 to 2,600 pounds (817 to 1,180 kilograms) and higher; lifts in this category often measure 2 to 3 feet (0.61 to 0.91 meters) wide and 5 feet (1.5 meters) or less long. Many models can fold to 7 feet (2.13 meters) or less for stowing. Maximum reach heights generally range from 10 to 40 feet (3 to 12 meters) and beyond.
While some personnel lifts are small enough for one person to load/unload in a pickup bed, others feature designs that enable positioning them just a few inches from a wall while still extending upward 30 feet (9.14 meters) or more. Transport-wise, expect roughly 2.5 mph (4 km/h) speeds when stowed and about a fifth of that with the platform raised. Elsewhere, in addition to gradeability (typically 20 to 30%), other specs worth heeding include maximum platform height, deck extension length, maximum drive height, indoor/outdoor turning radius, drive system, power source, and battery charger.
General Features
Common personnel lift features include platform-based outlets and connectors for power tools, joystick controls for transport and platform functions, control panel indicator lights (low battery, diagnostics, etc.), integrated leveling jacks and outriggers, holding brakes, non-marking rubber tires, and onboard battery chargers. Other possibilities include crane lift rings, forklift pockets, and tie-downs, as well as such safety-related features as saloon-style entry gates, guardrails, horns, descent and tilt alarms, LED lights, and an ability to lower the platform in case of a power failure.
Special Capabilities & Technologies
In addition to some models coming telematics-ready, personnel lifts may variously feature such other special abilities and technology implementations as pothole protection, bumper and contact technologies that halt operations if contacting another object, automatic load sensing and level sensing, and security locks to prevent unapproved usage. Models may also include support for fast platform changes and multiple platform sizes, up-and-over outreach access via jib and rotating chassis implementations, and an ability to straddle fixed structures (seating, stairwells, etc.).
Attachments & Accessories
If personnel lifts included nothing else but a platform, they’d still be incredibly useful. Manufacturers, however, often expand their models’ capabilities and safety through such attachments and accessories as work station trays for tools, tube caddies for light bulbs, and racks for piping and other materials, as well as enhanced security gates, flashing and warning lights, and narrower platforms for use in particularly confined spaces.
Price
As with most equipment categories, prices of new and used personnel lifts can vary fairly significantly depending on the size, feature list, manufacturer, and other factors. While some used models a decade or older can range from less than $1,000 to $10,000 and up, new models start at around $6,000 or more for manual push-around models and range as high as $30,000 and up for self-propelled electric/battery models.