Get FinancingYour Guide To Boom Lifts: Articulating, Telescopic & Towable Boom Lifts
Boom lifts are versatile and essential equipment in various industries. These hydraulic-powered machines feature an extendable arm or "boom" with a platform at the end, enabling operators to access hard-to-reach heights safely and efficiently. With their ability to maneuver vertically and horizontally, these lifts offer unparalleled flexibility, making them indispensable for all kinds of maintenance tasks, construction projects, and emergency response situations, among other applications.
Boom lifts enhance productivity, reduce the need for scaffolding, and ensure a safer working environment at elevated levels. Their design and features make them a valuable asset for any project requiring precision, accessibility, and elevation.
For safe operation and to prevent workplace accidents, it's critical to understand that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) mandates that only trained and authorized personnel are permitted to operate any aerial lift.
Boom lifts go by many names, including:
- Cherry Pickers
- Man Lifts
- Aerial Lifts
- Aerial Platforms / Aerial Work Platforms
- Mobile Elevating Work Platforms (MEWPs)
When comparing boom lifts for sale, there are several factors to consider:
- Maximum height it can lift workers
- Horizontal reach
- Power source, or sources in the case of hybrid boom lifts
- Ease of transport from one jobsite to the next
- Ability to maneuver and navigate around obstacles on the ground and above
In this definitive guide to boom lifts, we’ll focus on the three main hydraulic boom lift equipment categories that are on sale on LiftsToday.com today:
But first, a short primer on boom lifts and their general characteristics.
Boom Lift Basics
Boom lifts perform a variety of lifting tasks on construction, commercial, residential, tree care, forestry, oil and gas, and other jobsites. These types of lifts use a hydraulic boom and linkage to elevate workers and their tools on a platform for:
- Replacing lights
- HVAC/utility work
- Cleaning
- Sign installation
- Tree pruning/tree trimming
- Warehouse inventory management
- Sports stadium maintenance
- Gymnasium maintenance
- Industrial manufacturing
- Bridge maintenance
- Painting and decorating
- Roof and gutter repairs
- Façade maintenance
- Utility pole installation
- Emergency and rescue
- Shipyard maintenance
- And much more
Drive
Self-propelled boom lifts come with tracks or tires; wheeled models often have selectable two-wheel drive (2WD), four-wheel drive (4WD), or full-time all-wheel drive (AWD). Many such boom lifts are suitable for use outdoors, including on rough terrain, while others can be used indoors with low or zero emissions and the ability to fit through garage doorways. Tracked and wheeled boom lifts require a trailer to transport them.
Power
Boom lifts may be powered by:
- Diesel, gasoline, or dual-fuel engines
- Natural gas/liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) engines
- Electric batteries or site power
- Hybrid power systems (engine and electric)
- Bi-energy systems (engine or electric)
If you’re considering buying a used boom lift, check the number of hours it has accumulated and obtain any available service records.
Articulating Boom Lifts
Articulating boom lifts, also known as knuckle boom cranes, extend their worker platforms by unfolding multiple hinged sections of their hydraulic booms, like an old-fashioned folding ruler or a pantograph.
Maneuverability
Because of the flexibility of their joints, articulating booms can maneuver a work platform into tight spaces, including up and over obstacles such as tree branches, vehicles, low buildings, and girders, and under gym ceilings, air ducts, bridges, and utility lines. Virtually all lifts can rotate their turret, but articulated models that can also rotate their platform and jib can bring workers up to even more difficult-to-access jobs at height.
On hard ground, wheeled articulating boom lifts can easily steer into cramped work spaces, especially models with crab steering. Tracked lifts, on the other hand, excel on soft surfaces and when more traction is required. Battery-electric and hybrid-powered systems are more common in the articulating boom segment than in the telescopic category.
Height & Capacity
Although articulating lifts are more dexterous than telescoping boom lifts, they generally can’t lift as much weight or reach as far horizontally. A typical articulated boom lift might have an unrestricted (fully extended) lift capacity of 500 pounds (227 kilograms), a horizontal outreach of 25 feet (7.6 meters), and a vertical platform height of 45 ft (13.7 m).
Because one or two workers can stand on the platform to perform their work, a boom lift’s work height is said to be the platform height plus 6 ft (1.8 m). Note that many articulated boom lifts have a telescopic upper boom for greater height and reach.
Boom lifts of all types may come with safety features such as obstacle detection around the work platform, tilt sensors and alarms, and motion beacons with audible alerts. Popular options include air, water, and power lines to the platform that allow workers to use tools or clean building fascias.
Articulating Boom Lift Manufacturers
Notable manufacturers of articulating boom lifts and other elevated work platforms include CMC, Genie, Haulotte, JLG, Monitor, and Niftylift.
Telescopic Boom Lifts
Also known as “stick booms” or “straight booms,” telescoping boom lifts are named for the way they extend their booms. The smaller, inner sections of the boom slide out from the larger, outer sections, like the segments of an old-timey ship captain’s spyglass telescope.
Maneuverability
Telescoping boom lifts don’t have as much “up-and-over” agility as articulating lifts, but both wheel and track models can be quite offroad-capable with good traction on rougher terrain, slope compensation, and the ability to climb grades. Wheeled models may have solid rubber wheels or pneumatic or foam-filled tires, often with four-wheel or all-wheel drive. Crawler boom lifts are more capable on mud, snow, and sand.
Height & Capacity
Telescopic boom lifts can have longer horizontal outreach, greater platform height, and more powerful lift capacity than articulated boom lifts. Some key figures to look for in a telescopic boom lift are its maximum vertical platform height, such as 85 ft (26 m), and its horizontal outreach, such as 45 ft.
A lift’s lifting capacity is similarly important. An example is 750 lbs (340 kg) of unrestricted capacity, meaning that the lift can handle that amount of weight even with its boom fully extended. Every telescopic boom will be able to lift greater amounts with its boom partially or fully retracted, known as its “restricted lift capacity.”
Power
Internal combustion engines—diesel, gasoline, LPG, and dual-fuel—are prevalent in the telescopic segment, with fewer battery-electric and hybrid-powered examples than in the articulating boom category.
Telescopic Boom Lift Manufacturers
Some of the more popular manufacturers of telescoping boom lifts are Genie, Haulotte, JLG, Skyjack, and Snorkel.
Towable Boom Lifts
Trailer-mounted or towable boom lifts come in both articulating and telescoping configurations. They’re very popular as rental boom lifts, as many can be towed behind a pickup truck or SUV, and they offer easy setup and operation.
Towable boom lifts are also known as:
- Lift trailers
- Boom trailers
- Tow-behind cherry pickers
- Bucket lifts
Tow Weight & Maximum Tow Speed
Besides the usual specs to check before you buy or rent a tow-behind boom lift—platform height, lift capacity, horizontal reach, and so on—you’ll need to determine vital specs such as its towing weight.
For example, many towable lifts are light enough to pull behind a standard half-ton pickup truck, including models weighing 5,000 lbs (2,268 kg) or more. Heavier boom trailers may include self-contained hydraulic surge brakes, or electric brakes that require a tow vehicle with a brake controller.
Also look closely at the lift trailer’s maximum safe towing speed, such as 65 mph (105 km/h), and the lift’s height, width, and length when stowed for transport.
Maneuverability
Towable boom lifts generally have excellent jobsite mobility. Boom trailers must be stabilized by extending their outriggers, which look a little like spiders’ legs. Some have an auto-leveling feature for faster setup.
Power
Many towable boom lifts run on battery power or an electrical outlet on the jobsite, but some have gasoline, diesel, LPG/natural gas, or bi-energy setups.
Towable Boom Lift Manufacturers
Bil-Jax, Genie, Haulotte, JLG, Monitor, and Niftylift are among the more popular manufacturers of tow-behind booms.
Find Boom Lifts For Sale On LiftsToday.com
In this article, we’ve given you a look at articulated, telescoping, and towable boom lifts, including the strong suits of each type of lift and the specifications, features, and options to look for when you’re buying or renting one.
Take advantage of our user-friendly interface to sort and filter thousands of boom lifts by type of lift, manufacturer, engine power, and other specs, and find the perfect boom lift equipment on LiftsToday.com.