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Help Choosing Man Lift

kevinw

Member
Joined
Oct 10, 2009
Messages
11
Location
New Hampshire
Hello, I am in need of a man lift. I can't afford a new one so used is my option.

What are the good brands and what should I stay away from? What are the particular problems with different brands? Gas or electric? 2 WD or 4WD? Are the rough terrain scissor lifts any good? Do they need to be on level ground or can you use them on slopes? What are the pros and cons of each? I need to be able to move it with my truck and a trailer so 12,000 pounds is the max it can weigh. I do not want a tow behind type. I have rented Genie and Bil-Jax boom type lifts. Both were new and worked fine. Thanks for your help. Anything else I need to know? Is there a better place in this forum to post this question?

PS Do you know of any for sale close to New Hampshire?
 

willie59

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Joined
Dec 21, 2008
Messages
13,361
Location
Knoxville TN
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Service Manager
Welcome to the forum kevinw.

First of all, there's plenty of used equipment out there right now, you should be able to find something to fit your needs.

Now, what are you looking for; scissor? Or boom lift? Are you working on flat ground? Or, are you working on rought terrain? Inside a building, or outside always? How high do you need to go? What kind of trailer do you have to haul the machine? As far as weight, if your restricted to around 12,000 lbs, your not going to find a self propelled lift that will put you something like 50 ft or more in the air at that weight. Tell us what your needs are and we'll see if we can figure out what would fit.
 

OFF

Senior Member
Joined
Sep 30, 2009
Messages
1,047
Location
Alberta, Canada
Occupation
HD Mechanic
And yes, level ground is important. I can't think of any arial work platforms that will allow you to work on a slope. They (all?) have level sensors that will either lock out the controls completely or just the swing, or limit the height the boom will lift unless the they are level.
 

kevinw

Member
Joined
Oct 10, 2009
Messages
11
Location
New Hampshire
I have only used a boom lift. I asked the question on scissir lifts because they seem to be less expensive. Most of my work is outside on not necessarily rough terrain but uneven terrain. As far as height 30 would be minimum and 40 would be max. I dont have a trailer yet - will need to get one.

Welcome to the forum kevinw.

First of all, there's plenty of used equipment out there right now, you should be able to find something to fit your needs.

Now, what are you looking for; scissor? Or boom lift? Are you working on flat ground? Or, are you working on rought terrain? Inside a building, or outside always? How high do you need to go? What kind of trailer do you have to haul the machine? As far as weight, if your restricted to around 12,000 lbs, your not going to find a self propelled lift that will put you something like 50 ft or more in the air at that weight. Tell us what your needs are and we'll see if we can figure out what would fit.
 

willie59

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Joined
Dec 21, 2008
Messages
13,361
Location
Knoxville TN
Occupation
Service Manager
Ok, 40' max height. But, you asked for advice on what machine to look for yet you still haven't told us what you want to do with it, so let's go at it this way. Scissor lifts are good for going up and down quicky. But your working area is resticted to what's directly above the lift. Whereas a boom lift work area is a 360 degree area of it's reach, as well as reaching over obstacles. Also, as OFF noted, neither scizzor or boom lifts are designed to work on slopes. All lifts have a tilt sensor that activates on a 5 degree or greater slope. But, boom lifts are more stable on sloped terrain up to 5 degree. It's not advisable to raise a scissor on any slope or the machine may fall over. Whether you choose a scissor or boom lift, if your going to be driving on rough or unevean terrain, you'd be money well spent to get a 4wd machine with articulated axle. If you don't, you'll be cussing yourself. As for which brand, I'm partial to JLG first and Genie second. There are other brands that are good machines, that's just the two I prefer. If your looking at a 40' boom lift, the JLG 40HA 4wd is around 12,000 lb, the Genie S-40 4wd is around 11,600 lb. As for scissor's; the JLG 40RTS is around 9,200 lb., the Genie GS-4390 is around 13,000 lb.
 

kevinw

Member
Joined
Oct 10, 2009
Messages
11
Location
New Hampshire
I knew i was forgetting something - sorry. I am a builder and will use the machine mostly to reach the gable end of buildings and second and third floor decks. Gas or electric? What do you think of Grove?
 

willie59

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Dec 21, 2008
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Knoxville TN
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Service Manager
If your a builder working on the exterior of buildings that have unfinished terrain around the building, I'd go for boom lift as opposed to a scissor. A scissor is handy for a builder for doing something like installing siding sheets on a steel building where your driving straight down a wall. But reaching gables and decks, I'd choose a boom lift because of obstacles on ground and above that are generally in your way. And, again, in this application you would be money well spent to get a 4 x 4 with articulated steer axle. Then you have to choose between a straight boom or an articulated boom. The articulated boom is handy for reaching up and over something, but they are generally heavier that straight boom lifts. If you can do your jobs with a straight boom lift I'd go with that. If you need to reach up and over things, then do look into an articulated boom. As for Grove, I don't necessarily have a problem with them. I've worked on several of their models, they do build a good machine. The MZ66A that I worked on was as strong as a crane, and just as darn heavy (in weight). A lot of Groves have a complex electrical control systems that are not easy to troubleshoot, as compared to a JLG 40H or Genie S-40. Grove made an MZ46 which is comparable to these machines, but I haven't been around one so I know nothing about it.
 

kevinw

Member
Joined
Oct 10, 2009
Messages
11
Location
New Hampshire
Any thoughts on gas vs electric?

If your a builder working on the exterior of buildings that have unfinished terrain around the building, I'd go for boom lift as opposed to a scissor. A scissor is handy for a builder for doing something like installing siding sheets on a steel building where your driving straight down a wall. But reaching gables and decks, I'd choose a boom lift because of obstacles on ground and above that are generally in your way. And, again, in this application you would be money well spent to get a 4 x 4 with articulated steer axle. Then you have to choose between a straight boom or an articulated boom. The articulated boom is handy for reaching up and over something, but they are generally heavier that straight boom lifts. If you can do your jobs with a straight boom lift I'd go with that. If you need to reach up and over things, then do look into an articulated boom. As for Grove, I don't necessarily have a problem with them. I've worked on several of their models, they do build a good machine. The MZ66A that I worked on was as strong as a crane, and just as darn heavy (in weight). A lot of Groves have a complex electrical control systems that are not easy to troubleshoot, as compared to a JLG 40H or Genie S-40. Grove made an MZ46 which is comparable to these machines, but I haven't been around one so I know nothing about it.
 

willie59

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Knoxville TN
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Any thoughts on gas vs electric?

With what your doing, work on exterior of buildings at construction type sites, no debate...gas or diesel. Engine powered machines use hyd drive motors. Electric powered machines use electric drive motors. The hyd drives are more tollerant of construction type terrain. And, I'm not sure if anyone makes a 4wd articulating steer axle electric. Electric lifts are generally designed for slab applications, concrete floor, pavement, things like that. My two picks would be JLG 40HA or Genie 40-S.
 

kevinw

Member
Joined
Oct 10, 2009
Messages
11
Location
New Hampshire
Thanks very much for your input.

With what your doing, work on exterior of buildings at construction type sites, no debate...gas or diesel. Engine powered machines use hyd drive motors. Electric powered machines use electric drive motors. The hyd drives are more tollerant of construction type terrain. And, I'm not sure if anyone makes a 4wd articulating steer axle electric. Electric lifts are generally designed for slab applications, concrete floor, pavement, things like that. My two picks would be JLG 40HA or Genie 40-S.
 

willie59

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Knoxville TN
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Thanks very much for your input.

No problem, I hope you find something that suits your needs. ;)

LoL...I just looked at my last post. I meant to say my pic would be JLG 40H, not 40HA. HA is an articulated boom lift. :tong

But, like I said before, you might want to look at an articulated boom, it might suit your needs better than a straight boom. Only you know the kind of work you need a boom to do. I remember you said you've used straight booms before, how about renting an articulated boom for a week on one of your jobs so you can get a feel of how it would fit your needs. After all, if your going to spend the bucks to buy a machine, might as well make sure it's a machine that will do what you need. :)
 

Dualie

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 23, 2007
Messages
1,371
Location
Nor Cal
My only peve with the articulated booms is their SLOW operation. You can only move ONE joint at a time. But if you need an articulated lift YOU NEED an articulated lift.
 

mowork

New Member
Joined
Dec 6, 2009
Messages
4
Location
west plains missouri
Jlg 40h

I have a gas jlg40h does anyone know how far I can drive it befor it overheats or has trouble, the thing weighs 12k and I want to drive it to do work near by, around .50 miles
 

willie59

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Knoxville TN
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I have a gas jlg40h does anyone know how far I can drive it befor it overheats or has trouble, the thing weighs 12k and I want to drive it to do work near by, around .50 miles


.50 miles? You mean "one half a mile"?

No problems driving that. I've worked in industrial plants that are a couple of miles across and it's common practice for workers to drive these machines across plant area to reach next jobsite. The only reason your machine would overheat driving would be because of either an existing engine problem or a hyd problem causing excessive load on engine, which would be problems you need to address anyway. Driving it would only expose these problems. ;)
 

mowork

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Dec 6, 2009
Messages
4
Location
west plains missouri
very good. I did mean a 1/2 mile. I have run it all day without any problems, I just wasn't sure about driving it very far. thank you for your reply
 

willie59

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very good. I did mean a 1/2 mile. I have run it all day without any problems, I just wasn't sure about driving it very far. thank you for your reply


Your welcome. :)

Like I said, these machines are designed for this. It's not unusual in large industrial complexs to have to drive one a good distance. Just get her going, flip it in high throttle, flip on high drive, and lay the ears back. LoL :D

BTW, I like your handle mowork...that's better than nowork! :cool:
 

steponmebbbboom

Active Member
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Jan 4, 2010
Messages
40
Location
n/a
another consideration that has not been mentioned is capacity of the basket. with a boom lift you are typically restricted to 500lbs max and a small basket. a scissor will have a much larger platform and is often equipped with a platform extension for even more room. for a 12,000lb machine extendible to 40-50ft the platform capacity will be comfortable for several workers and related gear. if you are working mainly on exterior walls and soffits without having to extend over obstacles this is the route i would take. from a serviceability and reliability standpoint i would choose skyjack scissors over other makes.
 

Richard

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Joined
Jan 7, 2010
Messages
10
Location
Mississippi
My recommendation would be a boom lift for sure. Being a contractor, through the years I've owned and used all of the type lifts mentioned here. It's rare that the ground around the jobsite is level enough for the use of a scissor lift. Although I do sometimes use my rough terrain scissor outside, the boom lift (whether straight or articulated) will be much more versatile. Also, I haven't noticed a problem using two functions at once on my JLG articulating boom as was mentioned earlier.
 

alanmeg

Member
Joined
Jan 16, 2010
Messages
15
Location
missouri
new member

hi everyone,I can't start a thread so decided to try here.I purchased a Simon Aerial Boom lift model 32/21 serial v3730 and trying to find a good wiring shematic for it.Can anyone help?
 
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