Portable Manlifts

[YUKON 659]

Has there been any discusion on the use of portable man lifts? The reason I ask is I'm considering renting a portable/towable 47' lift to do a willow take down.The rental price is very reasonable....$130 a day.....$210 for 2 days. What do you think?

Jeff

 

[Kevin]

Jeff, do you have a picture or a link for the type of lift you have in mind?

 

[TheTreeSpyder]

Is it safe? "Articiualte"?

You probably need to make sure you can plant the device and the bucket will move around to diffrent points without having to move the lift all the time.

 

[YUKON 659]

Haven't actually seen the lift yet. I assume it is safe ....it's at a well known local rental place. Pretty sure it's a "boom" type lift rated for 400 lbs. and it is mobile...battery powered. I'll be looking at it hopefully this weekend.

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

Why wouldn't you just climb it?

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

The boom (or stick) lifts I've used do not operate well off road and need to be on near flat terrain.

I've used a few different types of the tow behind lifts too. They have their place, but the limited range of motion forces you to move them around a lot. They are made more for working around buildings.

 

[Reed]

Everybody's right: they are a pain in the ass. There's a new sensor required by OSHA that forces you to spend about a half-hour or more jacking the pads until it's absolutely level and I helped a buddy to disarm this little headache - it AIN'T easy (plus it's considered am act of anti-American terrorism). If you could handle the entire tree from one spot it wouldn't be such a hassle but things don't work that way.

 

[DDM]

Battey Powered lifts are Very slow.

 

[YUKON 659]

Wow, sounds like like the consensus(sp.) is that they aren't very useful....in laymans terms I guess they"SUCK'. Unfortunately I'm kinda new to the business and the only way I can do the take down (with out hiring a climber ) is to do it with a lift.... I'll just have to deal with it. Hopefully the quoted price will cover the inconvenience(sp.) Having a tough time with the big words

Thanks, Jeff

 

[treeclimber165]

If ya ask him real nice, Treeman82 might drive over and help ya put it on the ground. Probably won't cost ya any more than the lift and your time piecing it down. :angel:

 

[Newfie]

Good thinking Brian. But, he'll probably want to do it at 3 in the morning!

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

The lifts are not POS, just there are trade offs with the price. I would go with one using a small 4 cycle engine instead of the electric.

I like the eagal 47 and polecat came out with one that is drivable from the bucket. Too new for me to have tried it though.

 

[murphy4trees]

I got this job at a big coporate headquarters in Deleware a couple of years ago. I was really considerrring putting out the cash to rent a lift and even made some calls to see about price and availability. No one could deliver anything over 40' on short notice.
When I got to the job it was a Saturday 'cause everyone wanted the parking lots empty and there was a guy using a brand new JBL 660? to fix some windows. . He was working on the 3rd floor, so I called up to him, "Hey I got some treework behind this place that be real easy working from that lift". He said he was leaving at 11 AM and I could use it the rest of the weekend. "How much do you want for that?" I asked. "Put 10 gallons of diesel in he replied."
This unit went to 66', I think. No outriggers and you could drive it while aloft. You couild shut the diesel down from the cage and transfer to baterry operation which was pretty fast. The cage swivelled to sneak through tight spots and held 500 lbs for 2 man operation...SWEET!!
I took the deadwood out of 50-60 big trees over a road through the woods, deadwooded a 100' oak that was 1/3 dead, near a parking lot, and dropped two or three big dead trees along a walking trail in 1 1/2 days for $25 in fuel. It would have taken a week or two to climb those trees.
Do you believe in God?
God Bless All,
Daniel

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

I used one of those at MCC, they are great for any flat hard surface. I deadwwoded over all the service roads with one of them. I also did a boxelder hazard removal with one a few years back. I told the guy I was working for I would not do it without a bucket, and this was all they could find on such short notice. Got it on the ground then had it moved to peice down an ailanthus across town.