Man Lift - Self Driving vs Towable

[s219]

Which unit is better on slopes?

Make sure you study the specs for the units -- they all have some limitations for slope. The place I was looking at renting from, Ahern, has a pretty detailed brochure on their boom lifts which gives the slope limits as well as the path curves of the boom platform so you get an idea of the lift and distance it's capable of in various positions.

 

[s219]

And on a side note I wanted to mention that when I got serious about renting a towable boom lift, I also looked into buying one. These units floated to the top of my list as being pretty good for the money:

TM34T | Trailer Mounted Cherry Picker -

Niftylift USA

I had decided that a telescoping upper boom was worth the extra cost because it allows the base to be more compact and maneuverable, but if you don't operate in tight spaces the non-telescoping model is probably fine:

TM34 | Trailer Mounted Cherry Picker -

Niftylift USA

They had been around $14K (new) when I was looking last fall, but prices are up to $16K now -- wonder if it has something to do with tariffs. I think they are manufactured in Europe.

 

[52wej]

Here is another vote for a towable lift. I have on a couple of occasions rented lifts for a month at a time to work on the old farm house where I grew up. I used a tractor with a 3 pt hitch that I added a ball to match the hitch on the lift. Precise maneuvering was no problem, and I dd not tear the yard up. A roofing contractor had one of the self propelled ones and that left ruts that I am still fighting almost 2 years later. There are many good suggestions made here based upon experience. Because you are clearing a road the self propelled lift may make more sense. But for working on a building where you do not move much, either will serve you well. I think everyone will agree that a manlift beats a ladder and scaffold any day. W Jones

 

[PA hayseed]

I've rented both, the 4wd driveable one was nice for moving around the property but it was about 7x the cost of renting a towable. They had to have a tractor trailer to bring it to the property and bring it back which caused it to cost a ton more. The towable unit and the driveable unit both "tilted around" in the high winds I get. It is a little nervewracking at first, but then you get used to it. Don't put the basket on your house (on the side) as it will sway and the house will take soem damage.

I have 30' to my roofline. I had no problems with either unit getting work done. They had several tow behinds on the lot, so no need to book in advance. I don't live too far away from where they make some of these units and the guys I talk to that work there say it is all quality control for them since they have DOD contracts there as well.

 

[Big Barn]

We had a 4 wheel drive dual fuel gas/propane articulated man lift on the farm for years. One of the handiest things we had but as we wound things down it just wasn’t getting used enough. I finally sold it a couple of years ago.



For my purposes I can’t even imagine using a tow behind.

 

[Industrial Toys]

THAT, is EXACTLY the machine I want. The loader would be nice too. Gator I have! lol

What was the power in the Genie?

Can't tell the manuf of the loader.

 

[Big Barn]

THAT, is EXACTLY the machine I want. The loader would be nice too. Gator I have! lol

What was the power in the Genie?

Can't tell the manuf of the loader.

The Genie was a Z45-25 with six cylinder Ford engine.

The wheel loader is a New Holland W80 Tool Carrier.

 

[arto98607]

Bump


Interesting thread, I am just waiting for well used older (1997) JLG 660SJ to be delivered and hopefully get to try it out just a little later today!

It has a gasoline or propane Ford LRG-423 Industrial Engine.

Anyone here familiar with these?

Looking for operating manual - I have the 97 maintenance & service manual on hand.

Opr. manual for newer version of 660SJ was easy to find online, but my first take is that the controls may have changed quite a bit.

If I am reading the manual correct, it's almost 26,000 lbs boom lift so it will take a fairly HD trailer to haul around if needed.

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

I recently rented a towable manlift for weekend. Did look at both at rental place. the towable is smaller I could get in to tight corner using tractor with receiver and ball on bucket. The self propelled version would have not got in to the space.

The auto leveling outriggers made it easy to setup. Left the truck in place and lifted it off ball. Raising outriggers dropped it back on ball.

Look at rated height for each. If you are close to max height will not have much side travels. Taller rated lift will give more room to reach over to stuff before having to go down and reposition the lift.

When trimming trees close the ground controls cover. Had branch hit the ground stop switch leaving me stuck in the air.
View attachment 566072

The last one we used was 80' and we didn't need to get the machine in the space. Machine was way back over yonder...

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

You have to ask yourself. Do I want a towable pickup or a drivable pickup? Same logic applies to man lifts.

 

[arto98607]

I bought the above JLG yesterday and had not even considered towable unit, but they may be fine for someone else.

IE.
It's probably a compromise, but what do I know - never had one or even operated one before.

 

[4570Man]

You have to ask yourself. Do I want a towable pickup or a drivable pickup? Same logic applies to man lifts.

I agree except the average person can’t transport the drivable lift.

 

[dstig1]

I have rented the driveable ones a couple times in the past. This year I rented a towable one as the place that had the driveable one closed up. Towable is better than nothing but really pretty poor by comparison. There was one additional caveat that I was unaware of. The towable one was not telescoping whereas the driveable ones were. That made all the difference in the world. It was simply impossible to get the towable one to reach certain spots whereas the driveable ones would. Now even the driveable ones can have a tough time reaching some spots, but this was an order of magnitude or two worse. So whichever you do get, make sure it is telescoping but the drvieable ones are still much more flexible overall/

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

I agree except the average person can’t transport the drivable lift.

We have trucks and gooseneck trailers but we just let them bring it. Our trailers are tandem dual 12k axles with G tires on them. I built both of them. Even have air bags so can lift front axle when empty. But if they'll bring it for fifty bucks, bring it on. Costs more to do without a man on the crew to go get it. Scissor lifts? They for sure have to deliver those, on their special trailer.

 

[arto98607]

Here am I yesterday driving the JLG last couple of hundred yards home!
It took a little while to figure out how to operate it since I had no manual on hand yet, or no one to give any operating tips.

The first steps now are to repair couple of obvious cosmetic issues, change engine oil & filter and put in new muffler.
OEM muffler is listed at over $800 but after having taken measurements I know there are many good low cost alternatives.

I was able to download all pertaining manuals from JLG website at no cost!