Material lifts rent for about $90 to $180 a day and $250 to $500 a week, and they raise roughly 400 to 800 lb to somewhere between 12 and 24 ft. They are winch driven masts on castors for putting a load up: ductwork, a rooftop unit, trusses, a beam. Nobody rides on one.
A material lift is not a personnel lift
It raises loads, never people, and the labels on the machine say so. If somebody has to be at height, the hire you want is a scissor lift or a mast boom with a platform and the fall protection that goes with it. The two sit near each other in the yard and cost very different money.
Reach and capacity trade against each other
Every model publishes maximum height and maximum load, and those two figures are rarely available at the same time. Capacity falls as the mast extends, and the forks or a load carriage further change what is safe. Quote the yard the weight and the height together, because either one alone leads to the wrong machine.
It has to be pushed to where it works
These lifts roll on castors and are moved by hand, so the route from the tailgate to the work has to be flat, firm and clear. Most fold or tilt to travel in a van, which is why they are a common collection rather than a delivery. On a rough slab or gravel it will not roll loaded, and that is where hires go wrong.
When the answer is a telehandler instead
Above roughly 800 lb, past 24 ft, or anywhere outdoors on uneven ground, a material lift stops being the tool. A telehandler places pallets at height across a site, at several times the weekly rate but without the pushing. The break point is usually access rather than weight.
Questions people ask about material lifts
Can two people operate a material lift alone?
One person can crank most of them, but loading, positioning and steadying the load is comfortably a two person job, and the manual says so on the larger masts. Outriggers must be fitted and pinned before anything goes up, whoever is winding.
What is the difference between a material lift and a pallet stacker?
A stacker is a powered pedestrian truck for putting pallets on racking on a flat warehouse floor. A material lift is a light manual mast for lifting a load into a ceiling or onto a roof edge. Different rates, different jobs, both hired from the same counter.
Will a material lift fit through a doorway?
Most fold to a base width under 30 in and tilt to pass a standard door, which is much of their appeal for internal fit out work. Check the folded dimensions of the model rather than the family, since the taller masts are wider at the base.