At a rental counter vertical lifts are the personnel machines that raise a worker straight up a mast or a stack of scissors, with no reach out to the side: push around personnel lifts, self propelled mast lifts and low level scissors. Goods hoists and lift tables built into a building are installed equipment rather than day hire, so this is about the fleet you can put on a truck.
Three machines share the name
A push around personnel lift is wheeled into place by hand and raised once you are aboard. A self propelled mast lift drives at height under its own power. A low level scissor gives a wider platform and takes two people. All three go straight up only, which is why they fit where a boom never will.
Width, weight and the doorway
The reason to hire this family is dimension. Most mast machines measure around 30 inches across and pass a standard door, and many stay under about 3,000 pounds so a service elevator will take them. Get the model's width and weight from the branch before delivery day rather than after the truck has gone.
What each class costs
Push around units in the 12 to 20 ft platform range commonly hire near $110 a day. Self propelled mast machines at 25 to 30 ft sit closer to $190. Weeks are priced at roughly three to four days, and these travel in a box van or on a light trailer, which keeps the delivery line small.
The manual on the machine is part of the hire
Each model has its own platform capacity, gradient limit and rule about harnesses, and it is written in the manual that should be in the box on the rail. Aerial work platforms are covered by federal rules on lifts and on fall protection, and a machine handed over without its manual is not properly handed over.
Questions people ask about vertical lifts
What is the difference between a vertical lift and a boom lift?
A vertical lift raises the platform straight above its own footprint. A boom lift reaches out and over obstacles as well as up. If nothing stands between the machine and the work, the vertical machine is smaller, lighter and cheaper to hire.
Can a vertical lift go outside?
Most are rated for firm level surfaces only, which in practice means indoors or on finished paving. Grass, gravel and a slope past the machine's stated limit are outside the rating. For rough ground you are looking at a rough terrain scissor or a boom instead.
How many people can ride one?
Push around and mast lifts are usually rated for one person plus a modest tool load, and the plate on the machine gives the figure. Low level scissors commonly take two. Adding a second body to a single person machine puts it over capacity even if there is floor space.