I have a dozen sections of scaffolding, and stain at least one side of my 2 story house every summer. I'd love to rent a lift, but I don't want to paint 8 hours a day, for a week, because the meter is running on the rental. I leave the scaffolding up for 3 - 4 weeks and take my time. Scrape, wire brush, catch the loose nails, set a few screws, recaulk, two coats of stain, then two coats of on the trim and then spot check/stain all my drips......
With the scaffolding I can work for an hour or for a complete day, there's no rush to get the rental out the door. I go through 6 - 24 gallons of stain a year, depending on how much I get done. We have a big house with an attached garage as well as a 3 bay detached shop/garage.
For planks, I use 8' 2x10 with a 2x4 stringer screwed to the underside to stiffen and prevent the plank from sliding off the scaffolding rails. I'll set 4 at different heights so I don't have to move planks while I'm painting.