Man Lift ideas

[phiferpharm]

Has anybody made a man-lift out of pallets that attaches to Pallet forks? I guess I may be risking the wrath of the Safety Police, but I need something to get up and trim tree branches. Im not a welder, so working with wood is better for me.

 

[Sysop]

As long as you have a decent operator that won't dump you off from 10' up, why do you need more than a pallet to stand on?

Honestly, if building a manlift, they're really useless unless they're about 10' or so wide, and you can move side to side on it for painting or other tasks. A narrow manlift that is only going to take you ten feet or less off the ground is no more useful than a ladder, is more difficult to place just right than a ladder, and does nothing more than increase the danger level. A large manlift is difficult to get up in the branches. That being said, sometimes a ladder needs a couple extra feet or needs a more level surface than earth provides and a tractor mounted platform to stand it on is the ticket to success... I advise always being tied off, because it doesn't take anything more than a dropped limb or something to hit the loader lever and dump you on the ground.

 

[grnspot110]

Find one of the plastic totes, the kind with the metal cage around the tank, & cut the top out!

 

[DocDryden]

Find one of the plastic totes, the kind with the metal cage around the tank, & cut the top out!

View attachment 420606

same here, My plan is to use the metal cage. With the help of my son as the driver (the cage will be empty)

 

[Baby Grand]

Safety police, please avert your eyes ...

I used this arrangement successfully for a quick pruning job:

 

[phiferpharm]

Safety police, please avert your eyes ...

I used this arrangement successfully for a quick pruning job:

View attachment 420623

That's a little less stable than I want to go I think. I have solid pallet forks, and would love to find one of the totes Lowell has. If not I'll go with a reinforced set of pallets with some sort of rails. I still think they are safer than climbing up a ladder with a running chain saw.

 

[leonz]

Are the limbs that you want to to trim off so high up that
a motorized pole pruner with a extendable shaft with a chain saw pruning head are
too high to reach with one section of scaffolding???

I have a still straight shaft unit with a chainsaw head and I wish i had one with the
extendable drive shaft. It is a tool I have used since 2005 and I wish i had bought it sooner.

The last time I checked a Stihl unit will reach 16 feet from the ground when fully extended.


SO am I correct in assuming even renting a small man lift for X amount
of money is for a day or two out of the question????????????

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No amount of having a good operator with good operating skills is going to prevent
a hydraulic hose from possibly blowing and having you visit the ground at the wrong
time with a running chain saw.

I realize its your money and your individual freedom to do what you want, but even renting
scaffolding with wheels and investing in a dozen 2 by 12 by 10's to make a scaffold wide floor
to hold your tools may be a safer way to do things using the tractor to move the scaffolding set
and any planks used to level the scaffolding.

You may find that renting a small aerial lift most of which are 4 wheel drive gas of diesel powered
units is a faster way to do things


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If you have alot of pruning to do it may just be simpler to rent a small aerial lift BUT
if the prining it going to be an annual safari it may be wise to simply invest in hydraulic
drive chain saw limb pruner that can be attached to a loader bucket.

 

[bcp]

Put a Monkeyrack on your tractor. Or design your own ladder holder.

Gallery - Monkeyrack Ladder Stabilizer

Bruce

 

[Professor Marvel]

Find one of the plastic totes, the kind with the metal cage around the tank, & cut the top out!

View attachment 420606

I really like this idea

 

[aczlan]

Around here, you can rent a manlift (towbehind 35' unit) for ~$160/day. Pull that behind the tractor with a ball on the 3 point hitch and you don't have to disconnect it to set the outriggers.

Aaron Z