Towable boom lift

[two_bit_score]

I rented a 40' towable lift once. I had been wanting to try one out for awhile. Had a limb break out of a tree and was hung up on another limb over a fairly busy street. I rented the lift for a half day. I felt like it was an emergency to get the limb out of the tree before it fell on a car or fell and a car hit it.

It sure was nice to be able to get up there safely and use a pole saw to cut the limb. It was pretty simple to set up, level, operate even being a little stressed and in a hurry to get the limb before it fell.

The one I rented seemed to be the most rickety, beat up one left. And it was the only one they had left that day. Still it seemed pretty safe and I was only going about 20-25 feet high. Seems like it cost me about $300 for that half day rental.

If I could find one in good shape and priced right I'd buy it. I have a lot of uses for one.

 

[plastikosmd]

Ya, prices.

I paid 4500$ for my biljax. Sold it for 8500$ to the first guy who looked at it.

That $ paid for the 4x4, I cold called the place I noticed it sitting at and looking neglected

 

[notractoryet]

Yes, you have to push 2 buttons at once with the Haulette. One for action and the other for speed. It is possible to do it one handed if your hand is big enough. I cannot reach the ridge line of the 2 story house with the 35. Can with the 45. House is 30 feet wide.

 

[gstrom99]

I never rented the larger one, with the extra "jib"? part. I was really impressed with the "auto level" function, but I did need to add some timbers on some pretty uneven ground to make it happy.

 

[EddieWalker]

I rent them a few times a year. Genie is my favorite, but it seems that the rental yards have all switched to JLG.

In my opinion, they rental fee is cheap enough that there isn't any desire to own one. Another reason for not wanting to own one is taking care of it, and having to repair it. I don't want to be taking it apart, putting it back together, and then being up in the air in it after I've worked on it.

Positioning it is the biggest challenge. Sometimes you have to adjust it multiple times to get it where you need it, and even then, it's not really where you want it. The outriggers mean you cannot get as close to a fence as you want to. A lot of the time, there just isn't enough room to back it in where you need it because you can't fit your truck into that space to get there. Lots of compromise when positioning it.

Another issue when pruning branches is trying to get to them. I can cut everything that I can get to, but I always need to get a little farther out. I used a telescoping manual pole saw to reach out there as far as possible. Make sure you have a new blade on it, because you want to get it done as quickly as possible.

I'm replacing all my yard lights one of these days, and I'll rent a lift to do this. It's easy access, so it should be quick, easy and safe.