Mástil Vertical Lift elevadores de tijera y con brazo

A Guide to Buying Vertical Mast Lift Scissor and Boom Lifts

When you've got projects going on dozens of feet in the air, you call in lifts to help get the job done. Whether you're looking for a vertical mast, scissor, or boom lift, you can find what you need on eBay, at affordable prices and in new or used condition.

There are three main types of lifts you can buy:

• Vertical mast lifts - Vertical mast lifts have the smallest footprint of all the lifts. They use a type of telescopic mast to lift an aerial platform and can reach heights of 30 to 35 feet.
• Scissor lifts - Scissor lifts have a platform that sits on top of an accordion-type lift. They can reach heights up to 50 feet; however, the majority of them tend to be in the 30- to 40-foot range.
• Boom lifts - Boom lifts have aerial platforms that are raised and lowered by a hydraulic arm. These lifts can go the highest of the three listed here. In general, the large models can reach heights of around 180 feet, while the smallest ones typically reach up to 40 feet. See the manufacturer site for details.

Because they are the smallest lifts available, vertical mast lifts have the lowest weight capacity of the three. They usually top out at around 500 pounds. Scissor lifts, although not as big as boom lifts, can sustain more weight than boom lifts because they only go straight up, while boom lifts go up and out, which reduces their load carrying capabilities. Scissor lifts can generally sustain anywhere between 500 and 2,500 pounds, and boom lifts can manage between 500 and 1000 pounds of weight.

These are some of the advantages that each type of lift offers:

• Vertical mast lifts - Although the smallest of the bunch, vertical mast lifts offer one big advantage over the other types of lifts: they can work in small spaces. This feature is especially helpful if you've got jobs that are indoors or in outdoor spaces with limited room.
• Scissor lifts - These are the best types of lifts if you need your lift to sustain heavy loads and you only need to go straight up.
• Boom lifts - Boom lifts are your best bet if you've got to get to high, out-of-reach places that require you to get "up and over" as well as "over and under" things such as bridges and utility towers.