Is Your Site's Terrain Too Rough for a Scissor Lift?
Scissor lifts can be a huge help in any industrial or construction-related setting. They lift people and equipment up and down quickly without the need for slower and less safe solutions like a ladder or scaffolding. However, if you're heading a building or renovating project on a plot of land that's not flat, you may be wondering whether scissor lift hire is a possibility. Here's all you need to know about scissor lifts for rough terrain.
What Counts as Rough Terrain?
Simply put, rough terrain is any land that's not primarily horizontally flat. This includes plots with steep slopes as well as those with uneven sloping of different levels. In many construction projects, the land is flattened using excavation equipment and graders before building begins. However, if you're going to be working on a pre-existing structure built on rugged ground or you've been contracted to build something that doesn't disturb the land around it, you won't have that luxury.
Do Electric Scissor Lifts Work on Rough Terrain?
The most common type of scissor lift (and the one you've most likely seen and heard about) is the electric scissor lift. These lifts do offer many benefits, including low or no emissions, quiet operation and non-marking tyres. These features make them best suited for indoor use (such as in a warehouse), but they can be used outdoors too.
There's no hard and fast rule that says electric scissor lifts can't be used on rough terrain, but whether they're suitable for your project will depend on how uneven or sloped your land is. You'll need to have the gradient of your land measured by a civil engineer to find this out. Then, you'll need to compare it to the gradeability level of the electric scissor lifts on offer. For example, a scissor lift with 20 per cent gradeability can handle a 20 per cent slope. Generally, electric scissor lifts don't have very high gradeability, so you may find that there aren't any on offer that work for your project.
What If the Terrain Is Too Rough for Electric Scissor Lifts?
Thankfully, electric scissor lifts aren't the only option on the market — you can also hire a rough terrain scissor lift. As the name suggests, these petrol and diesel-powered lifts are much better suited to rough land. As they can be loud and sometimes more expensive than their electric counterparts, they may not be your first choice, but they tend to have higher gradeability. They also have tyres and drivetrains that can gain traction on rugged ground, making them much safer and more efficient.
If your project will involve a lot of heavy lifting or high platforms, it's worth noting that rough terrain scissor lifts also come with higher maximum capacities and can elevate to greater heights than electric ones.
Contact a company like Instant Scaffolding WA for help choosing a scissor lift for a project.
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