A truck-mounted lift is a lift mounted on a van or a lorry. It drives straight to the job on ordinary roads, is rigged in a few minutes and is ready for the next address just as quickly. That makes it the right machine when you have many short jobs in different places.
The truck-mounted lift is made for jobs where transport and rigging would otherwise eat up the day: gutters and flashings on several houses, street lights and signs, cameras and lighting, tree felling and pruning, or façade maintenance across a whole housing estate.
A self-propelled lift or scissor lift has to be moved on a trailer or low-loader between each address. A truck-mounted lift drives itself. If you have four stops in one day, that is often the difference between getting everything done and getting half of it done.
If the machine is staying in the same place for weeks, an articulated boom lift or boom lift on site is usually the cheapest option.
Many truck-mounted lifts are hired out with an operator. The hire company arrives with the vehicle and an operator, and you pay for the hours. That is simplest when the job is short, or when nobody on your team has training on the lift.
If you hire without an operator, whoever drives the vehicle must hold the right driving licence, and whoever operates the lift must have documented training. Truck-mounted lifts on vehicles with a permitted gross weight of up to 3,500 kg can be driven on an ordinary class B licence. Heavier truck-mounted lifts require a lorry licence. Ask the hire company what applies to the specific vehicle.
The price of a truck-mounted lift varies more than for other lifts, because the form of hire differs so much. The most important factors are whether you hire with or without an operator, whether it is priced per hour or per day, how high the lift reaches, and how far it has to travel to you.
So ask for a price with the information the hire company needs: the addresses, approximate working height, how many hours or days are involved, and whether you have your own operator. Then you will get comparable quotes.
A truck-mounted lift stands on outriggers when in use. It needs firm ground and room for the outriggers on both sides of the vehicle. Soft lawns and kerbs can be a problem — say where the vehicle can stand when you book.
If the vehicle is going to stand in the carriageway or on the pavement, the work often has to be notified and signed in line with the rules for roadworks signage. Agree this with the hire company and the road authority well before the job.
A lift mounted on a van or a lorry. It drives on the road to the work site, stands on outriggers while in use, and can be moved to the next job without a trailer or low-loader.
Truck-mounted lifts on vehicles with a permitted gross weight of up to 3,500 kg can be driven on a class B licence. Larger ones require a lorry licence. In addition, whoever operates the lift must have documented training.
Yes, many hire companies offer truck-mounted lifts with an operator, and some only hire them out that way. Ask what the hire company offers when you ask for a price.
Both travel on the road. You collect a trailer lift yourself and tow it behind your car — it is affordable and suits private individuals and smaller jobs. A truck-mounted lift is quicker to rig, moves itself and is often supplied with an operator, and is best when you have many locations to cover.
We list 29 rental companies offering truck-mounted lift across 11 counties. Choose your county and send a request.
The list is based on what the rental companies state on their own websites, so it is not complete — many have equipment they have not listed.