Rant: Skylift crane vs. conventional boom truck for tight jobsites

I ran a job at a hospital parking lot in Nashville last week. First day I used my conventional boom truck and spent 2 hours just repositioning because of cars. Switched to a skylift crane the next day and finished the whole lift in 45 minutes. That articulating jib makes all the difference in tight spots. Anyone else made the switch and seen the same time savings?

2 comments

2 Comments

anthony12710d ago

Man I had the exact same thing happen on a church renovation in Knoxville last spring… that boom truck had me weaving between dumpsters and a fence for half a morning. Rented a skylift for the steeple work and it was night and day. The way that knuckle folds in really lets you snake around obstacles instead of having to pull forward and back twenty times. I figure I saved at least a full day's labor on a two day job just from not having to shuffle the truck around. Once you get used to that articulating arm it's hard to go back.

parker_bell10d ago

Funny you mention that @anthony127, because a buddy of mine runs a small crew in Chattanooga and had almost the exact same headache last fall. He was doing gutter work on this old Victorian house with a weird wraparound porch and the rental boom truck just could not squeeze between the columns and the hedges. He went through half a day cussing at it, then swapped for a tracked skylift and finished the whole job in one run. Said the knuckle arm was like having a third hand once he figured out the angles. I think that articulating arm makes you feel like a wizard compared to wrestling a straight stick around all day.