Which cherrypicker?

[Agrostar]

We run a small steel fabrication business doing approx 20-25 agri buildings a year hiring in booms when needed. I'm currently on the look out for an articulated boom lift.
Anyone on here running ones?
Machines we would of hired previously would be genie z45 or manitou atj160 both machines I would like operating but never owned so just wondering which are the most reliable. I'm told a Jlg aj180 is a good machine also but never had any first hand experience of operating.
Hoping to pick up 08 or 09 machine if ye could recommend which is best I'd appreciate it.

 

[grainboy]

which ever you buy, it won’t be the one you want on every job, I know, have a compact scissor lift in shed, hardly used it, but hire in according to job requirments.

 

[Forever Fendt]

We run a small steel fabrication business doing approx 20-25 agri buildings a year hiring in booms when needed. I'm currently on the look out for an articulated boom lift.
Anyone on here running ones?
Machines we would of hired previously would be genie z45 or manitou atj160 both machines I would like operating but never owned so just wondering which are the most reliable. I'm told a Jlg aj180 is a good machine also but never had any first hand experience of operating.
Hoping to pick up 08 or 09 machine if ye could recommend which is best I'd appreciate it.

Best value for money will be a houlott HA16PX 4 wheel drive 4 wheel steer and full 360 rotation and a good size basket with foam filled tyres they are the same as the manitou an 07 with about 4k hours is around the 10k mark

 

[Agrostar]

Best value for money will be a houlott HA16PX 4 wheel drive 4 wheel steer and full 360 rotation and a good size basket with foam filled tyres they are the same as the manitou an 07 with about 4k hours is around the 10k mark

Thanks I was wondering about the houlott never had one on hire they seem good value for money alright.

 

[Agrostar]

which ever you buy, it won’t be the one you want on every job, I know, have a compact scissor lift in shed, hardly used it, but hire in according to job requirments.

Yeah I know what you mean each has merits over the other in different ways. I never really liked any of the all terrain scissors kinda found them to be awkward and slow.

 

[quattro]

Best value for money will be a houlott HA16PX 4 wheel drive 4 wheel steer and full 360 rotation and a good size basket with foam filled tyres they are the same as the manitou an 07 with about 4k hours is around the 10k mark

Where’s best place to look for one to buy

 

[Doing it for the kids]

I am sure you have done your sums but I’d be worried about owning unless it saved a lot. Insurance, testing, HSE etc. They love that sort of thing

 

[How much]

There is always a good selection in euro actions sale in Leeds and there is a 2006 Houlott HA16 in the next sale there plus a load of others , well worth a look but normal auctions rules apply !!!
I have no idea what regulations there are about servicing testing etc I know in place like Canada the booms need to x-rayed for cracks every few years to re test them , again no idea if that is the same in the uk but check out what the rules and cost are as there will be pretty high cost to have i would assume at least 2 service / inspections done per year plus testing as and when required.

As other poster mentions my gut feeling would be to hire to avoid that area of cost and liability , but it all comes down to the costs involved.

 

[Agrostar]

Best value for money will be a houlott HA16PX 4 wheel drive 4 wheel steer and full 360 rotation and a good size basket with foam filled tyres they are the same as the manitou an 07 with about 4k hours is around the 10k mark

What makes of machines do you think I would better avoiding?
I only get the privilege of operating them whiles we have them, never had one break down with us before so don’t really know wear to look for weak points or wear.
What is considered high hours for a cherrypicker?
Thanks

 

[MickMoor]

I have always hired, would never buy one. That way you should always get one suitable for the job. Most good companies send a rep out to talk about your needs and assess the best machine. Apart from all the other costs like testing, you will have to transport it from site to site. Many low loader drivers can't drive a cherry picker, so you could end up sending an operator just to load/unload.

 

[Forever Fendt]

I would always buy not hire it doesn’t take very long at all to get £1000 hire bill and if the job should overrun for any reason like a late delivery of materials bad weather you will still be paying £250 a week for your hire, perhaps would be different if all your jobs are very varied but if you are putting up standard farm buildings are 16 M boom ,12 M scissor lift ,12 m telescopic handler and an 8.5 ton digger will cover everything And if you own then you will have the benefit of using them from the very start of the job right to the end where are you perhaps would’ve been tempted to off hire the plant and maybe struggle a little bit more than would be necessary none of the plant we have brought either secondhand or new has lost more than £1000 per year in depreciation when we have sold them on as long as they are looked after of course

 

[Agrostar]

Has anyone any recommendations of any dealers or websites where it would be worth looking for a good machine?

 

[spark plug]

I’ve spent many hundreds of hours in cherry pickers over the years and my preference would always be JLG, they articulate in a better way to the other manufacturers allowing you to get into some awkward places with ease.

One main feature that most of the JLG that you don’t tend to see with others, which is particularly handy is the last section of boom that the basket connects moves vertically 180 degrees ware others only move 90 and also moves 180 degrees horizontally Whitchurch many machines don’t do.

As for reliability I would say the worst machines are Genie, these stick as being the most problematic even machines with low hours. After that I would say they are all about the same but it’s hard to getan idea of true reliability when using a machine On hire for a couple of weeks, then getting a different one at the next job.

 

[Forever Fendt]

Has anyone any recommendations of any dealers or websites where it would be worth looking for a good machine?

Whereabouts are you I may be able to help with a secondhand one

 

[B R C]

I would have thought with all the HSE stuff going on there would be a niche market for having one of these and doing jobs that are becoming hard to do like building repair maintenace, shed painting, work on old houses etc the odd hire out as well for shed errection/ dismantle, just thinking....sometimes I do too much thinking ....

 

[grainboy]

Nice idea, but then, the liability that goes with that hire machine, becomes a minefield.

 

[H200GT]

Electrics cab be troublesome on older models on all makes and can be costly in downtime.

We can get them delivered and collected far cheaper than we could move them ourselves by hire companies, which makes the hire cheap

 

[Agrostar]

Whereabouts are you I may be able to help with a secondhand one

I’m based in Ireland so anywhere in the UK really hopefully we’ll all be able to travel soon once this Corona thing Is over.

 

[Bobthebuilder]

if you hire 1 do you need the appropriate tickets to operate 1
i have moved 1 and used it a little bit when a local firm were doing a job here but always thaught they'd be a handy machine to have

 

[H200GT]

if you hire 1 do you need the appropriate tickets to operate 1
i have moved 1 and used it a little bit when a local firm were doing a job here but always thaught they'd be a handy machine to have

only thing hire companies have ever asked me for is hired in plant insurance certificate