Half the aerial calls that come into the yard start the same way: “I need a lift,” then a pause. Fair enough, the fleet has a dozen kinds. The good news is that the choice between a scissor lift and a boom lift comes down to one question about your job, and everything after that is just sizing.
If the work is directly above where the machine can park, rent the scissor lift. If you need to reach up and over something, or out past where the wheels can go, rent the boom lift. Ceiling work in a warehouse: scissor. Second-storey soffits over a porch roof: boom. That one question settles most rentals before we even ask the town.
A scissor lift is a work platform first. The deck holds two people plus material, a stack of drywall, a bundle of conduit, and the whole deck raises, so you work along a wall or ceiling run without repositioning every ten minutes. Electric scissors are quiet and non-marking, which is why they own interior fit-outs, sprinkler and duct work, and warehouse jobs along Burlington and Milton’s industrial corridors. It is also the cheaper machine to rent, so when the job does not need reach, the scissor is the better math.
A boom puts a basket on the end of an arm, and the arm is the point. Articulating booms fold at the knuckle to get up and over obstacles: roof lines, racking, machinery, the tree between the driveway and the fascia you are replacing. Straight stick booms trade the knuckle for raw distance and reach work no scissor will ever touch. The basket is small, one or two people and hand tools, so booms are for reaching a spot, not stocking a ceiling.
Inside on a slab: electric, non-marking, zero fumes. Outside on gravel, grass or a torn-up site: rough terrain, 4WD, and for scissors that means a machine built for jobsite ground. An electric scissor on soft ground is a stuck electric scissor, so tell us what is under the wheels when you book.
Lifts are listed by platform height, and you stand roughly 6 ft above that, so a 19 ft electric scissor puts your hands around 25 ft, which covers most warehouse ceilings. The fleet runs from vertical mast lifts that roll through a standard doorway, through 19 to 50 ft scissors, up to booms in the 30 to 125 ft class. Pick the smallest machine that reaches the work, check the tightest door or gate it has to pass through, and if you are stuck between sizes call (905) 580-7368 and describe the job.
Ontario requires operator training on elevating work platforms, and in a boom lift you are also clipping into a harness, no exceptions. Crews usually have both sorted. If you do not, say so when you book: we rent fall harnesses and will point you at the training before the machine shows up, because the wrong day to sort it out is delivery morning.
Request a quote on the aerial lift pages or call (905) 580-7368 with the town, the height and what is under the wheels. Skyjack and Genie machines, delivered daily across Oakville, Burlington, Milton, Mississauga and the west GTA.
Need a machine this week? Request a quote or call (905) 580-7368 and we will get the float moving.
Daily, weekly and monthly rates on a fleet that's inspected after every rental. Quotes back fast, with delivery across the GTA.