Aerial Lifts: Scissor Lifts, Boom Lifts, Telehandlers (“Lulls”), and Atrium Lifts
Working at height comes down to one question: do you need to go straight up, or up and over? The answer picks the machine. Scissor lifts go straight up with a big platform for crews and materials. Boom lifts reach up and over obstacles with a smaller basket. Telehandlers — the machine most guys call a “lull” — aren’t personnel lifts at all; they’re telescopic forklifts that put heavy material exactly where the crew needs it. Atrium lifts are the specialists: spider-legged boom lifts narrow enough to roll through a doorway and set up inside a building.
Scissor lifts — straight up, big platform
The workhorse of indoor and flat-surface work. A 19′ electric scissor lift (like the Skyjack SJIII 3219 class) gives you 19′ of platform height — 25′ working height with a 6′ person reaching up — on a platform that holds 500–550 lb, typically two workers plus tools and material. The platform extends with a roll-out deck for extra reach over the edge. Key traits: electric and quiet for indoor use, non-marking tires, only 32″ wide so it fits through a standard doorway, drivable at full height, and pothole protection that keeps it stable on slab. Best for: ceiling and lighting work, HVAC, drywall finishing, warehouse racking, painting, and any job where the crew needs to move along a wall or ceiling at height on flat ground.
Articulating boom lifts — up and over
When there’s something between you and the work — a roofline, a parapet, machinery, landscaping — you need a boom that bends. The 45′ JLG 450AJ class delivers 45′ of platform height (51′ working height), 500 lb basket capacity, and about 25′ of horizontal reach with an articulating jib that snakes up and over obstacles. Four-wheel drive, oscillating axles, and 45% gradeability mean it handles rough, unfinished jobsites — mud, slopes, and gravel that would stop a scissor lift cold. The basket rotates and the jib articulates, so one setup covers a wide work envelope without repositioning the machine. Best for: building exteriors, roofing, steel erection support, tree work, signage, and industrial maintenance where the ground is rough and the target isn’t directly overhead.
Telehandlers (“lulls”) — the telescopic forklift
“Lull” started as a brand (now under JLG, famous for the traversing carriage), but on Gulf Coast jobsites it’s become the generic word for any telehandler — the same way guys say “skytrak.” A 43′ telehandler puts up to 8,000–10,000 lb of material 43′ in the air and roughly 28′ forward: lumber packages to the second floor, trusses to the roofline, steel to the ironworkers, block and mortar to the masons. Three steering modes (front-wheel, all-wheel, and crab) let it maneuver on tight sites. It’s not a man-lift — no personnel in the carriage — but it’s the machine that keeps every other trade fed with material. Attachments (bucket, forks, truss boom, auger) turn it into a loader, a crane-lite, and a drill rig. Best for: framing, roofing material delivery, masonry, steel, and any job where heavy material has to go up and out.
Atrium lifts — the indoor specialists
The 70’–80′ atrium lift (also called a spider lift) is a compact crawler-mounted articulating boom built for one problem: reaching 70–80′ working height inside a building. It rolls through a standard double doorway on rubber tracks, sets up on spider outriggers that spread the load for sensitive floors, and articulates up into atriums, churches, malls, arenas, and industrial interiors — places no truck-mounted lift can reach and no scaffold can justify. Lightweight for its reach, quiet, and non-marking, it’s the only practical answer for high interior work.
The AAM rental lineup
- 19′ Scissor Lift — $129/day, $255/week, $515/month
- 45′ JLG Articulating Boom Lift — $485/day, $1,100/week, $2,325/month
- 43′ Telehandler — $520/day, $1,125/week, $2,480/month
- 70’–80′ Atrium Lift — $2,470/day, $6,370/week, $13,910/month
No tax or fees included.