Hiring a Crane Truck To Assist in the Precarious Recovery of a Fallen Scissor Lift

A scissor lift is an important piece of equipment for any construction site. It allows the tradesman to work at height with ease, and without having to worry about a ladder or a scaffolding tower.

Unfortunately, scissor lifts do not always stay in place and may fall over if they are pushed too hard. This can cause major damage to the machine as well as potentially injure the operator.

There are ways that you can try and prevent this from happening by checking your screws regularly or using wedges under each leg when setting up the machine on uneven surfaces such as gravel or grass so it doesn't topple over easily.

But what do you do if it does happen? In this article you will see how the Scope Cranes team managed to successfully and efficiently recover the scissor lift for a client.

So, what happened?

Our customer called after lunchtime on a Friday to book in for a recovery – a scissor lift had fallen through a walkway. Recovery was urgent due to the nature and location of the situation. If not dealt with quickly, scissor lifts have the potential to cause serious, potentially fatal damage.

We required our longest reach (15m) crane truck, as the estimated radius was 13m, and scissor lift weighed in at 1500 kg. We were able to meet their urgent recovery by proceeding to the location upon completion of a previous job.

After inspecting the job site, the operator realised the margins were very small, meaning he had to park hard up on the compaction bin on one side, and when he slewed the crane over the top of the scissor, he had millimetres to spare on the roof of the building adjacent to the scissor lift.

Evidently, the situation called for professionals with a depth of experience and the right equipment to accomplish this task safely and efficiently.

The walkway – designed for humans not machines – had collapsed under the weight of the scissor lift. We attempted to lift the scissor lift out of its resting place, but it was wedged in there tightly. Our operator proceeded to adjust his rigging to lift the scissor life on the angle it lay, successfully removing it from the walkway without causing further damage to the machine.

This was a dangerous job due to the scissor lift's height and weight. We had to ensure our guys were safe not only from the scissor lift but also from the potential collapse of adjacent structures, especially after they cut parts off trying to free it.

We are routinely called for scissor lift recovery because many scissor lifts are left lying around after worksites close. In our experience, we’ve found scissor lifts are often left where they fall because it's easier than returning them to their place of storage.

However, thanks to our many years in the industry, we managed to avoid knocking down any support structures or scissor lift toppling over. The scissor lift has since been returned to its place of storage and all involved are safe.

Given the need for a specialised nature of the long reach crane truck, we were the preferred supplier for this client.

So, what did the client think?

Our client was extremely pleased with our prompt and professional service. The scissor lift was in a dangerous position, but our long reach crane truck allowed us to make the delicate recovery without any problems.

If you would like further information on how we can help you, please contact us!