Anybody here ever rented a boom lift (aerial work platform) to do some tree work/painting at home!? I've got an old red oak that was hit by lightning and now dropping limbs any old time it wishes!! I got my aerial boom lift certification at work and am looking into renting one if they'll do it for an individual as opposed to companies only. Got plenty of folks that'll take the wood and I can borrow a tractor to drag the trunk away. Just trying to save a few dollars if the insurance co. won't cover someone doing it for me. Thanks in advance for input/advice!

Rented a trailer type once for painting and it worked fine. A little common sense and it should work fine. Usually they are built so it is about impossible to tip them over unless you try to hang a tree branch from one while in the air.

I have rented and used different kinds, and I am only a farmer. LOL. I liked the Geni(sp) the best. And being a farmer I lifted way over the limit with it.

Worked at a rental place, we'd rent them to anybody who's credit card would clear.

In fact, I need to see about renting one for the same purpose.

I have had three different ones here at the farm. Have a 4 wheel drive 40ft JLG diesel now. For work out side you want a four wheel drive. Our local rental company gets around $160.00 a day for similar unit. At my age makes cleaning the gutters or any thing up in the air easier.

Obviously tree work is a dangerous kind of work, and it should be said, its best left to experienced hands for valid reasons. However if you are comfortable working off a boom lift, basket or from a bucket truck, and have a plan to safely dismantle the tree, confident in your ability, I would not hesitate if tasked with doing the work, that is if you like you say, if insurance won't pay for a claim on that, either way, sounds like it has to come down.

Given the certification, you must be experienced with these, so that helps quite a bit.

Personally, I've been on most late model JLG articulated boom lifts, scissor lifts, non articulated, many Snorkel lifts as well, my only concern with this situation is the footing, how level the ground is, and the plan to dismantle the tree in safe increments. Those darned limbs will be unpredictable, make a wrong move, good idea to really look it over first, I try to do that with problem trees, if its out of my league or the equipment I have, I simply walk away from it.

There was a fellow on live leak who was up into the lower canopy of a tree, he cut a limb off and the butt of it came down into where his leg was in the crotch and busted it but good, it was a flapper with a compound fracture through the skin, something everyone should see if contemplating this work, he was not even tied off, dropped the saw to the ground and then had to be rescued, and his leg when set, looked like a shark bit the darned thing with the football shaped incision. Seems he did not think that one through.

Those JLG 80' articulated units are really nice units, I had 3 out on rental for almost a year on a new courthouse job in Queens NY and compared to scaffold or anything else, they cost a lot per month, but the productivity made up for it. Just a great piece of equipment for working at heights, this reached up 5 floors, and I put 2 ironworkers in each basket. Make sure to size it accordingly, over is better than under.

I would hope the insurance company would pay on this, and you have a tree service do it so as not to worry about being in harms way, these can be intimidating at first glance.

I've rented them several times then ended up buying my own.I have several dusk till dawn lights that always need work,some trees,i even use mine inside the shop to work on the lights.All you need is money to rent one.I bought one you can drive around,got tired of setting up those towables.

Consider hiring a tree service or at least getting a quote from one or two. They know how to get a lot done in an hour.

I own a lift and I hire out tree work when I needed it. The last time I hired a crew to drop the trees and I took it from there.
You need an experienced tree trimmer on the lift, and just as importantly you need an experienced tree trimmer on the ground.
I have a buddy that was a tree trimmer. His ground man called off work one day. He got complacent and got himself in a bad situation. A ground man would have kept him from getting in that situation. He cut a big branch. It didn't fall like he thought it would. It caught the boom and pushed it down with enough force that it catapulted him through the air. He was busted up something terrible. He had several broken bones in his hands, wrists, broken arms and collar bones, and a broken jaw as well as some broken ribs, and some broken vertebrae. Most of his teeth got knocked out as well.
I also know a guy that owns a tree trimming outfit. He runs several man crews. One man from each crew directs the others as to what gets roped, and how they cut and pull everything.
My recommendation is to hire an experienced and well insured tree trimming contractor.

find out what it would cost to rent the machine for a day or whatever amount of time you think you would need it. They will charge you an insurance fee and to deliver it if you can't haul it yourself. Then check with a tree service and ask what it would cost to put it on the ground and you clean it up. Then make your decision.

15 years ago I had a boom truck on f600 ford, went up about 25-30' used it for trees built a barn ect. did not drive the best so I sold it, kids were young needed the money. (guy who purchased it got lazy and fell, hurt bad)
about 10 years after selling it I was up about 20-25' on a fiberglass ladder picking apples for cider and one of the side rails broke, ladder only couple years old, I grabbed the branch and hung on (my sister ran in to tell my wife her answer was "lunch is ready he can wait" she did get a neighbor to get my 20' aluminium firemans ladder up against the trunk and I shimmied overand climbed down, still bring that up when she has a "big project" for me
last year I bought a bucket truck (35' lift) on a super duty ford 7.3 diesel from a municipality using an online auction site. first thing I purchased was a fall protection harness. I pruned 15 old apple trees in 3 days, took down a 75' tall maple tree next to the highway in 2 hours. next job will be replacing tv antenna I put up 15 years ago on 35' tower

I've rented one, it was electric either/or gas engine operated. Once you get used to the height you are working you can really appreciate its capabilities. It was computerized to where you had to have it near perfectly plumb before it would operate. I towed it home with my pickup and maneuvered it with my 8n. As with any tool, use your common sense.

For one tree, I would seriously recommend hiring a tree service and be done with it, between the cost of renting a lift, then the pain and recovery from all the work, it is not worth it. I have 40 plus dead ash trees to remove, all 50 to 80 feet tall. I ended up purchasing a propane powered 40 foot boom lift, it works great and I can take my time dropping trees, have about 15 down so far. For what I paid I would have paid more in rental fees and delivery back and forth as not enough time to do them all at once.

I rented one for that purpose just last fall. About an hour into the job a small limb dropped just right and hit the emergency shut off button on the ground control panel. I was alone and 24 feet up, but by luck I was in sight of the road and about 2 minutes later a guy came along and I flagged him down to 'rescue' me. Just something to keep in mind.

I've been stuck in the basket more than once, darned machines, forget what happened, one time in California at an architectural/engineering testing lab, went up on the lift to take a photo of our finished mock up before it was tested, and whoops, the darned thing was stuck, shut off, my coworkers thought it was funny as heck, I'm like well, you know, when you get the time LOL, or could you at least air mail dinner later LOL ! I would have to dig out the photos, I am sure I have them in a box somewhere, nice view of the work we were doing, owners son, was the key guy at this place, he had it going in no time, matter of a fact I saw this guy on Barter Kings, just caught part of the episode, and they were at the lab in Ontario CA. Chad, the guy in the photo in the episode, "For Sail Will Consider Trade" at the CCL facility here is on one of those lifts in the photo, theres another cool photo of the old piston engine airplane engine we used for the test to duplicate wind loading, they then use a spray rig to add water to the occasion, sure was glad he was able to get that basket down LOL !
http://www.aetv.com/barter-kings/...onsider-trade/chad-makes-steve-test-boom-lift

try this link,
CCL lab photo on Barter Kings

Photo of that old plane engine, boom lifts and airplane engines, what a combo ? Spent 2 weeks at this place one time, the work passed too, was an easy system to build and test.
http://www.aetv.com/barter-kings/pi...der-trade/chad-demonstrates-plane-engine[/url

Thanks for all the replys/input, guys! I've got several people who would love to have the wood and to help get it all cut up/hauled away. I've got three chain saws of my own and others I can borrow if need be. This is an idea I'm kicking around and might wait until fall when the leaves drop, as now it's in full foilage. I've got two guys painting my roof now and I wouldn't trade withthem for nothing-30' up on ladders, scraping, cleaning, painting. Have a good week!!