Towable man lift

I want to buy a towable man lift. Should I buy gas, diesel or electric? I would use it occasionaly (but I know the neighbors would use it). I'm 84 and don't trust ladders anymore. Thank you.

I have rented a battery-powered one many times, and have only once needed to recharge during the work day. If your work is anywhere near a power outlet, you can charge on the go.

I think you'll find them quite expensive, renting certainly seems a better idea if seldom used.

Not using it regularly unless you used a fuel stabilizer you might have issues with the gas in it. An electric one you would probably have to keep it on a float charger to keep the battery up. It would also work better inside of a building. Diesel would work outdoors well.

I've always thought one of those orchard
man baskets would be ideal. 3 wheels,
stable, drive able and does most things
under about 25 ft. Seems cheap when I see
them for sale.

Before you buy one, see what the rental is, an estimate
how many times you would use it and add up the rental
accordingly. The problems with man lifts is they are full of
circuit cards that can cause trouble for a couple different
reasons. The control box can become less waterproof ,
mice get in there and build and build a nest or they just
get old and start failing. They just dont fare well from
long periods of inactivity. If you decide you want one,
select a brand with the greatest service support. Genie,
for one, no longer accepts factory direct service calls
all inquiries have to go through Sunbelt rentals or some
other second party, which complicates things when you
are in a hurry. And keep your phone on you or have
someone around in case the thing quits while youre up in
the air. Regarding your neighbors, that is not a tool I
would lend anyone

Rent one and save yourself the headaches of ownership!

I have been involved with bucket trucks & other types of man lifts for over 40 years. It really depends on what you want to do with them. I would not use a diesel indoors, I would not use and electric if I had to move more
than 100 yards. Also, depends on how high and what side reach you need. In 40 plus years, I have seen the results of 4 people that have fallen off the lifts they were using. All 4 fell head first. All 4 were under 40 years old.
3 have permanent injuries and one is permanently dead. So that said; What the H3LL are you doing up in the air at your age? Please take my advice and hire what ever you think is so important that you have to do it your self.
You have nothing to prove except maybe testing gravity.

If you have more use for a fork lift get a telehandler they will work well with a baske on them up to about 50 feet or so. We have a basket that came on our Skytrac will reach about 36 feet does most of what we need to do. I have put a ladder laid on the roof set at the basket so I could stand up to work a few times No real risk. It does take somebody to run the boom for you while up there. Stable and works well for us. We also use it to put rond bale of hay in the old hay mow in the old cow barn too. Works great for trimming tree limbs along the sides of the field just do a scorched earth policy on the limbs about every 10 or so years. Got a lot of fencerows to cut every year some in winter and some in summer.

I have a JLG T500J. If it would only used occasionally, I would stay away from a battery powered. Mine runs on a 9Hp Honda gas engine.
It has very low ground clearance. When moving it around uneven (sloping) ground I have to use a tractor with 3 Point so I can raise and lower the tongue.
No one else is allowed to use it. I assume this type of equipment requires scheduled inspection. If someone uses it and got injured or killed, I would be in deep trouble.
How high do you need to go? Have you considered a light duty bucket truck like a cable company van? They normally reach about 30 feet.

I've rented an electric that went up to 70
feet and was very happy with it. All kinds
of safety built in, battery lasted longer
than me, probably about 4 hours first day.
Charged it over night and used it at a
different location the next day. Cost was
around $180, cheaper that trying to
maintain one and everyone else borrowing it
and tearing things up. One really big
consideration is how stable it is and the
amount of bounce when your 60 feet in the
air. Not everyone can stand the movement at
that height, BIL had to go back down at 20
feet, he was getting vertigo.

We rented an electric one last weekend. It worked great

Re read Tony's last 3 sentences. I'm with him 100% on that!

I'm in the same situation except I'm 72. It seems I rent one every two years and although Sunbelt treated me well, I've had issues each time I've
rented the last 3 times. Gas/electric don't seem to be as common as they were the first time I rented probably 20 years ago. My buddy and I talked to a
dealer two years ago. He sold Haulette. I've never operated that brand but it had features that set it apart in that you could swap control panels for
trouble shooting purposes. There's a tree trimmer guy on u tube (cottontop 3) that bought a new 45 foot one about a year ago and has replaced it with a
90 foot one and as of about 2 months ago was talking about selling it. If you're not going off grid for extended periods I think the electric power
ones would be more prevalent/more choices. The last one I rented in July had a gas engine and that saved the day for me. It may be my operating
technique, but the ones I've rented I end up wishing the boom had another section so I could go over something and back down without touching the thing
I went over. So if you haven't used many be aware of that limitation. Let us know your decision. New ones go for roughly the price of a decked out
pickup or roughly $1000+ per foot of reach.