Renting Construction Equipment Northampton MA

Source: TOOLS OF THE TRADE Magazine
Publication date: March 1, 2002

By Tools of the Trade Staff

Chances are you don't own a Bobcat, boom-lift, or backhoe and don't need to. But you've probably needed a piece of burly, specialized equipment to keep your jobs on schedule or to complete them.

Luckily, you can rent almost anything from a 36-inch, walk-behind trencher to a 60,000-pound excavator. All you need is a driver's license and major credit card and you can get that lot cleared, road cut, or those holes augered without much prep work. However, when it comes to using manlifts and forklifts, you may need a certification class before the rental company will deliver equipment to your jobsite.

Going up. Contractors who rent aerial work platforms, including telescoping-boom forklifts, cherry pickers (boom lifts), and scissors lifts, often must take a safety certification class. You can usually find someone to teach it right at the rental company; classes take anywhere from four to eight hours and cost about $60.

Tipping is a real concern with aerial work platforms, so classes focus on maneuvering them, tilting, load points, operation on uneven ground, and checking the machine's blind spots.

Some rental companies may not require you or your operator to take the class. However, they should provide operators' manuals and additional printed safety and operational information. Furthermore, they should talk you though any machine you're inexperienced with.

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