Boom Lifts

HUDSONVALLEYEXT

Any one on here use boom lifts for painting houses???? me and my helper were painting a house that took us about 2 weeks to paint with ladders. Along came another contractor to paint the house next to us and they had a lift and they knocked out the job in like 3 days and the house was bigger. Is is worth spending 10 k for a lift ? I thought about the lift thing before but I had thought at the time it would damage lawns.

Paul Burns

You can rent almost new ones for 2500.00-3,000.00 per month. If you can find one for 10K and save that much time, I wouldn't hesitate. They are about 1000.00 per week, if you only need them for short periods. Easily paid for by the job, like Benn mentions below.

In all our years, I think we only used one once for a roof.

We used 6 sheets of plywood to roll it across the yard. one for each of the 4 tires, then move the 2 extra's in front, and rinsed and repeat.

Paul
p.s. BTW, how many here actually wash their hair twice as the instructions say?

Brushslingers

I only rented (yes rented, never BOUGHT one) boom lifts for interesting places, like 3 story gables and churches... if that guy owns one and uses it on normal re-paints, chances are he bought it for a JOB, that paid for it, so now he's just putting it to good use. Hell, would cost more to transport the thing than the paint job in some cases. Now if your pressure washing, or painting above two stories on ladders...... better check with OSHA.

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Benn

HUDSONVALLEYEXT

thats another thing moving that thing around how big a truck do you need to move 13,000 pounds? We only have F-150s for company trucks lol

donb1959

My cliental would not be happy to see me driving a boom across their manicured lawn.

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I fish therefore I am
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Brushslingers

Heh, most people own a trailer, or rent a towing company to move em... need to check with the state though, some states require a course to operate them.... much less own one.

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Benn

Brushslingers

Get one of those 4x4 40' booms and pull up in the driveway yelling, GETRDUN!!!

hehehe

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Benn

AAPaint

I just rent one when I need it. Runs about $300/day $1200/wk I think. I've had to use them for accessing two story buildings plenty of time. One job had a chimney high above the second story roof. The roof was too steep to walk on with the old shingles so we rented a lift just for that chimney and used it everywhere else we could.

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-AAPaint

AA Quality Painting & Pressure Washing LLC
Jacksonville Painters
Jacksonville, FL.

HUDSONVALLEYEXT

well on the street i saw the boom being used was all million dollar homes so i guess it can't be that bad on the grass

HUDSONVALLEYEXT

AAPaint you are from Jacksonville? my uncle came back to NY to paint he said the slave labor was taking over the trade there driving painters wages to 10 an hour is that true?

R&S Exteriors

I use them allot for soffit work and gable ends. I usually do not rent the drivable (extremely heavy) ones though. My rental center has a couple that go up 50 feet and you tow them just like a trailer with your truck. They are powered by a honda 5hp motor and hydraulics with a battery back-up in case the motor quits. Costs approx $150 per day or $550 a week or $1500 for a month.

It is not nearly as heavy and unless ground is pretty wet does not tear up the sod like the other lifts. Just tow it to where you want it. Does not take long to move. Usually you can do the whole side of a house without moving or maybe moving once. Saves a bunch of time.

AAPaint

Hey Hudson. Yes, I'm in Jax. The wages my competition pays avg around $10-12/hour. Some pay up to $15 for top guys, so yes, the wage for painters here sucks, but I hope to change that a little with some of the knowledge I've gained here. Within the next month or two I'll be hiring at least two guys full time and using a piecework system. I don't seem to have a problem getting my rates....just sometimes can't get enough jobs at my rate, but I'm working on that part too. I'm sure that it is mostly a matter of marketing for me, and I won't have to pay slave wages to my help.

I'm taking a new approach. I'm going to build this company from here on out around employees and not around myself. If I can make the employees good money, I'll be right where I want to be.

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-AAPaint

AA Quality Painting & Pressure Washing LLC
Jacksonville Painters
Jacksonville, FL.

George Z

I have to say if you follow through with this you will not regret it.

I know you like your reading and there is a book mentioned here
"Gung Ho!" by Ken Blanchard And Sheldon Bowles.

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KellyPainting

My buddie bought one last year for me and him to do his house...A 3 story 2nd Empier... It's an old Mass. Electric Truck ..The thing is enormouse!..
Big as a house and ways even more... He bought it for $7,000 and only put a few bucks into it... I rented it for a month up untill last week for a lrg Victorian.... He gave it to me for $100 a day (payed in advance) plus gas.. 1 - tank ...it's the balls.. goes higher than most and the boom actually can go over and down if you can picture it... making it easy to get into tight spaces.... I have a form for my customers to sign..stating where the septic system is and releiving me of all liability for lawn damage.
I even use it to pressure wash alot.
Now here is the funny thing... since it sits around all winter and I'm the only one renting it.... He spent $4000 welding a plow hookup on it and plows for the state in the winter!... being so heavy and having more lights than the deathstar.. it works like a dream.

The normal rate out here is also $300 per day.

AAPaint

Hey Kelly, that's what is called an articulating boom. It doesn't just go straight out, the end can adjust up and down to drop in over a railing or reach over a piece of roof to other side. Those are the type I usually rent, if I have a choice and they have them available.

__________________
-AAPaint

AA Quality Painting & Pressure Washing LLC
Jacksonville Painters
Jacksonville, FL.

mdshunk

Could be worse... You could show up with one of these instead!

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paintr56

I have a bucket truck that I drive every day. I can't imagine going back to ladders. I still use them enough that I truely apreciate the truck. On a two story house I easily cut my time in half probably even more.

Jim Bunton.

KellyPainting

http://www.contractortalk.com/attach...1&d=1157502643
DSCF0022.JPG

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mdshunk

I think that more guys would own bucket trucks if they knew how cheap they were used. I think I paid around 5K for a pickup style, and about 15K for a heavy duty style. That's pretty much the going rate for used bucket trucks