The Challenge Of Tight Access & How Our Spider Lift Solves It
Imagine you are on a heritage property restoration site. The flooring is delicate, and the doorways are of standard sizes. The facade of the building needs work – particularly its high archways. Unfortunately, you have a traditional crane with you, which can neither fit through doorways nor run on delicate floors without damaging them. What do you do?
That sounds like quite a conundrum. Fortunately, there’s a fix to it, and no, it does not involve rickety ladders or time-consuming scaffolding. They are both risky and expensive and can cause completely avoidable delays.
The solution is rather elegant – use spider lifts. In this blog, we will explain how Platform Basket Canada’s spider lifts take this challenge head-on and make every corner accessible with their lightweight and compact build. Let’s begin!
How Do Our Spider Lifts Solve The Narrow Access Problem?
No matter the task at hand – be it construction, facility maintenance, property restoration, or arboriculture – you need equipment that can fit through the building’s entrance so it can help you carry out work at heights.
At Platform Basket, we have spent 50 years developing and refining our spider lift models to turn them into the compact and lightweight machines they are today. At its narrowest, our platform neatly folds into an ultra compact width of just about 30-35 inches, thus allowing you to transport it through:
- Interior and exterior doorways of standard sizes
- Gates and hallways
- Narrow alleys and corridors
- Freight elevators
For reference, a typical door in Ontario is 36” wide and 80” high, whether it is stationed in a residential or a commercial building. Now the minimum requirement as per the Ontario Building Code is 32” (W) x 78” (H), but most buildings choose to have larger doors of 36” (W) x 80” (H) for the sheer convenience they offer.
So if you are worried about size being an issue when it comes to our lifts, you do not have to. They are indoor-friendly by design.
The Importance Of Using An Indoor-Friendly Spider Lift
The tightest spots are generally located indoors. If you want to work at heights in such spaces, getting your spider boom lift through the door is only half the job. The second part of this challenge comes in using the lift inside in a damage-free way.
To help you conquer this challenge, we equipped our lift with stable outriggers and non-marking tracks so it can be operated indoors without the worry of damage.
We also fitted them with electric or hybrid engines so they could offer the quiet and low-emission operation that indoor environments need. This diversified their use case, allowing you to safely deploy them in places like:
- Shopping malls
- Airports
- Museums and art galleries
- Office towers
- Historic buildings
The kind of versatility and flexibility our lifts bring is unmatched. You can safely use them in the interior parts of most buildings and get work done without the risk of fumes, noise, or damage to sensitive flooring.
How To Maintain Safety When Using Spider Lifts In Confined Spaces?
The last stage of the tight access challenge is ensuring you can operate your spider boom lift safely. While these platforms are inherently safer when compared to ladders and scaffolding, our models have a few extra safety features baked in that make them perfect for navigation in narrow indoor spaces:
- Self-leveling outriggers offer exceptional stability on uneven grounds
- Precise articulation allows you to reach overhead fixtures, branches, and other objects
- Non-marking tracks keep floors safe and damage-free
It keeps your crew safe too, thus guaranteeing efficient work in all kinds of indoor environments.
Conclusion
At Platform Basket Canada, we know just how challenging overhead access tasks can be. Particularly in sensitive indoor environments, which come with their own set of special requirements. That is why we have built our spider lifts to be compact, lightweight, and indoor-friendly. Contact us to get lifts that fit through standard Ontario doorways while offering contractors and facility managers a tool that adapts to their challenges.
FAQs
Can spider lifts be used on the upper floors of a building?
Yes. Compact and lightweight by design, most modern spider lifts can fit into freight elevators, which means you can use them on the upper levels of any building, be it a multi-story residential complex or a commercial tower.
How high up can a spider lift reach once it's indoors?
Depending on the model, you might be able to reach working heights that span 50ft to 100ft. They can be easily used to conduct maintenance and repair tasks for buildings with high ceilings.
Is it safe to use spider lifts indoors around people?
Yes, our range of hybrid and electric spider lifts can be safely used around people. Designed for low-emissions and quiet operation, they do not disrupt life in public spaces, be it malls, airports or museums. They also come with additional safety features like self-leveling outriggers that guarantee stable, accident-free operation.
