Aerial work platform on hire or to buy: how to get a good price
Hire or buy an aerial platform
Most people look for an aerial platform not to buy it, but to book it for a few hours: trimming trees, putting up a signboard, washing a facade, changing lamps on a pole. For jobs like these, hiring with an operator is almost always simpler, because your own machine needs a driver, servicing and inspections.
Buying makes sense if the work is regular: municipal teams, installation crews, advertising companies. Then it matters what truck chassis the platform is built on, how much life it has left and whether the hydraulics are documented.
How to work out the height you need
Platform lift height and working height are not the same. A person on the platform reaches roughly one and a half to two metres above the platform level, but the sideways reach of the boom can matter even more. If the vehicle cannot get right up to the tree or wall, state the outreach separately.
- Low jobs up to 15 m are done on a lighter truck chassis.
- For 22–28 m you need a heavier chassis.
- Telescopic and articulated booms manoeuvre differently among trees and wires.
What to put in your request
- Buy or hire — with or without an operator, and for how many hours.
- Lift height — the height you need and the boom outreach.
- Type of work — tree trimming, facade, signboard, electrical.
- Location — city and street, condition of the access road, whether there are wires nearby.
- Date — day and time, and whether it is urgent.
- Chassis and year — if buying, for example a heavy truck chassis, not older than 2010.
- Condition and budget — running, after an overhaul, the hourly rate.
Example: “I need a 22 m aerial platform with an operator in Pretoria, on Saturday morning for 4 hours. Trimming a few trees next to a building, with wires close by. Budget up to R 300 per hour.”
How searching on BlaBlaPrice works
You describe the job in a request, and platform owners in your region reply in the chat: which machine they offer, the rate, whether there is a minimum call-out charge and when they can arrive. Every seller sees where their offer ranks, so they often improve their terms. The system shows the best offer first, judged on what is actually offered, with reviews next to it. Your phone number stays hidden. Read more in how it works. If you need a wider range of machinery, look at construction machinery or the general “Heavy equipment” section.
How to compare the answers
The hourly rate does not tell the whole story. Ask whether travel time both ways is charged, what the minimum booking is, whether the operator and fuel are included, and whether permission is needed for work near power lines. For work at height, ask about permission to work and about insurance.
Another trap is the stated height. Ask for the model and the real outreach at the height you need, because a boom carries less load at full extension.
Safety and permissions
Work at height needs a disciplined approach. Ask whether the operator has experience with your kind of job, whether the platform works on outriggers on firm ground and whether safety harnesses are available. For tree trimming near wires, agree who arranges the power shutdown with the utility. Soft ground, pedestrian areas or parking near the site are also best discussed before the visit: sometimes part of the road has to be closed.
