Types of Construction Lifts – Complete Guide for Businesses

Most companies stick to the type of construction lifts they know and have been using for years in almost every task, without realizing that there are several more types of aerial lifts and types of man lifts available that are more cost-effective for certain construction tasks.

Zuma Sales designed this complete guide for businesses that are eager to understand the different lift types and their specific uses to improve their team's safety on the job, reduce downtime, and boost productivity.

Without this knowledge, you risk using equipment that’s undersized, overpowered, or simply not suited to the job, which may cost you more time and money in the long run.

The first step to choosing the right equipment that’s suitable for your project is to understand the different types of construction lifts available in the market.

Each construction lift machine is designed for a specific purpose; some are designed for more vertical access, some are more focused on extended horizontal reach, while others are specifically designed for heavy material handling.

It is always better to know your options so you can compare types of lifts for construction without any guesswork. Below, you’ll see the different types of lifts mainly used for construction:

Boom lifts are one of the most versatile categories of aerial work platforms. They are specifically designed for jobs requiring extended reach or maneuvering around obstacles.

Since they offer more flexibility in job sites, the diesel-powered versions of this are most commonly used in construction. Electric boom lifts, on the other hand, are used for indoor constructions and renovations and are preferred for areas that require less noise and emissions on job sites. 

There are two main types that most construction professionals choose for their job sites. The ideal for tight spaces, complex work structures, and maintenance is the articulating boom lift. This boom lift type features multiple pivoting joints that bend and reach over or around obstacles easily. Telescopic boom lifts are the equipment of choice when the job site requires straight booms with maximum horizontal outreach.

In the table below, you’ll see a more detailed comparison of articulating and telescopic boom lifts that can further help you decide which of them might best suit your needs:

Both articulating and telescopic boom lifts are best for open outdoor sites such as bridge construction, steel erection, and other large-scale constructions where direct and long-distance reach is required.

Boom lifts come in a wide range of sizes and configurations, each designed to meet specific working heights, outreach capabilities, and job site conditions. Understanding these variations can help you select the most efficient one for you. To learn more about how different models compare in reach and capacity, explore our in-depth blog on boom lift sizes.

With their versatile use cases, the brand new price of this equipment may be a bit higher than other types of aerial lifts; that’s why most smart businesses opt for used boom lifts that can still deliver reliable performance with 5-10 more years of service life. 

A towable boom lift is a portable and lightweight aerial lift that can be hitched to either a pickup truck or commercial vehicle without any complications. Unlike heavier models, these lifts don’t require a flatbed or special trailer for transport. Setup typically just takes around 10-15 minutes upon unhitching, and it’s ready for work.

These units reduce transport costs, and they are popular for rentals, light construction, and facilities maintenance because they balance reach, price, and portability.

The table below provides a detailed overview of towable boom lifts to help you understand their performance and decide whether they suit your work needs.

With towable boom lifts, you are not required to get a commercial driver’s license when planning to move them across public roads.

Scissor lifts are one of the most sturdy and stable types of aerial lifts. It features vertical-only movement to raise workers and their tools.

For indoor use, electric scissor lifts are ideal, especially when accessing through standard doorways and tight spaces. For rugged and uneven outdoor jobs, a rough-terrain scissor lift is among the best industrial lifts to use for construction. This scissor lift machine features heavy-duty tires and higher ground clearance, which are often used to provide reliable elevation for framing, cladding, and exterior finishing.

Used scissor lifts also deliver the same performance for value purchases with Zuma Sales. Every unit in our used inventory goes through a rigorous multi-point inspection to ensure it meets strict safety and performance standards. Every component is checked, tested, and verified by certified technicians. It’s how we guarantee that even as a second owner, you’ll experience top-tier quality and lasting performance at a fraction of the cost of a brand-new lift.

At Zuma Sales, we’re fully transparent about each machine’s condition, providing you with detailed inspection reports and service records so you know exactly what you’re getting.

Deciding between a boom lift and a scissor lift can be a tough call for many industries. To help you make the right choice, we prepared a complete boom lift vs scissor lift comparison guide that breaks down all the details unfolded between the two. 

A single-man lift is a compact variant of scissor lifts. Unlike scissor lifts that can accommodate 2-4 workers on their platform, a single-man lift, also known as a one-man scissor lift, is one of the best small lifts specifically designed to carry one worker only.

Most models are electric-powered, offering quiet, emission-free operation ideal for indoor use on smooth floors. Despite their small footprint, these lifts provide reliable stability and safety, allowing workers to perform repairs, painting, installations, or inspections efficiently.

The table below is a detailed comparison of scissor lifts and single-man lifts:

A telehandler is a short name for a telescopic handler and is a versatile lifting machine that combines the features of a forklift, crane, and a boom lift in one piece. You’ll often see telehandlers in construction, agriculture, and industrial sites to lift, move, and place heavy materials at heights that regular forklifts can’t reach.

The difference between telehandlers and forklifts is their telescopic boom arm that can extend not only upward, but also outward.

Below are the extra features of telahandlers:

Telehandlers are generally more expensive than standard forklifts or cranes.

If you’re aiming to maximize your budget for this equipment’s ownership, a rigorously inspected used telehandler could be the most cost-effective option. 

Among all the construction lift machines, forklifts are the most essential and indispensable equipment on every construction site. Forklifts are industrial-powered trucks specifically designed to lift, move, and place materials over short distances. They are equipped with forks, or technically called tines, that slide under any heavy loads like bricks, cement, steel beams, or pallets.

These industrial lifts are the backbone of material handling in every construction site. This is because they save time and, more importantly, reduce manual labor when handling heavy materials. There are two main types of forklifts, and those are the warehouse forklifts and the rough-terrain forklifts. They both feature a powerful lifting machine designed for two distinct settings.

The table below shows the differences between the two main types of forklifts:

If you want to learn more expert forklift insights, safety regulations, and maintenance tips for construction applications, OSHA’s Guide to Powered Industrial Trucks might be worth a read for you.

Specialty lifts come in on projects that cannot rely on standard types of aerial lifts. Some sites are situated in extreme terrain conditions, while some may have tight indoor layouts that require specialized solutions.

Specialty lifts are advanced construction lift machines that are simply designed to tackle environments and applications that ordinary equipment can’t handle safely and efficiently.

There are 3 types of specialty lifts, and those are:

A crawler boom lift is a lifting machine mounted on rubber tracks instead of traditional wheels. Their rubber tracks are designed to provide superior traction, stability, and ground pressure distribution to move safely across mud, gravel, slopes, and uneven surfaces where wheeled lifts might sink or tip. 

Crawler boom lifts are highly adaptable as their tracks can either expand for stability or contract to fit through narrow doorways. Among their variants, spider lifts are the most popular type, known for their compact design, lightweight frame, and exceptional ability to operate on delicate or uneven terrain.

Hybrid lifts combine the strength of diesel-engine lifts with electric power. The purpose of this design is mainly for environmental compliance. Some municipalities in the US require eco-friendly lifting solutions when working on urban development constructions, and these hybrid lifts are the best to use in such cases. They provide quiet, clean, and emission-free performance, which greatly reduces the amount of carbon footprint accumulated in construction projects.

Some industries may require a lift with load capacities in tons. Most standard lifts have limits of up to 20,000 lbs, and industries requiring lift capacities larger than this limit will have to request custom industrial lifts tailored to their specific requirements.

Below are a few examples where custom industrial lifts are required:

• Shipyards or factories requiring high-capacity material lifts

• Explosion-proof lifts for petrochemical or mining operations

• Customized compact lifts to access tight tunnels or maintenance shafts

Construction lifts are a broad category of equipment. They are often referred to as building lifts, industrial lifts, or construction elevatorsthat are used to move workers, materials, and tools vertically or horizontally across job sites. They come in many types and configurations, but each of them is specifically designed to meet certain heights, loads, and terrain requirements.

Instead of manually transporting materials or relying on scaffolding, construction lift machines allow teams to move heavy loads faster, reduce labor, and access elevated areas safely with precision. Almost all businesses across industries invest in construction lifts to streamline their operations, minimize risks, and maximize productivity. 

We understand that learning about every type of construction lift in one sitting can feel like a lot to take in. That’s why Zuma Sales created this simplified key takeaway for a quick and easy summary of the types of construction lifts to help you recall their differences at a glance. Every project has its own challenges, and choosing the right lift can make all the difference in safety, efficiency, and long-term value.

At Zuma Sales, we know how crucial it is to match the right construction lift machine to the right job. The wrong choice can slow you down, while the right one can lift your entire team’s productivity and safety.

That’s why we take the time to understand your site conditions, project scope, and budget to help you find the lift that truly works best for you. Our experts are here to guide you every step of the way.

It’s important to understand that every lift machine is designed for specific purposes. Instead of comparing them separately, Zuma created this to make it easier to compare their important features side-by-side. This will greatly help you find the right construction lift you need to approach your projects more safely, efficiently, and cost-effectively.

Below you’ll find a complete table that quickly compares the major lifts by their height range, load capacity, terrain capability, and mobility. You can use it as a guide to see which lift best fits your project’s scales.

It takes more than just matching height with load requirements to confidently select the right lift for your project. It’s all about optimizing performance, cost, and safety for your specific job site requirements.

With so many types of lifting equipment available in the market, understanding how each lift construction model operates will help ensure you’re not overpaying for features you don’t need or underestimating your site’s demands. 

Before purchasing whatever types of construction lifts you think might best fit your job sites, start by assessing your project’s scale. If it’s a small project, crawler lifts, single-man lifts, or slab scissor lifts would suffice. But if the project is bigger and may require higher elevation for workers, the ideal construction lift machines are articulating and telescopic boom lifts, telehandlers, forklifts, and custom industrial lifts.

Each factor below directly affects performance, stability, and safety on the job site:

While Zuma doesn’t offer rentals, we strongly believe that businesses thrive with a mindset of practicality and long-term value in every aspect. Renting may seem convenient at first glance, but it becomes an added expense for the business to shoulder with no ROI and resale potential, which means every rental fee is purely a cost without any recovery on capital spent.

Zuma focuses on helping businesses make ownership more accessible and affordable with our flexible financing options. Every construction lift machine in our collection, whether new or used, is available for financing to help you make a smarter investment that keeps paying off for the capital you spent. 

The decision of whether to rent or buy construction lift machines often comes down to how often you plan to use them, your project volume, and long-term financial goals. Each options have its own advantages and disadvantages.

Renting may seem attractive if you only need equipment occasionally or want to test different types of lifting machines before purchasing. It’s also ideal for short-term or one-off jobs. However, frequent rental fees can quickly add up, and when computed over time, you could have already owned your own equipment.

Purchasing, on the other hand, is an investment in asset ownership. It provides better return on investment and the option to resell your lift over time whenever you want to upgrade or downsize.

To help weigh your options more clearly, the table below provides a quick comparison of those options:

While Zuma doesn’t offer rentals, we strongly believe that businesses thrive with a mindset of practicality and long-term value in every aspect. Renting may seem convenient at first glance, but it becomes an added expense for the business to shoulder with no ROI and resale potential, which means every rental fee is purely a cost without any recovery on capital spent.

Zuma focuses on helping businesses make ownership more accessible and affordable with our flexible financing options. Every construction lift machine in our collection, whether new or used, is available for financing to help you make a smarter investment that keeps paying off for the capital you spent.

Safety and efficiency go hand in hand in every successful construction project. Modern lift machines are designed not only for power and reach but also to meet strict OSHA and ANSI safety standards, ensuring that every operation runs under regulated protection protocols. These standards dictate everything from guardrail heights to load limits and emergency controls, minimizing risks on-site.

By investing in compliant equipment, contractors safeguard their workforce while maintaining the productivity that keeps projects on schedule. Beyond the machine itself, regular maintenance and operator training are equally vital. Routine inspections prevent costly downtime and ensure that hydraulic, electrical, and mechanical systems perform at their best.

Meanwhile, certified training helps operators understand the specific functions of different types of lifting equipment, improving efficiency and reducing the likelihood of accidents.

Together, these practices build trust, not only between teams but also with clients—reinforcing Zuma’s commitment to delivering safe, high-performing lift construction solutions that meet the industry’s highest standards.

Choosing Zuma Sales means partnering with a team dedicated to your success. We don't just provide you with what you think you need at the time of purchase; we ensure you can rely on us, both pre- and post-purchase, to the best of our abilities.

Here’s why Zuma Sales should be your top choice among all construction lift suppliers and dealers in the market:

• Expert guidance: Our specialists help you choose the right equipment for your project, so you never waste time and money on the wrong equipment.

• 24/7 support: We’re always available online to assist whenever you need help with your equipment.

• Flexible financing: We offer simple, transparent financing options with no hidden fees for both new and used equipment.

• Trusted brands: We only partner with industry-leading manufacturers known for reliability and performance in the aerial lift market.

• Nationwide delivery: We provide fast delivery and responsive service to keep your operations running without delay. Wherever you are in the US.

Ready to move forward? Contact us today and request a customized quote tailored to your specific construction equipment needs.