Renting industrial lift equipment is a wise choice to save on cost and eliminate the responsibility of having to maintain and store equipment.

Renting industrial lift equipment can be an excellent option in many cases. No need for storage, a limited timeframe, and little to no maintenance are just a few good reasons to rent instead of purchase. Determine the job site’s needs and budget before deciding what will work best.

Renting Versus Buying

When renting industrial lift equipment, the rental company and the construction hoist rental company will agree on how long the lift will be rented for and what the payment plan will be. The rental agreement for a construction hoist is normally much more complicated than a normal piece of construction equipment because of its complexity.

When buying industrial lift equipment, the construction company purchases the lift, meaning they own it. When it’s no longer needed, it’s up to the owner to decide what to do with it. UCEL can offer many alternative financing, leasing, and rental options to end-users and rental companies.

Choosing To Rent

Choosing to rent industrial lift equipment frees up personnel to focus their energy on other concerns. Knowing the correct lift will be rented for the job is one less thing to worry about. Projects run more smoothly and economically when using construction hoists—you can avoid walking up and down stairs and using lifting equipment such as a crane or telehandler. Using industrial lift equipment makes the process much more efficient.

Renting is a cost savings and allows a construction site to gain a useful lift quickly, should an unexpected need suddenly arise. Renting also allows a developer or builder to use rental companies as consultants. Most firms are very knowledgeable of the equipment they can offer, how it will fit your job, and other technical constraints such as sizing and power requirements. Just reach out for information.

Cost savings, storage, time saved, and low maintenance are just a few reasons why renting industrial lifts is a wise choice compared to conventional lifting means.

Financial

Renting or purchasing industrial lift equipment can be expensive. Renting is one way to alleviate upfront costs, but companies with a business model to own their own equipment can explore financing and lease-to-own options as well. Purchasing industrial lift equipment is an investment.

Finances are the ultimate determining factor and a reason to rent industrial lift equipment.

Frequency of Use

Renting is the best option when the equipment won’t be used often or will only be used for one job. For a lot of users, it’s also preferable for liability and insurance reasons. If it’s a one-and-done situation, it makes little sense to invest in the purchase of an industrial lift for the job site.

Maintenance

When purchasing industrial lift equipment, regular maintenance now becomes part of the daily task for personnel. This also means a user must be knowledgeable about the different rental companies and their reputations in the industry. A rented lift may be rented by a builder, but it is used by hundreds of workers and dozens of sub-trades. As such, having a cautious, careful supplier is very important.

A benefit of renting is knowing the rental company has taken care of maintenance and will care for the lift again when it’s returned. Almost all rental companies provide maintenance and service contracts, so there is less hassle and concern.

The lift is delivered after being fully serviced and is returned when the job is done. Knowing your provider becomes more important in markets with less regulation. Not all states in the US, or provinces in Canada, are equally regulated.

Some jurisdictions only require a person to be deemed competent by their employer without any formal licensing, government inspection, or training required. Know who you’re renting a lift from before exposing yourself to issues and liability.

Be informed when engaging an industrial lift or construction hoist company in a maintenance and service contract. Some companies will not cover wear and tear, the damage they caused themselves, or repairs to defective equipment. Always know what you’re buying before signing.

Technology

A rental company knows it must keep up with the latest technology to compete. When a company needs to rent industrial lift equipment, with proper research and by choosing the right supplier, they can be confident the rental will have the latest and greatest functions available. This will make the job site run smoothly.

Some modern technologies used in construction hoists include:

  • embedded anemometers to make sure the hoist shuts down in dangerous wind
  • remote monitoring to see usage patterns and schedule maintenance
  • easy-leveling tools to speed up work and make ingress and egress from the machine safer and other electrical safeties, like GFCIs
  • landing gate interlocks, motor overloads, and other devices which were not required or common on older construction hoists

Choices

On a construction site, there are hundreds of jobs that change daily and with each new site.

When purchasing industrial lift equipment, it can seem daunting trying to choose one lift that will need to perform many different tasks. Most often, companies end up with a general-purpose lift rather than a few different lifts with more distinct specifications.

A general-purpose lift is fine but other options more specific to the job may offer a more efficient and safer solution. Some common options are extra-wide hoists, “twin-mast” machines that can carry as much as 16,000 pounds, tall clearance hoists, high speed, or more economical models such as transport platforms.

Renting industrial lift equipment offers the opportunity to rent as needed so a more specific lift can be used for each job.

Storage

When a lift is no longer needed, it has to go somewhere. Storage can be complicated and costly when the lift is owned instead of rented. Like most machines, it’s inadvisable to leave the machine outside all year long, yet on the other hand, not all companies have access to indoor, temperature-controlled storage space.

Thankfully, with the rental option, storage is not a concern. Once the job is complete, the rental is returned to the rental company and stored there.

Installation and Removal

As with all things on the construction job site, safety is the number one concern. Installation and removal of any lift must be done properly to prevent injury to personnel and any infrastructure.

Lifts all vary in size and must be removed in a manner specific to both the lift and the job. A benefit of renting the lift is that the rental company will take care of both installation and removal as part of a full-service turnkey rental contract.

This saves personnel on the job site a lot of time, and time is money. It also eliminates the need for additional training of personnel to install and remove industrial lifts themselves.

It is also illegal in many states and provinces for an untrained or unlicensed worker not employed by an approved contractor to install or maintain a construction hoist or lift.

Depreciation

As we mentioned, owning industrial lift equipment is an investment. Once the lift is used, it begins to lose value due to depreciation.

Renting, on the other hand, frees the construction company from the concern of depreciation. The cost to rent covers the time period needed but no real investment is made in the equipment.

In conclusion, renting can save time and money in both short and long-term situations, depending on the business model and capabilities of the purchaser or renter. Purchasing is sometimes necessary, but when a purchase doesn’t make sense, renting is a great alternative.

UCEL Inc. is the trusted name in industrial lifts, including construction hoist rental. Contact us and we can discuss which options are best for your construction job site.

A Guide To Renting Industrial Lift Equipment