Getting a scissor lift onto a stage

[PeteEngel]

Scissor lifts do work well for certain situations. for extended reach, you may want to consider changing lifts to something a bit more articulated. I used a particular variant at a show that worked GREAT, but it was big. I'm not sure what sizes they have to fit your facility but it may be worth checking out...

Telescopic Booms - Genie

 

[techieman33]

Scissor lifts do work well for certain situations. for extended reach, you may want to consider changing lifts to something a bit more articulated. I used a particular variant at a show that worked GREAT, but it was big. I'm not sure what sizes they have to fit your facility but it may be worth checking out...

Telescopic Booms - Genie

With the lightest one of those weighing over 12,000lbs I doubt many stage floors would be able to support that much weight.

 

[PeteEngel]

Certainly not your average temporary stage, but the idea behind the zoom boom is not to have to get on stage...and yeah, they are pretty heavy. Our stage was pretty butch and we had 2 large lifts and a scissor lift as well, all on stage at the same time, but it was designed to support a LOT of weight.

 

[LDwiggs30]

There are a number of safety risks involved here. For starters, a JLG 1930 (one of the smallest scissors available) weight almost 5,000 pounds. Not sure how your stage is built, but that is a serious load to put on a stage. Second, if you build a rig to get a lift onto a stage that's not certified by an engineer and it fails, everyone is out of a job. Best best would be to rent a single-man push lift (less than 1,000 lb.) and use a car/atv ramp to push it onto the stage. I had to get one into a tent with a 5' deck once and we pushed it onto a front-end loader and tossed it up there. Also the lift gate of a box truck can get 1,500+ pounds off the ground if you want to go that route. You can also lever those lifts just by laying them backwards as you pull the base up with some motors or a counterweight system. As Pete said, boom lifts are always a great time-saver when it comes to getting up high while something on the ground is in your way .

 

[MPowers]

I'm not quite sure what your concern is about. Scissors lifts on stages are a very common practice. In fact every stage I've worked on the last several years, I've used 24 to 50 foot scissors lifts to install, inspect and maintain rigging systems. Much of the work I do would be impossible without a scissors lift. Older stages and stages over a trap room can be of concern but stages are commonly designed for up to 150 psf. Would a 5,000 pound lift fall through your 150 psf stage??? PSF can be deceptive when figuring a load. Loads actually spread out so a lift with a 3' x 8' wheel base is actually distributing it's load over an area roughly 6'x 12'. 6x12 = 72 sq ft. 5,000 pounds/72 = 65 psf. That's a load almost any stage should be able to handle. That is not to say that one should not always check first if you don't know the capacity of your floor, but it might surprise you. Floor structure can also figure into the equation as some floor structures might not spread out the load as efficiently and be susceptible to localized point loads such as directly under a lift wheel. Always check first but don't be surprised if your old stage can handle a scissors lift.

 

[Footer]

I'm not quite sure what your concern is about. Scissors lifts on stages are a very common practice. In fact every stage I've worked on the last several years, I've used 24 to 50 foot scissors lifts to install, inspect and maintain rigging systems. Much of the work I do would be impossible without a scissors lift. Older stages and stages over a trap room can be of concern but stages are commonly designed for up to 150 psf. Would a 5,000 pound lift fall through your 150 psf stage??? PSF can be deceptive when figuring a load. Loads actually spread out so a lift with a 3' x 8' wheel base is actually distributing it's load over an area roughly 6'x 12'. 6x12 = 72 sq ft. 5,000 pounds/72 = 65 psf. That's a load almost any stage should be able to handle. That is not to say that one should not always check first if you don't know the capacity of your floor, but it might surprise you. Floor structure can also figure into the equation as some floor structures might not spread out the load as efficiently and be susceptible to localized point loads such as directly under a lift wheel. Always check first but don't be surprised if your old stage can handle a scissors lift.

....Just watch out for those pesky floor pockets....

 

[gshac audio and visual]

We have a poorly designed stage at church, in that it's impossible to reach the things above it (lights, projector screens) without us renting a lift that sits in front of the stage and extends to over the stage, even then there's parts we can't reach.

We already have a scissor lift, but no way of using it on the stage because it's almost 5' above the ground and there are no ramps.

What I'm thinking about, assuming that our stage is capable of bearing the load of our lift, is building some kind of a portable ramp to drive the scissors lift up onto the stage.

I've calculated from the maximum grade the lift can safely drive on retracted, and the height of the stage, that the ramp would have to be about 20 feet long.

How can I build a fairly portable ramp like that? Would it even be possible? It'd need to be able to support the lift's (probably) weight of 1-2 tons. (not completely sure on the model of our lift, I'd need to check)

I've googled and all the ramps I've found for cars only end up going 1' above the floor.

Hi, I'm having the same issue here. What was your outcome with this project?

 

[Bubby4j]

Hi, I'm having the same issue here. What was your outcome with this project?

We've just ended up working around it. I think the best solution would be a small, relatively light lift, but we don't have the budget for that.

We did purchase a 20' a-frame ladder though, which lets us reach most of what we need.

 

[gshac audio and visual]

We've just ended up working around it. I think the best solution would be a small, relatively light lift, but we don't have the budget for that.

We did purchase a 20' a-frame ladder though, which lets us reach most of what we need.

Ok cool. I've been looking at these ramps http://www.discountramps.com/aluminum-scissor-lift-ramps/p/05SLR/
Unfortunately, they only go about 24 inches high and they are crazy expensive.

 

[Brentgi]

I still wouldn't put a lift on stage...

Scissors lifts on stages are a very common practice.

I've been in and around 'church' for a long time. The culture is typically "let's build it ourselves and save money." Unfortunately, this means that there is not a great deal of thought put into things like how much weight the stage can support. Although I've never seen a poorly constructed stage in a church, I have never seen a stage that I would trust with a lift unless it was poured concrete. Unfortunately, the big ladder is usually the way that it has to be done. Maybe we can start a campaign to stop getting churches to dead hang over the stage.

 

[Chris Pflieger]

Hi, I'm having the same issue here. What was your outcome with this project?

This thread is older than me (forum time, that is), but I have the same exact issue. My solution was to rent scaffolding and hang movers.