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 | kwschumm
Join Date: Feb 2003 Posts: 5764 NW Oregon 
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2007-08-22 144902
I need to rent a boom lift to reach the top of our chimney to repair some woodpecker damage. The house is very tall and I'm not sure if I need a 45-foot or 60-foot boom lift. Does anyone know how these are measured? If a 45-foot lift was fully raised will the actual platform be 45 feet above ground? Or does it raise to 40 feet and allow a normal sized operator to work at the 45 foot height? The house is three stories with 9-foot ceilings on all levels, a 12/12 roof on top of that and a chimney that extends a few feet above the roof peak and I need to work at the very top of the chimney.
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 | DRankin
Join Date: Jan 2000 Posts: 5116 Northern Nevada
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2007-08-22 144906
Ken: Before you address the reach you might want to assess the access issue.
I have looked at booms/man-lifters to fix my chimney too. I have been stalled by the fact that most units will not traverse uneven ground to get to the job.
The self propelled units I have found have basically two solid axles with virtually no flexibility between the axles.
The lifters that you can tow like a trailer have very low approach angles (I.E. long rear overhangs) and long tongues that limit where you can position them.
....
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 | Murf
Join Date: Dec 1999 Posts: 7249 Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada
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2007-08-22 144907
For my two cents worth, we use them all the time for tree trimming and felling. They are considerably less weight than a similar sized boom truck and in our case, soil compaction is a HUGE issue.
The biggest one our rental house has is a 110' reach, but that is a vertical measurement, and the control system automatically lowers the telescopic boom as you start to rotate down off the vertical.
We walk them into some pretty tricky spots without any problems, we do however often have a bit of a time doing it. We often have to maneuver the boom to make it clear, or to act as a counter balance.
Best of luck. ....
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| kwschumm
Join Date: Feb 2003 Posts: 5764 NW Oregon
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2007-08-22 144910
We used a Genie 4x4 45 foot boom lift once before to install a satellite dish and it worked fine. Access isn't really a problem in the area. With the 45 footer we were able to work a few feet below the gable peak to install the dish but now I'm kicking myself for not seeing how high it would go last time it was here. ....
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 | candoarms
Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 1932 North Dakota 
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2007-08-22 144912
Kwschumm,
When you figure out what works for you, please let me know. I believe your house is nearly identical to mine.
I have a three story house, with 9 foot ceilings on all floors. Including the basement, I have just over 4000 square feet of living space.
The house is about 36 x 36 feet square, and my 40ft extension ladder will not reach high enough for me to climb up to clean the attic windows. I have three dormers in the attic, with three windows in each dormer.
The house was built in 1908, and moved to its current location in 1970.
When I do rent a boom truck to do some shingle and window repair, but I believe I'll rent the bigger unit, as the extra ballast in the butt will provide me with a bit more comfort when I've got my head in the clouds. hehehe.
Joel ....
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 | kthompson
Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 5275 South Carolina
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2007-08-22 144917
Ken, if the rental company is not able to tell you quickly ask for the model and manf or the boom and look up the specs on their web page. You should be able to find it.
The crane manf. company I worked for counted the boom length as the total length of the boom itself. That was not the working height. It did not take into account the amount lost to the angle nor did that take into account the gain of the height of the boom where it was mounted to the crane.
I congratulate you on being comfortable in one of those. I had to test operate some of them about 75 feet high and was not at ease at all. Units built for the US Air Force to wash planes and such. kt ....
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 | earthwrks
Join Date: Dec 2003 Posts: 3853 Home Office in Flat Rock, Michigan
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2007-08-22 144921
I have a 40' telescoping manlift (straight "shooting boom" style). It's 2wd self-propelled. I have really no problems driving it around except through 8" deep sticky mud and steep ramps. It has its limitations as far reach from the side as was mentioned earlier about overhangs, etc. I don't recommend it, but we have extended the boom and placed an additional ladder inside the bucket for extra reach. You need to find a lift that has what is called up- and-over reach sometimes called knuckle booms or articulated booms. I gave $2500 for mine and put another $2K into it. Talk about handy! Maaaan I use it for nearly all my lifting duties (it is rated for 500lb. but I've lifted 1700 no problem), and the kids love going up in it! The dog got about 10 feet up and freaked out, so we don't do dat 'nymore! ....
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| kwschumm
Join Date: Feb 2003 Posts: 5764 NW Oregon
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2007-08-22 144924
Around here most boom lifts seem to be supplied by United Rentals and they usually rent out Genies. The Genie web site says their S-45 boom lift has a "working height" of 51 feet which should do the job. I'll talk to them before renting to be sure.
EW, I've been looking for a cheap boom lift for quite some time but any that will do this sort of job and still run seem to cost $15k or more. At that price I'll rent. Heck, it would probably make more sense to rent anyway. It's around $800/week but I only need one every couple of years and wouldn't have to maintain it. Parts can't be cheap. But it would be nice to have one around the house for those times when ladders just won't do the job. I had a 40+ foot ladder but sold it, it was just to cumbersome for one guy to handle. The 36 footer I have now is manageable but it won't reach the high gutters. I'm ashamed to say that once I stuck the base of the 36 foot ladder in the loader and lifted it up another 8-10 feet to clear a clogged gutter (yes, there was plenty of ballast). I wouldn't recommend that either and won't do it again but it did work. ....
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 | crunch
Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 271 Niagara County, NY 
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2007-08-22 144926
I once rented about a 45' Genie tow behind for painting one of my wooden chimneys. I am not comfortable at heights so I got a thrill every time I moved the control when I was up high. A small movement threw me a couple of feet and shook the manlift for a while. Also the unit had to "click" into level using the outriggers after each move and this took me up to one hour. Of course the rental company would not give me anything back for this even though they told me I might have some trouble getting it to settle in to the "level". I have a larger chimney that needs painting and I fear this will require a 60' boom lift. ....
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| kwschumm
Join Date: Feb 2003 Posts: 5764 NW Oregon
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2007-08-22 144937
The Genie I used last time was a 4x4 self-propelled S-45 and it was pretty stable at about 40' up. I don't recall feeling unsafe or shaky at any time. ....
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| earthwrks
Join Date: Dec 2003 Posts: 3853 Home Office in Flat Rock, Michigan
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2007-08-22 144940
I found this one sitting on the side of a guy's garage frozen into the ground about three years ago. He dumped $2500 into it after the guy he bought it from had dumped another $2500 into it. I've made my money back on it though. $650 to help a guy shingle one of Henry Ford's soybean farm barns (they're 50' tall), $3000 to restore the structure on the same barn, $250 from a neighbor for a week so he could trim his trees. I generally get $75 an hour for it with me running it. Around here they rent for about $300 a day plus $250 transporting and no operator. ....
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 | yooperpete
Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 1413 Northern Michigan
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2007-08-23 144952
Ken:
Sounds like it is more work and will take a longer time to get the unit to you, than it will take to get the repairs done. I'd have someone come and do the work, since I'm guessing you also need to get boom delivered.
Us cheap do-it-yourselfers' not afraid of heights would do the following:
Back on the farm we would get a light rope and tie a short sliver of pipe to it as weight and through it over the roof. We would then tie that end to a heavier rope and pull it over the roof and attach the heavy rope to the bumper of a vehicle on the opposite side of where you are working. We would then put the base of a two stage extension ladder in the loader bucket with the loader in up position. With the bottom of the ladder latched tight to the bucket with load binder straps we'd use another ladder to get to the top of the bucket.
Then you just climb the ladder and use the rope for support. Sounds like the job will only take a few minutes to complete. We sometimes would use a second rope tied to a 5 gallown bucket for tools. A person on the ground can raise and lower it. ....
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| earthwrks
Join Date: Dec 2003 Posts: 3853 Home Office in Flat Rock, Michigan
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2007-08-23 144953
yooper: Hey you forgot to mention the handyman's secret weapon: duct tape (reference to The Red Green Show) ....
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| kwschumm
Join Date: Feb 2003 Posts: 5764 NW Oregon
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2007-08-23 144955
Last time I rented a boom lift it was $400 for one day including delivery and pickup. They told me it was less than $1000 to keep it for a week. There's lots to do this time around. I need to repair the woodpecker damage, flash around the corner boards where they peck, and repaint the entire chimney (wood framed). I also need to spray powder to kill some wasps, seal the gaps where they are getting in the attic and stuff copper wool between the gutters and fascia boards in a few areas where bats are roosting. We also have 15 corbel brackets all around the house. The birds roost on those and crap all over the sides of the house. I need to install and paint blocking and install bird spikes on those to keep the birds away and wash off the bird crap. Then I need to spray the roof with moss-kill (several times), move and tune the satellite dish since the trees have grown, and clean out the high gutters. ....
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| yooperpete
Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 1413 Northern Michigan
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2007-08-23 144958
Ken:
At the start of this, it sounded like you only had a quickie fix to do. The Genie web site indicates the S-45 has a 51ft. working height but also has a articulating jib boom like the photo shows. That should be helpful working around chimneys, etc.
The ladder in the FEL bucket is dangerous. When in grade school one of my classmate's father died when the bucket tripped. Back in those days, most loader buckets were mechanical with a trip release and spring return.
Earthworks:
We did this before duct tape was a widely used maintenance and all-around building material. ....
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| kwschumm
Join Date: Feb 2003 Posts: 5764 NW Oregon
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2007-08-23 144962
Yooper, the only thing I *need* the boom lift for is fix the chimney and adjust the satellite dish. But if I'm gonna rent one I'll do all the other stuff while it's here to make my life easier. ....
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| Murf
Join Date: Dec 1999 Posts: 7249 Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada
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2007-08-23 144967
Ken, you mention spraying the roof to kill moss.
If you install a strip of zinc sheeting along the ridge it will stop it permanently. As the rain lands it washes an extremely mild zinc solution down the roof, this makes an environment such that moss or algae cannot live there.
I did this years ago at my summer place, and have had no moss or discoloration since. It is very inexpensive and available through any roofing supply house, or possibly bigger home centers.
Best of luck. ....
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| kwschumm
Join Date: Feb 2003 Posts: 5764 NW Oregon
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2007-08-23 144968
We've got the zinc strips at the roof peak, and it does a nice job of keeping the moss off the top 2-3 feet of the roof, but below that the moss still grows quite nicely. At this point it's easier to spray it every couple of years rather than retrofit zinc strips every few courses of shingles. ....
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| earthwrks
Join Date: Dec 2003 Posts: 3853 Home Office in Flat Rock, Michigan
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2007-08-23 144970
KW: Those strips are designed to last a very long time. You may want to spray some a lot of clear water up there on the strips so that they'll "sacrifice" (by design) a layer of zinc and flood the remaining areas with zinc molecules. ....
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| earthwrks
Join Date: Dec 2003 Posts: 3853 Home Office in Flat Rock, Michigan
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2007-08-23 144971
KW: Those strips are designed to last a very long time. You may want to spray some a lot of clear water up there on the strips so that they'll "sacrifice" (by design) a layer of zinc and flood the remaining areas with zinc molecules. ....
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 | bvance
Join Date: Jul 2004 Posts: 280 The Great Pacific NorthWet, Olympia, WA
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2007-08-24 144975
Yooper,
You forgot to mention the part about the missus driving the anchor away while you are happily attached to the other end minding your own business.
Brian ....
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| kwschumm
Join Date: Feb 2003 Posts: 5764 NW Oregon
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2007-08-24 144976
EW, here in Oregon those zinc strips get flooded with about 50" of rain a year :) ....
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| crunch
Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 271 Niagara County, NY
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2007-08-24 144988
Ken, I have been using that moss killer also. Every year my roof looks a little bit better. I use my spot sprayer from the edge of the roof on my ladder to coat the roof. But you've got many jobs to do at once - so I can see why you would want a boom lift. ....
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| crunch
Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 271 Niagara County, NY
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2007-08-24 144989
Ken, I have been using that moss killer also. Every year my roof looks a little bit better. I use my spot sprayer from the edge of the roof on my ladder to coat the roof. But you've got many jobs to do at once - so I can see why you would want a boom lift. ....
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| kwschumm
Join Date: Feb 2003 Posts: 5764 NW Oregon
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2007-08-24 144995
Usually I use the tractor sprayer to spray the roof while standing on a 36 foot extension ladder. But the ladder won't reach up by the chimney so the roof is moss-free except for that area. Time to nuke it :) ....
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