Heavier than most people guess. Battery packs and steel scissor stacks add up fast (figures beyond the 19ft are approximate — verify the exact machine when you book):
| Machine | Weight | Roughly equivalent to |
|---|---|---|
| 19ft electric | 1,520kg | A mid-size sedan |
| 26ft electric | ~2,600kg (approx.) | A large 4WD |
| 32ft electric | ~2,870kg (approx.) | A 4WD towing a box trailer |
| 40ft electric | ~3,175kg (approx.) | A small truck |
Add the platform capacity — 230kg of people and tools on the 19ft — and the loaded machine is what your floor actually has to carry.
A car spreads its weight over four large air-filled tyres. A slab scissor puts all of it through four small, hard, solid wheels — so the load at each contact patch (the point load) is concentrated. Floors are rated two ways: overall load per square metre, and maximum point load. A floor can pass the first test and still fail the second. When you ask a building manager or engineer, give them both the machine’s total weight and the fact that it lands through four small solid wheels.
Spreader plates — steel or timber pads under the wheels — spread the point loads over a larger area and are sometimes enough to get a marginal floor over the line. Whether they’re sufficient is an engineering call, not a guess. The other options: use a smaller machine (the 19ft is the lightest full-size scissor we run), or work from a boom positioned on solid ground nearby — see boom lift hire.
If you’re weighing up sizes, the scissor lift range and rates page list every machine; getting it upstairs in the first place is covered in our doorway and lift access guide.
A structural engineer, or the building manager if the floor’s rated capacity is documented. For suspended slabs, mezzanines and timber floors, get it in writing before the hire starts. We’re happy to supply machine weights and wheel details to whoever’s checking — call 1300 806 577.
Very unlikely on a typical slab-on-ground warehouse floor — these are built for forklifts, which are heavier and harder on floors. Watch out for trench covers, pit lids and old repairs, and drive around them.
Ask when you book and we’ll sort out what the job needs. The engineering decision about whether plates make a marginal floor acceptable stays with your engineer.
The 19ft electric — 1,520kg, 7.77m working height, $100/day ex-GST. If that height works for the job, it’s the easy answer for weight-sensitive floors. Check hire by height to confirm the reach.
Tell us the floor type and the job — we’ll help you check what’s needed, free of charge, before anything gets delivered.
Call 1300 806 577