Spiderlifts Comparisons

I have an sd64 from nifty. The unit has been great. I don't get to climb any more. I work in a rural farmland with high end homes ontop of the dunes around Lake Michigan. The tires are awesome on turf and sand. The additional width is the only drawback on this unit. For me it is not a problem. I did not want tracks because as much as they say about psi, that only applies to when both tracks are on flat ground. Just look at any skid steer and add 2 to 3 thousand more pounds ontop of that. You will have to have plywood and that adds labor imo.
 
OasisTree said:
Who has the best Spiderlift?? I have been researching and demoing different brands the last couple of months, and need your help. I feel I need something in the 70-80 ft. range with tracks, both upper and lower booms must telescope (No straight booms), and it must do good on slopes.
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Sounds like you have your perameters well defined. Make sure they are what you need on the job site. Match your machine to your terrain, your job requirements and your desires lasT. Go to some really difficult jobs you have done or coming up and take measurements, pictures and put thoughts together about the type of work you do and how your purchase is going to fit into that.

Purchasing equipment is fun and rewarding. Purchasing the RIGHT PIECE OF EQUIPMENT is very difficult, requires a lot of leg work, should be frustrating at some point but will come with many rewards. And also be fun and rewarding!!!!! Good luck.
 
Deevo, has the boom speed of the easy lift been an issue? When I demo'd it I was amazed at how slow it was, both boom speed and ground speed.

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No it's obviously not as fast as a bucket you come to deal with that, it has a faster idle button did you try that? Adds some speed, but is what it is

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So you would feel that the access you have with it outweighs the slow speed?
I am a climber that has never worked out of a lift, so I don't have anything to compare to except some of the other lifts I have demo'd.

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Baumeister,
A question on your SD64 - how does it do on slopes?
We do a number of jobs on steep terrain around a lake, and that's the reason I thought I needed tracks.

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OasisTree said:
So you would feel that the access you have with it outweighs the slow speed?
I am a climber that has never worked out of a lift, so I don't have anything to compare to except some of the other lifts I have demo'd.

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For sure the access I have with the lift is why I'd never go back to a bucket, I still climb to keep sharp or when using cranes. But we mainly use the lift or cranes for most jobs that aren't floppers!


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I have gone up a 40 degree slope with it. The hydraulics could not handle it, but with some pulling help no problem. Straight up of course. It is not anywhere near as tippy as the tracked units mainly because it has a wider wheel base. Basic physics. I have seen a lot of tipped over lifts. The answer to traveling on slopes sideways is of course putting the outriggers down in case of tipping. We do that if there is room. If not, you have to know the limits of the machine. I have considered having the machine anchored sideways to a couple rope brakes while traveling along a slope I know it would tip over other wise. But I figured another access for that job. ( that was straight Down and back up a 40degeee slope. )
 
Here are some videos with my SD64. The first is crossing a ditch, the second is showing its moves around the shop... Both show adverse terrain. When I bought my SD64 (before I was a dealer), my biggest concern was the tractive effort of the lift. I had never been in one, only 80 and 120' JLG lifts that couldn't even get up on their trailer without a winch line. The SD64 certainly hasn't let me down!

Most Everyone probably knows, but I'm a dealer for Nifty Lift. I should have my next two SD6s in stock in 3 weeks or so.


The Nifty takes 72 seconds to go from a fully retracted boom to 70'. The Cormidi Kb23 (spider lift) takes 190 seconds to hit 73 seconds.

The "hill climbing" starts at at 2:55.

 
This machine has no computers so I'm confident we won't have any issues on that end. With these lifts you're definetly trading access abilities for boom speed, no doubt. I saw a bucket running the other day at our comp and had forgotten how fast they are. All in all, they are different tools for different work.
 
Can't do this w a bucket truck...... image.webpimage.webp
After rain all night you can see the tracks in the dirt. The other wheel went over the pavers. One cracked in the foreground easy fix. But others were ok. Once we got into the grass there were no noticeable tracks. You can see the lift in upper right corner. The ground had a slope away from the house. No problem the lift beeps when you get over 5 degrees, but I have found it very stable even when it beeps. We load it up a tilt trailer that has a good 20 degree plus slope. The only complaint I have is I wish the basket would lift up further so it doesn't scrape the ground when going over rough terrain or loading. We had to add some wood to end of trailer to avoid basket scraping during loading ops.
 
I was going to say, those look like SD64 tracks!


I bet a guy this past week $1k that it was the most turf friendly 70' lift period. I've got pending sales on three so far this year!
 
baumeister said:
Can't do this w a bucket truck...... View attachment 36091View attachment 36092 The only complaint I have is I wish the basket would lift up further so it doesn't scrape the ground when going over rough terrain or loading. We had to add some wood to end of trailer to avoid basket scraping during loading ops.
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We can lift the basket even when the outriggers are up, very practical when you need to get up onto something. Only downside is you lengrhen the machine, making it less stable.
 
Lumberjack said:
Here are some videos with my SD64. The first is crossing a ditch, the second is showing its moves around the shop... Both show adverse terrain. When I bought my SD64 (before I was a dealer), my biggest concern was the tractive effort of the lift. I had never been in one, only 80 and 120' JLG lifts that couldn't even get up on their trailer without a winch line. The SD64 certainly hasn't let me down!

Most Everyone probably knows, but I'm a dealer for Nifty Lift. I should have my next two SD6s in stock in 3 weeks or so.


The Nifty takes 72 seconds to go from a fully retracted boom to 70'. The Cormidi Kb23 (spider lift) takes 190 seconds to hit 73 seconds.

The "hill climbing" starts at at 2:55.

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How are the outriggers for setup on the sd64? I've rented a 50' nifty before and saw a big drawback as it would take cribbing to set up on anything less than flat ground. Some of the spider lifts have outriggers that will lift you up high enough to set on a flatbed truck.
 
I've only had to stack mats on one job because of how steep it was and I couldn't get that tire off the ground. I haven't had an issue with outrigger clearance.

Part of the trade off with spider style outriggers is they must be pivoted into position to work and back to travel. Granted it's not a big deal, but it's on every stinking job. I'll take stacking cribbing on the random job should the need arise.
 
Hahaha I've thought about that!

One thing that's different with Nifty is the model names are the platform height, add 6' to get to the working height. Almost every other manufacturer l'a model names are the working height. I wonder how many people have dismissed the '64 as being a 60' lift instead of a 70'.
 
And because it's so easy to climb up and work off the top of the cage I call it 75' working height.

I know, "it's dangerous". :). I was kind of kidding , but I can't say I haven't done it. I will say I wouldn't do it in a one man fiberglass bucket. From experience Those things are too difficult to get in and out of and too slippery. I used to have a aerial lift of Connecticut. Nice unit. Working off the bucket was just too risky.
 
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