Access Platform News

Soaring to New Heights: Spider Access Platforms in Building Maintenance
When it comes to maintaining tall and complex structures, traditional methods of reaching high places, like ladders and scaffolding, often fall short of safety and efficiency requirements. This is where spider access platforms, also known as spider lifts, come to the rescue. These remarkable machines have revolutionised the way we approach building maintenance, offering a safer, more flexible, and highly effective alternative to conventional methods.

In this blog, we’ll explore the use and effectiveness of spider access platforms in building maintenance, highlighting the advantages they bring to the table.
The Versatility of Spider Access Platforms
One of the key strengths of spider access platforms is their incredible versatility. These machines are designed to navigate the most challenging environments, making them ideal for a wide range of maintenance tasks:

1. Window Cleaning: Spider lifts are often used to access windows in skyscrapers and high-rise buildings. Their compact design allows them to fit into tight spaces, and their ability to reach great heights ensures that every window can be cleaned with ease.

2. Painting and Coating: When it’s time to freshen up a building’s exterior, spider lifts provide a stable and secure platform for painters and maintenance crews. Their precision and reach minimise the need for costly scaffolding setups.

3. Facade Inspection and Repair: Maintenance professionals use spider lifts to inspect and repair building facades, which can involve fixing cladding, sealing joints, and addressing other structural issues.

4. Tree Maintenance: In addition to their applications in building maintenance, spider lifts are often used for tree care, allowing arborists to access branches and trim trees safely and efficiently.

5. Interior Maintenance: Spider lifts are not limited to exterior tasks. Their compact size, multi-power options and ability to manoeuvre around obstacles make them a valuable tool for interior maintenance in facilities like office blocks, shopping centres, airports, and large warehouses.

Advantages of Spider Access Platforms
The adoption of spider access platforms in building maintenance is not without reason. These machines offer several distinct advantages:
1. Safety: Safety is paramount in any maintenance operation. Spider lifts provide a secure platform for workers, reducing the risks associated with working at heights. Additionally, they are equipped with safety features such as automatic stabilisation, emergency lowering, and platform interlocks.

2. Precision: Spider lifts are highly precise and allow operators to access specific areas accurately. This precision reduces the likelihood of damage to delicate building components or landscaping.

3. Efficiency: The speed at which a spider lift can be set up and manoeuvred to the work site is remarkable. This efficiency minimises downtime and labour costs, saving building owners and maintenance companies money.

4. Minimal Disruption: Unlike traditional scaffolding and MEWPs, spider lifts take up less space and have a smaller environmental footprint. This makes them an ideal choice for urban environments where minimising disruption to surrounding areas is crucial.

5. Adaptability: Spider lifts can adapt to the unique challenges presented by each maintenance task. Their compact size and flexibility allow them to access spaces that would be inaccessible with conventional equipment.

6. Height Reach: These lifts can reach towering heights, with some models extending to over 43 metres. This height reach ensures that even the tallest buildings can be effectively maintained.

Case Studies in Effectiveness
To further illustrate the effectiveness of spider access platforms, let’s look at some real-world examples:

1. Burj Khalifa, Dubai: The world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, relies on spider lifts for most of its window cleaning and maintenance. These lifts enable workers to reach even the most dizzying heights easily and precisely.

2. Historic Buildings: Many historic and architecturally significant buildings require delicate maintenance. Spider lifts have been used to repair and maintain delicate stonework and ornamentation on countless landmarks worldwide.

3. Shopping Malls: In bustling shopping centres, spider lifts are used for tasks such as changing light fixtures, inspecting HVAC systems, and performing general maintenance in high-ceilinged areas.

Conclusion
Spider access platforms have transformed the world of building maintenance, offering a safer, more versatile, and highly efficient alternative to traditional methods. With their precision, adaptability, and impressive height reach, these machines continue to make their mark in building maintenance, historical preservation, and a wide range of other applications.

As technology advances, we can expect even more innovations in the world of spider access platforms, further improving the effectiveness and safety of building maintenance. For now, it’s clear that these arachnid-like machines have spun a web of success in the world of construction and maintenance.

Italian manufacturer Platform Basket has entered the mast boom market with a 10 metre crawler model, with standard levelling jacks.

Read the indepth review here at Vertikal https://vertikal.net/en/news/story/41829/platform-basket-mast-boom

Spider 18.95: The Ultimate Spider Lift for Versatility and Performance
The Spider 18.95 is an innovative spider lift, designed to provide exceptional performance and versatility for a range of applications. With its impressive 18m working height and 9.5m outreach, this spider lift can easily navigate through tight spaces and complex obstacles to reach even the most challenging work areas.
The Spider 18.95 boasts a unique design that features a compact chassis, which enables it to fit through narrow doorways and access areas where other machines cannot reach. It also has an articulated boom that can rotate 360 degrees, providing unparalleled flexibility and manoeuvrability.
This Spider lift is perfect for a wide range of tasks, including building maintenance, tree work, cleaning, painting and much more. Its robust and durable design ensures maximum stability and safety, when working at height. The Spider 18.95 also features an intuitive control system, which allows operators to quickly and easily operate the machine to suit their specific needs.
One of the standout features of the Spider 18.95 is its dual power system. This system combines a diesel engine with an AC electric motor, providing both power and efficiency. The electric motor can be used for quieter and more environmentally friendly operation, while the diesel engine can provide power when needed.
PB has also designed the Spider 18.95 with operator comfort in mind. The spacious and ergonomic cage provides a comfortable working environment, while the intuitive controls and advanced safety features ensure maximum productivity and safety.
Overall, the Spider 18.95 is an excellent choice for anyone looking for a versatile and reliable spider lift. Its innovative design, advanced features, and robust construction make it the perfect machine for a range of applications. Whether you’re working on a construction site, maintaining a building, or performing tree care, the Spider 18.95 is sure to exceed your expectations.

New RR19 Has Arrived.

13 July 2022

The RR19 has finally arrived in the UK and is now in the testing stage. Call Promax for the latest prices and information.

New Spiderlift 39T

11 February 2022

The Spider 43T’s little brother.

The Spider 39T was created on the back of the enormous success achieved by its “big brother” Spider 43T, launched 2 years ago: like the 43-metre platform, it is a telescopic boom and jib model. Platform Basket opted to design a new platform inspired by a recent, highly successful model to allow hire companies to have similar equipment within their fleet, resulting in a streamlining of both the training necessary to operate them and of the assistance for the platforms themselves.
Just like the rest of Platform Basket’s Spider range of tracked self-propelled platforms in the 12- to 43-metre range, the Spider 39T is equipped with extendible crawler tracks and simple and intuitive controls. This aerial platform is incredibly stable and, at the same time, easily transportable. These characteristics plus a compact size that allows its use in narrow spaces, make it a good choice for those involved in jobs like tree trimming and pruning, maintenance work, painting and/or any other work at a height that is hard to reach with a normal platform.

Thanks to the rubber tracks, this aerial platform can move easily in confined spaces or hard-to-reach points. In addition, sturdy stabilisers make aerial work extremely stable and safe. The working height of the Spider 39T platform makes it particularly well suited for telecommunications and electrification. The new model offers very similar technical characteristics of use and lifting capacity. Just as important and noteworthy is the care for the environment that has always applied to Platform Basket equipment. This is reflected in the use of combustion engines which conform to the latest emissions legislation, and above all the equipping of Lithium-ion power batteries, which allow the platforms to be used in any environmental situation and are totally free from harmful emissions. All new projects developed by Platform Basket now also allow the use of lifting winches, rendering the equipment more versatile to use. Platform Basket as a company created a small interchangeable winch with basket with a Plug & Play approach: in just a few minutes the platform can be converted into a radio-controlled hoist for moving light loads.

New RR19 Coming soon.

8 February 2022

Platform Basket has introduced an all new road/rail mounted self-propelled telescopic boom lift, the RR19/500, with a working height of 19 metres and a maximum platform capacity of 500kg.
The new boom features a three section boom with internal hoses and cables, topped by an articulating jib. It is a big brother to the 14 metre RR14/400 with similar features such as Euro V diesel power, auxiliary engine, independent hydrostatic transmission, four wheel drive for both road and rail wheels, four wheel steer, oscillating axles and automatic superstructure levelling to allow work on tracks with up to 200mm of cant. Slew is 360 degrees – 180 degrees either side – with a maximum travel speed of 19kph when stowed.
The new lift already has CE/ EN280 certification and is in the final stages of gaining German Railways approval which will be followed by other EU and non-EU approvals. The German railways approval process not only includes a complete check of the functional, safety and stability performance of the machine, but also an intensive and severe rail track test carried out by an approved third party notified body. It has already passed the simulated static and dynamic testing under the worst track conditions possible in the most challenging stability positions.
The new machines provides the Italian manufacturer with a modern, three model railway platform line-up, with the nine metre/200kg tracked RR9/200 and the 14 metre/400kg RR14/400. As a result Platform Basket is forming a specific railway division to produce specific aerial work equipment to solve general railway maintenance problems.

Spider Lift Tree Works

The Perfect Machine For Arborists

UK tree surgeon Thompson Tree Services and arboricultural equipment rental company Cutting Edge Arb have each taken delivery of a 19 metre Platform Basket Spider 20.95 spider lift.

The new machines, supplied by UK distributor Promax Access, offer a maximum outreach of 9.5 metres with an up & over height of seven metres and an unrestricted platform capacity of 250kg. Power comes from a Z482 Kubota diesel while features include width and height adjustable tracks, a 1.8 metre jib as well as automatic outrigger and boom stowing functions.

Lawrence Thompson, owner of Thompson Tree Services said: “We originally looked at a few other spider lifts on the market, some of which offered slightly more outreach but with a reduced platform capacity. The problem is that by the time one of our guys is loaded up with his kit and chainsaw it will already be pushing the capacity at well over 100kg. On top of this, the 20.95’s boom movements felt a lot more steady and controlled than the other models.”

Cutting Edge Arb owner, Chris Fouch, added: “The build quality and durability of our new 20.95 is very impressive and for a rental product aimed specifically for customers the arb industry it has everything you could want. In fact I have already had a number of customers compliment it and request it on future jobs.”

43T Spider Lift

The new Platform Basket 43T, although a 43M working height boom this latest generation spiderlift can Stowe as low at 1.985m and only 1.405m Wide.

43T Spider Lift

The first 43T Spider Lift has now arrived in the UK and gone straight out to work, the machine boasts a seven section telescopic boom, topped by a two section telescopic articulated jib. It offers a 43.2 metre working height, an outreach of 17.3 metres with 136kg in the platform while the maximum platform capacity of 330kg is available at an outreach of up to 13 metres and 230kg up to 16.5 metres, with a three person rating.

Its multi position outrigger system allows it to level up on slopes or steps with height differences of up to 1.8 metres as well as lift the entire machine 1.3 metres clear of the ground with a width of over 2.5 metres – sufficient to reverse a trailer or truck bed under for loading without the need for ramps. Overall width ranges from a minimum of 1.41 metres with a height of 1.99 metres to an extended width of 1.9 metres. Total weight is 12,570kg.

This sure is going to be a popular Spider.

RR14 Working