Like most inventions, the articulated boom lift, commonly known as the cherry picker, was invented due to frustration. In Jay Eitel was picking cherries at his summer job in sunny California. He became annoyed with the inefficient process of having to climb up and down the ladder each time he moved to a new picking spot. Add to that the safety issues of carrying a heavy basket up and down a ladder on uneven ground.
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His frustration led to innovation. Mr. Eitel worked evenings and weekends to build an easily maneuverable, telescoping, steel structure mounted on a truck chassis with a simple one-lever control. By the end of World War II, he started his own company known as the Telsta Corporation and the bucket-lift became the &#;cherry picker&#;. This was used by the Bell Company and many other utilities and is still in use today.
In Canada, Walter E. Thornton-Trump must have been feeling the same frustrations. In he is said to have invented a boom lift to make working in high places easier. Thornton-Trump called the boom lift the &#;Giraffe&#; which sold for $, and a later model called &#;Girette&#;. Mr. Thorton-Trump holds patents for the Power-operated boom structure, Lifting apparatus for electric-line construction or maintenance workers, and Fiberglass structural member and method of making same.
And in Pennsylvania, John L. Grove and his older brothers were building farm wagons and started Grove Manufacturing Company in . Needing a method of moving heavy steel for the wagons, John used his knowledge of hydraulics to develop a basic crane. Dealer interest in John&#;s crane soon led to the decision to produce the first mobile hydraulic industrial cranes. That decision quickly transformed the company from a manufacturer of farm implements to a world leader in the crane market. In the late s, John&#;s work with Paul K. Shockey developed an all-steel hydraulic extension ladder for use on fire trucks.
John and Paul Shockey started Condor Industries and began manufacturing self-propelled, telescoping hydraulic aerial &#;cherry-picker&#; style lifts. Condor Industries was later renamed JLG Industries (John L. Grove). JLG produced innovative products and designs, such as mounting lifts on track-driven frames, locating the crane operators cab on the turret, less expensive truck mounted cranes, and scissor-type lifts. By the end of his career, John Grove held over 60 patents.
Utility Equipment Parts (UEP) provides hydraulic parts and accessories for aerial lifts &#; bucket truck cherry pickers, lift and leveling cylinders for JLG telescopic lifts and more. UEP is well-known for our top-of-the-line service and availability &#; we answer the phones 24/7 and 365. We know how important it is to get a response when your bucket truck or crane is down &#; with our prompt service. Please give us a call.
Boom lifts, telescopic booms, cherry pickers, elevating work platforms; whatever you choose to call them, these marvellous machines are a fantastic solution to the problem of working at height in awkward-to-reach spaces.
Prior to the development of a platform or bucket on the end of a hydraulic arm, working at height almost always required the use of scaffolding or ladders. The problem with these, of course, is that there is little safety support for workers and they are problematic on uneven ground and in narrow spaces. Enter the boom lift, the king of access equipment.
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Boom lifts are believed to have been invented by Canadian Walter E (Ted) Thornton-Trump in the s. His affectionate name for this handy device was the Giraffe, but the name cherry picker stuck, thanks to their use in orchards.
Although they still serve their original purpose brilliantly, they are most often seen now in an urban context, particularly servicing overhead cables, systems and street lights. Thornton-Trump finally patented his invention in the early &#;60s, describing his Giraffe as a &#;power-operated boom structure&#; and &#;lifting apparatus for electric-line and construction workers&#;.
By , cherry pickers had also begun to be attached to fire engines in the US, and it was in this mobile format that they began to be imported and manufactured in Australia, becoming an increasingly common sight during the s and &#;70s. Today, mobile boom lifts are usually referred to as &#;travel towers&#;.
In the early days of their use in Australia, elevated work platforms were almost exclusively mounted on trucks, but by the s, a large number of stand-alone or mobile EWPs began to be used, often hired out with little or no training for the operator or guidance on maintenance.
By the s, boom lifts were officially classified under the Crane Code, but safety standards and training advice was minimal. As a result, in , concerned businesses formed the EWPAA (Elevating Work Platform Association of Australia) and this body pushed forward safety and training standards, including the Yellow Card certification of competency for operators of boom lifts. The Yellow Card is now the nationally recognised standard for operating EWPs.
Between May and May , there were five serious accidents in New South Wales alone involving EWPs. At Force, we take access equipment hire seriously and work hard to ensure all our equipment is in excellent condition and operated by trained personnel. Our in-house trainers provide Yellow Cards for all scissor lifts & booms less than 11 metres. In fact, John Glover, Force&#;s National Service Manager, is the current president of the NSW Elevating Work Platforms Association.
Thanks to the EWPAA&#;s proactive self-regulation of the industry, industrial accidents involving boom lifts and cherry pickers have been reduced dramatically and now almost always involve inappropriate use of machinery, poor maintenance and a lack of training or safety harnesses. Don&#;t run the risk and use access equipment hired from a company you can trust.
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