MAST-GUIDED EQUIPMENT
15
JULY-AUGUST 2014
ACCESS, LIFT & HANDLERS
F
rom New York City to the California
Coast, mast-guided aerial equipment is
seeing an uptick in demand and usage.
Manufacturers and distributors of mast climbing
work platforms, transport platforms and
personnel hoists have introduced a number of
new products over the last few years and most
are reporting an increase in business across the
board.
“We have made substantial investments to
all aspects of our [mast-guided equipment]
fleet – refurbishing, rebuilding and purchasing
additional equipment to offer the broadest range
of vertical access in the North America, based
on predicted improvements in the commercial
sector,” says Chad Baumgatner, leader of
Safway Group’s motorized division. “The market
is trending up, but the overall growth has been
slow.”
For Montreal-based Fraco, Jacques Lainé,
director of marketing, says the market for masts
The Fraco plant in Canada has achieved a
regular level of production which allows the
company to satisfy the demand for hoists in
North America.”
Another Canadian-based company, Klimer
Platforms, says it is seeing slight MCWP
recovery, while the smaller transport platform
market rises substantially as a new, growing
segment. Jay Gordon, president of Klimer
Platforms, says mast climbers have seen
more volume but notes it could be due to the
company’s long-term involvement in that type of
equipment.
and hoists has improved from last year, mostly
due to the overall recovery of the economy.
For the company’s own growth, Laine says
Fraco has increased its efforts to improve the
promotion of its own products, as well.
“The demand is strong for working platforms
used on power plant recycling projects, and the
level of activity in the building segment makes
the demand for that type of product strong
enough to explain an increase of the size of
Fraco’s rental fleet,” Lainé says. “On another
hand, Fraco maintains its efforts to penetrate the
construction hoist and industrial lifts markets.
The market for mast
climbing work platforms,
transport platforms
and personnel and
construction hoists is
ticking up.
Lindsey Anderson
reports on the market
across North America.
Guiding growth
Fraco SEL Series new
industrial lift with rear-
mounted power pack.
Klimer says MCWPs are having good
success in commercial construction,
mid-rise and high-rise residential and
also industrial applications.
