JLG has reinvented the aerial work platform with its new LiftPod, which sets up in about 30 seconds, offers 14 ft of working height and weighs just 145 lb. Last month, ENR tried out the featherweight lift while it made a stop near Chicago as part of JLG’s national road show.
Introduced last year, the LiftPod is McConnelsburg, Pa.-based JLG’s answer to short-to-medium ladders. It hauls easily in a pickup truck and has few moving parts. A 63-lb base, 49-lb mast and 33-lb basket comprise the basic unit; it can be assembled by one person in less than a minute, no outriggers needed. It comes with a plastic tool tray and retails for $2,100, more than twice the cost of a large stepladder but one-third that of a comparable vertical lift.