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Regulations for the bucket truck operator in Vancouver

Fooroogelm

New Member
Hello everyone

Sorry for the stupid question - I'm thinking of buying a van with a lift - for mounting signs. It's something based on a Ford - 350 E.

What documents do I need to get to have the right to work on such a lift?
And if you have a lift, but no documents - what are the consequences? :)
 

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unclebun

Active Member
You'll have to check for what your province and city require. Here in the US there's nothing needed for the "right" to work on the lift but you do have to have liability insurance for it and workman's comp. And since it is a vehicle you'll have to have insurance for that. A lift mounted on the roof of a van seems really sketch to me.
 

JBurton

Signtologist
Also, that's basically a van ladder, I've only ever been in lifts that have outriggers, or at least extending axles. This thing you just set in park and go. I hated it. It bounced and swayed with the shocks and tires, it was electric so stopping was sudden. And the lack of outriggers meant you certainly can't pick up any more than the rated capacity, for fear of making you truck look like Raygun...
raygun-raygun-paris.gif
 

White Haus

Not a Newbie
Hello everyone

Sorry for the stupid question - I'm thinking of buying a van with a lift - for mounting signs. It's something based on a Ford - 350 E.

What documents do I need to get to have the right to work on such a lift?
And if you have a lift, but no documents - what are the consequences? :)
You could maybe ask the BC sign association, they might know. Otherwise I'm sure workplace health & safety would be happy to inform you what the consequences are........
 

John_Smith

Enjoying retirement in Central Florida
I came very close to buying one of those things . . . then, I had a moment of clarity . . . no outriggers, bouncy wheels under stress, a fear of height, made me shy away.
If you need a lift in your work, rent one with outriggers.
 

Gino

Premium Subscriber
The basic thing you need to have is a safety harness for the operator. That looks like maybe a 27 footer. Odds are, you'll never be 27' out directly to any side and as long as you park on very level land, you shouldn't need the outriggers and whatnot. You'll need the insurance to use it and so will the guy operating it. If you're doing anything electrical, they guy in there will need an electrician's license.

Our truck is a 1989 ford with a generator on the back. It's 29' and the person can add maybe an extra 4' or so. The neck goes all the way down through the inside and somehow connects to the frame. We put air through out it so we can use a compressor also. It's rated for 350lbs, but we've had 500 lbs on it already...... again mostly straight up and over some standards, not out to the sides. Outriggers would make it safer, but we've never once needed any. That's why they limit the weight and reach. I just wish it was an articulating bucket. Have it about 12 or 13 years and it's helped immensely. If I was younger, I think I'd get a bigger one. Too late now anymore.
nutrition bucket.jpg
 

Bxtr

New Member
We have had a Vanladder for a little over a year. Like most things we should've bought it sooner. Our lift rental costs per month were more than the payment on this. Plus ever time we rented something it was an hour to get it and an hour to deliver it back.

We had to get DOT listed, get all the PPE, insurance, we also put our guys through a safety class on MEWPs as well.
 

JBurton

Signtologist
It's rated for 350lbs, but we've had 500 lbs on it already...... again mostly straight up and over some standards, not out to the sides.
Yeah, as long as one is very cautious of how they set it up and work with it, it's a safe and pretty compact setup. The one we demoed had sensors that prevented the boom from rotating past a certain point with too much stick out, but it couldn't determine the weight in the basket, which spooked me. In theory, you could stick the basket off to one side, overload the basket juuuust enough, lift the basket juuuuuust enough, and lift the tires off the ground.
Of course, even with outriggers, you can tip a truck over. Our old Wilkie didn't have hydraulic outriggers, so unless you jacked them by swinging the crane one way first, you'd see the foot lift off the ground 1/2" or more, just from the weight of a man.
Just bought this monstrosity! 55 ft 2 man bucket. Now I need to get a CDL. :doh: View attachment 173642
Really? My 50ft altec is sitting on a F750 and it's just under CDL. Granted, it only has one lamp bin behind the cab, no doubt all those bins start to add up, and by the time we threw a welder and bolted down some torch bottles and hooked up a trailer...
Nice truck though. Make sure the outriggers are working properly. We found out our outrigger interlock had been disabled, allowing the unit to work without the outriggers extended, which Altec wouldn't fess up to disabling.
 

rydods

Member for quite some time.
Yeah, as long as one is very cautious of how they set it up and work with it, it's a safe and pretty compact setup. The one we demoed had sensors that prevented the boom from rotating past a certain point with too much stick out, but it couldn't determine the weight in the basket, which spooked me. In theory, you could stick the basket off to one side, overload the basket juuuust enough, lift the basket juuuuuust enough, and lift the tires off the ground.
Of course, even with outriggers, you can tip a truck over. Our old Wilkie didn't have hydraulic outriggers, so unless you jacked them by swinging the crane one way first, you'd see the foot lift off the ground 1/2" or more, just from the weight of a man.

Really? My 50ft altec is sitting on a F750 and it's just under CDL. Granted, it only has one lamp bin behind the cab, no doubt all those bins start to add up, and by the time we threw a welder and bolted down some torch bottles and hooked up a trailer...
Nice truck though. Make sure the outriggers are working properly. We found out our outrigger interlock had been disabled, allowing the unit to work without the outriggers extended, which Altec wouldn't fess up to disabling.
Yeah, I looked at others on their lot under CDL and they were junk. The outriggers work great. I had to replace 2 of the 3 batteries but that's it so far. I can't drive it to a job yet but I've been practicing a whole lot at the shop. This thing blows my F450 bucket away.
 
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