Get FinancingThe Arborist’s & Landscaping Professional’s Guide To Tree Lifts
Posted On: July 24, 2025
“If there’s room for my lift, I’m going to use it,” say a large number of tree care specialists in online discussions. Many add that they won’t hesitate to climb trees when they need to, or when it’s more expedient. Still, the consensus is that where there is access to the location and room to set up, using an aerial lift to trim or maintain trees can be faster and more profitable, not to mention safer.
How To Choose A Tree Lift For Better Productivity & Efficiency
A mobile elevated work platform (MEWP) is essential equipment for many arborists and landscaping pros, providing a safe, maneuverable bucket or cage for tree trimming and maintenance while reducing the need for climbing. Other types of lifts can pick up and move logs and fallen limbs, whether from a one-and-done dead tree removal or a massive recovery effort in the aftermath of a hurricane or other natural disaster.
On TreeTrader.com—and on the mobile app and in Tree & Landscape Equipment Trader magazine—you’ll find thousands of new and used lifts for sale, including:
- Spider lifts and other articulating boom lifts
- Telescoping straight boom lifts
- Telehandlers and forklifts
You’ll also find heavier equipment, such as grapple trucks, log loaders, and cranes.
Read on to learn how each kind of lift equipment can improve your workflow and make your tree service or landscape business more efficient and lucrative.
Why Tree Care Pros Choose Spider Lifts
Tree care professionals rely on boom lifts—especially tracked articulating boom lifts, better known as “spider lifts” due to their appearance with stabilizer legs deployed—to get into tight spaces both at height and on the ground. These tree lifts are smaller and more maneuverable than bucket trucks, although even self-propelled models must be trailered to the work site rather than driven.
Articulating boom lifts use a jointed knuckle boom to maneuver their platform or man basket up and over obstacles, as well as around corners and walls. Their flexibility and range of movement allow an operator to trim three sides of a large tree without moving the base of the vehicle, for example.
“Articulating boom lifts give tree service professionals the reach and flexibility they need to safely trim, prune, and remove trees—even in tight or confined spaces,” says Tree & Landscape Equipment Trader Sales Manager Kirby Cunningham. “With their ability to maneuver around obstacles, these lifts enhance efficiency while ensuring worker safety at elevated heights.”
How Spider Lifts Excel For Fenced-In Yards
Spider lifts have nicknames like “backyard lifts,” “backyard carriers,” “backyard bucket lifts,” and “atrium lifts” because their booms are narrow enough to fit through gates in residential fences. This is especially true of models with a retractable undercarriage (aka “variable track width”). These machines spread out their ground pressure with high-traction rubber tracks to minimize ruts on lawns and turf.
Manufacturers of these highly maneuverable lifts include Cela, JLG, and Platform Basket. Some of the most popular spider platform models on TreeTrader.com include the Cela DT80 Spyder, JLG X600AJ, and Platform Basket Spider series.
Other Boom Lifts Built For Tree Care Jobs
Wheeled articulating boom lifts are usually larger than track spider lifts and are made for use on solid ground, although flotation tires and off-road tread patterns can help them navigate muddy or softer terrain. Genie, JLG, and Niftylift are leading manufacturers of these wheeled knuckle booms, including well-known models like the JLG 450AJ, JLG 600AJ, and Genie Z60/34.
Telescopic boom lifts use a straight boom to attain greater vertical working height and horizontal outreach than an articulating boom, albeit without the maneuverability the latter brings to the work platform. That said, telescoping booms can lift heavier loads than articulating models. Straight lift manufacturers include JLG, Genie, and Skyjack, with plenty of models such as the JLG 660SJ, JLG 600S, and Genie S65 available for sale or rent.
Telehandlers, or telescopic forklifts, are versatile, wheeled machines with an extendable boom that gives them great versatility in tree service and forestry jobs. They’re generally designed to work outdoors and off-road and can be equipped with a grapple saw to cut down trees and move heavy sections of trunk. They can even equip a work platform for other arboriculture work at low to medium heights.
Sky Trak, JCB, and Genie are prominent telehandler brands. TreeTrader.com hosts for-sale listings for numerous models, including Sky Trak’s 10054 and 6042, and Genie’s GTH-5519 and GTH-844.
In a pinch, even conventional mast forklifts can be useful for moving thick logs and removing stumps, especially rough terrain forklift trucks that can go where the trees are. Forklifts and telehandlers also excel at unloading and moving pallets of retaining wall blocks, paving stones, and decorative boulders. Case, Manitou, and JCB rough terrain forklifts are plentiful on TreeTrader.com, as are Case 586 and 588 and JCB 930 models.
How Lifts Help Clear Logs & Fallen Trees
Log loaders are more specialized machines for fallen log removal and can feed them into a tub grinder or horizontal grinder as well as load them onto a trailer or truck bed. They come on wheels, trailers, and trucks, as well as on tracks and in stationary form. Manufacturers of log loaders include Tigercat, Deere, and Caterpillar, with Tigercat 234, Deere 437, and Caterpillar 330 models abundantly available on the used market.
In some cases, tree services and arborists even use cranes for large tree removal or tricky situations requiring extended reach and heavy load capacity. Boom truck cranes, knuckle boom cranes, rough terrain cranes, and all-terrain cranes can all be driven on public roads, while mini cranes come in a variety of configurations for smaller jobs.
Where To Buy & Finance Tree Lifts
Are you finally ready to buy a new or used tree lift for your business? You’re in the right place at TreeTrader.com, where you’ll find thousands of new and used tree lifts and tree trucks for sale.
Once you’ve pinpointed the right lift for your arborist needs, explore your tree and landscaping equipment financing options with CurrencyFinance. You can also get quick and easy heavy haul shipping quotes by clicking the Get Shipping Quotes button on any TreeTrader.com listing or visiting FR8Star.com.