Mobile elevated work platform rental company Goscor Access Rental launched Africa’s largest scissor lift at its Montague Gardens facility, in Cape Town, last month.

The HL-275 D27, manufactured by Netherlands-based industrial equipment supplier Holland Lift, has the highest working height and largest working deck of any comparable machines in South Africa.

The HL-275 D27 mega scissor lift has a 6.15 m × 2.50 m deck, measuring 8.25 m × 2.50 m when fully extended. The biggest machine currently available in South Africa has a 5.55 m × 2.50 m deck, measuring 7.55 m × 2.50 m when fully extended.

Additionally, the Holland Lift machine features a wheel base that is 60 cm longer. It can also lift 1 t up to its full working height of 27.5 m, notes Goscor Access Rental GM Nici Verster.

Applications for the lift include, but are not limited to, cladding, plastering and general electrical and construction work.

“The South African market will definitely benefit from the application of this machine, especially when you consider major projects [currently] under way. . . such as the Kusile and Medupi power stations for Eskom,” Verster highlights.

He adds that, as Goscor Rental Access has monitored the increasing need for these types of machines, the company believes now is an opportune time to introduce the lift onto the market.

In addition, the company is introducing the machine to cater for the latest trend in the warehousing and distribution sector, which calls for larger facilities that require ever-bigger access equipment to maximise productivity and efficiency.

Meanwhile, insulation specialist IDS, which provides one-stop solutions for affordable commercial and cold storage design, manufacture and installation, will be one of the first customers in South Africa to deploy the new machine. From this month, IDS will use the lift for the installation of chill room panels for a cold room for a customer in Brackenfell, in the Western Cape.

Goscor Access Rental first noted the Holland Lift unit at Bauma Germany in 2013, the world’s premier construction equipment exhibition.

“All the technology we source is the best in the world . . . from a features, quality and durability point of view, and aimed at ensuring that our customers benefit from the lowest total cost of ownership . . .” Verster says.

The company will introduce two of the lifts onto the local market at this stage.