Equipment Guide
You've decided a boom lift is the machine for the job — you need to reach up and out, not just straight up. But that's only half the decision. The next question trips up a lot of people: articulated or telescopic?
They look similar in a listing and the working heights often overlap, but they're built for genuinely different jobs. Pick the wrong one and you'll either fall short of your work point or pay for reach you don't need. Here's how to tell them apart.
An articulated boom (also called a knuckle boom) has an arm with multiple joints, so it bends. That lets it go up and over obstacles and tuck the platform into positions the machine itself can't reach around.
A telescopic boom (also called a straight or stick boom) has a single arm that extends in a straight line, like a telescope. It doesn't bend — it just reaches, and it reaches far.
In one line: articulated booms are about manoeuvrability, telescopic booms are about distance.
The knuckle earns its keep whenever there's something in the way:
If the phrase "up and over" describes your job, you want an articulated boom.
The straight boom wins when the challenge is simply getting there — maximum height and maximum horizontal reach, usually across open ground:
If the work point is far away but there's nothing to bend around, a telescopic boom gets you there with reach to spare.
Ask one question: is there something between the machine and the work?
Then confirm the two numbers that actually matter — the working height you need and the horizontal outreach to your work point. A boom's maximum height and its maximum outreach aren't achieved at the same time; reach furthest out and you lose some height, and vice versa. Tell us both figures and we'll confirm the machine can do both at once.
Both types come in electric and diesel / rough terrain versions. Electric booms suit smooth, level, indoor surfaces; rough terrain diesel booms handle the mud, slopes and uneven ground of a live construction site. The right arm on the wrong drive type is still the wrong machine — so factor in where it's working, not just what it's reaching.
We carry both articulated and telescopic booms, in a range of heights and in electric, diesel and hybrid drive options, so you're never forced to make the job fit the one machine we happen to have. We'll point you at the boom that suits the work, not the other way round.
And if a boom lift turns out not to be what your job needs at all, that's no problem — booms are one part of an extensive fleet. Scissor lifts, trailer-mounted cherry pickers, telehandlers and more sit alongside them, covering everything from indoor maintenance to rough-terrain construction access. Whatever the job, there's a machine for it.
Not sure which arm your job needs — or whether a boom's the right call in the first place? Tell us how high you're working, how far out your work point sits, and what's in the way — and we'll match you to the right machine.