How DeckRider Puts a Boom Lift on an Unfinished Structural Floor

The engineering behind one of our most specialist systems.

Erecting structural steel on a multi-storey building presents an access problem that a conventional boom lift cannot always solve. The floors above ground level are still under construction, and although they will eventually carry substantial loads, they may not suit the concentrated point loading produced by the wheels of a self-propelled machine during the build.

DeckRider was engineered to solve exactly that problem.

The patented system replaces a HeightRider's wheels with two steel skid assemblies. Those skids are designed to span the perpendicular structural beams of each floor, so the machine is always supported by at least two, and usually three, major structural beams. Rather than loading the unfinished deck through four small tyre contact areas, the DeckRider transfers its weight directly into the building's primary steelwork.

What makes the system distinctive is what it does not change. In DeckRider configuration, the machine keeps its full working envelope, full outreach, full working height and full Safe Working Load, with no restricted operating zones. Operators keep the familiar platform controls and the standard features fitted to the model, so working from a DeckRider feels just like working from the HeightRider it is built on.

The conversion is also fully reversible. Skids off, wheels on, and the machine returns to service as a standard self-propelled boom lift, which is why rental companies describe it as two machines in one.

From there, the machine follows the building upwards. Craned onto a structural floor, it gives operators access to the steelwork and deck construction above, and moves up to each new floor as the structure progresses.

First deployed on the Heron Tower project in London, DeckRider went on to support the construction of The Shard, The Place and 100 Cheapside, and has since been used on high-profile structural steel projects around the world.

Read more about DeckRider, including a full video walkthrough

To discuss DeckRider for an upcoming structural steel project or for your hire fleet, speak to a member of our sales team.