Aerial Boom Lift Financing

Aerial boom lifts are the core of what we fund and have been since the beginning. Every machine in the class, from a 40-foot slab-grade electric articulating unit to a 185-foot diesel ultra-class telescopic, moves workers to height with a platform on the end of a boom that provides horizontal reach a vertical lift cannot match. That reach is the value proposition of the entire category, and it is why boom lifts appear on virtually every commercial, industrial, and institutional construction project in the country. We fund aerial boom lifts from $50,000, new or used, in every reach class, every power configuration, and at every credit level from excellent to significantly challenged. Short-doc to $400,000, decision in a day, iron on site in roughly two weeks. That is the deal every time.

If you are reading this page to understand how the financing works and what your options are, this is the right place to start. If you already know the machine and just need to get it funded, send us the details and we respond with a term sheet the same day.

Boom Lift Types and What Each One Is For

The aerial boom lift category breaks into two primary families based on how the boom extends to the platform: telescopic and articulating. Telescopic booms extend in a straight line from the pivot to the platform, maximizing horizontal reach relative to height. A telescopic boom is what you spec when the standoff distance matters as much as the platform height, such as on bridge maintenance, industrial stack work, or large exterior facades where the machine must stay well away from the structure it is servicing. The JLG 800S, Genie S-80, and their respective rough-terrain variants are the production workhorses of this segment.

Articulating booms, sometimes called knuckle booms or Z-booms, fold at one or more points along the boom, which lets the platform travel up, over, and around obstacles to reach the work face from an angle that a straight stick cannot achieve. The Genie Z-60 FE and JLG 600AJ are the most common units in the 60-foot articulating class. For tight spaces where up-and-over capability is the primary need, an articulating unit does work that a telescopic physically cannot.

Beyond the basic configuration, aerial boom lifts differentiate by drive system. Electric slab-grade units are quiet, zero-emission at the platform, and appropriate for finished interior floors. Diesel and propane rough-terrain units handle outdoor sites with grade, obstacles, and soft ground. Hybrid units bridge both environments. The rough-terrain category covers machines built for outdoor work across the full reach spectrum. The electric class covers slab-grade interior and smooth-surface exterior work.

Specialty aerial boom configurations, including spider booms on stabilizing legs, narrow-chassis units for tight corridors, and dielectric-rated booms for proximity to energized conductors, address specific access constraints that standard configurations do not handle. Each has a page on this site covering the details of the machine and the financing.

Industries That Drive Aerial Boom Demand

Equipment rental companies are the largest single buyer segment. A rental yard stocks aerial boom lifts because they are in consistent demand from the construction and maintenance trades and because the machines generate strong utilization when properly spec'd to local market needs. Rental companies refresh their fleets on a rotation, typically every four to seven years depending on hours and wear, which creates a steady flow of both new unit purchases and well-maintained used units coming back onto the secondary market.

Construction contractors in every trade use aerial boom lifts for work at height. General contractors run them on exterior work, structural installation, and pre-punch inspections. Electrical contractors use them for panel installation, conduit runs, and lighting work in high-bay commercial and industrial spaces. Steel erectors, roofing contractors, and cladding crews use aerial booms as the primary access tool for the majority of their above-grade work.

Industrial and facility maintenance operations that run regular shutdowns use aerial boom lifts for inspection, coating, and mechanical work at height in plants where permanent scaffolding would interfere with production. For a plant that shuts down twice a year for maintenance, owning an aerial boom is often cheaper than renting for each outage, particularly when the rental rates in the region are tight during peak shutdown season.

What Aerial Boom Financing Actually Costs

Aerial boom financing cost depends on three variables: the machine's price, the term length you choose, and your credit profile. A $100,000 used aerial boom financed at a 60-month term with good credit produces a monthly payment in the $1,800 to $2,200 range, depending on the rate. The same machine at a 36-month term has a higher monthly payment but lower total cost. We present both options and let you choose.

For B and C credit borrowers, the rate is higher to reflect the credit risk, but the deal still closes. A borrower with a prior bankruptcy or significant derogatory history should expect a rate premium and possibly a larger down payment requirement, but funded means funded. The machine earns revenue from the day it goes to work, and in most cases that revenue exceeds the payment from the first month of operation.

Section 179 and bonus depreciation can meaningfully reduce the after-tax cost of a new or qualifying used aerial boom in the year of purchase. That calculation depends on your specific tax situation, and we recommend working through it with your CPA before closing so you understand the full picture. We have seen contractors use Section 179 to expense a significant portion of a new aerial boom in year one, which changes the effective financing cost substantially.

Aerial Boom Lift Financing FAQs

Fund Your Aerial Boom Lift

Every configuration. Every reach class. New or used. B or C credit. We fund aerial boom lifts from $50,000, short-doc to $400,000, answer in a day, machine on site in roughly two weeks. Tell us the unit and we will have a term sheet back to you today.