Quick answer
A tracked scissor lift replaces wheels with rubber crawler tracks and adds levelling legs, so it can cross soft or sloping ground and lift level on a surface that is not. Choose one when the ground is grass, gravel, fill, pavers or a slope, or when the route to the work runs across landscaping. Two things to know before you order: our tracked machines are wider than our narrow wheeled scissor lifts, not narrower, and the Zoomlion ZS0612C cannot be driven while the platform is raised.
Tracked scissor lifts get requested for the wrong reason about as often as the right one. The right reason is ground. The wrong reason is width, because people assume tracks mean compact, and on our fleet the opposite is true.
Figures below are from the manufacturer specification sheets on file. Where a value is not recorded, it is left out rather than estimated.
levelling legs take up the fall in the ground
so the deck lifts level
Wheels: four small contact patches
higher ground pressure, needs firm level
ground, marks soft surfaces
but it can be driven at height
What is a tracked scissor lift?
A scissor platform mounted on two rubber crawler tracks instead of four wheels, with hydraulic levelling legs. The tracks spread the machine weight along two long contact strips rather than concentrating it into four patches, and the legs take up the fall in the ground so the deck lifts level even when the chassis is not.
We run two: the Zoomlion ZS0612C, a 19ft electric tracked machine, and the LGMG SC0610EL-2, a 22ft electric tracked machine.
When do tracks beat wheels?
When the ground will not take a wheeled machine. Lawns, garden beds, gravel, fresh fill, damp soil, pavers and anything with a fall across it. If a wheeled scissor lift would sink, spin, rut or mark the surface, tracks are the answer.
On a firm level slab, a wheeled machine is faster, cheaper and can be driven at height. Do not hire tracks for an indoor job on concrete.
| Zoomlion ZS0612C | LGMG SC0610EL-2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Class | 19ft electric tracked | 22ft electric tracked |
| Working height | 7.8 m | 8.8 m indoor, 7.5 m outdoor |
| Platform height | 5.8 m | 6.8 m indoor, 5.5 m outdoor |
| Width | 1.15 m | 0.996 m |
| Length | 2.19 m | 2.281 m |
| Stowed height | 2.27 m (1.88 m rails folded) | 2.192 m |
| Platform capacity | 230 kg (113 kg extension) | 250 kg (120 kg extension) |
| Weight | 1,820 kg | 1,600 kg |
| Travel gradeability | 30 per cent, 17 degrees | 30 per cent stowed |
| Drive at height | No, must be lowered to reposition | Not recorded on the specification sheet |
| Turning | 0 m pivot | 360 degrees on the spot |
| Ground clearance | Not recorded | 0.115 m |
Will it damage a lawn, pavers or a driveway?
Rubber tracks and low ground pressure are what these machines exist for, and they are the machines we send when the route runs across landscaping the client cares about. They are gentler than a wheeled machine of similar weight, and far gentler than a rough terrain scissor.
Gentler is not the same as no marking. Wet turf, new pavers and soft soil can still take an impression, particularly during a turn. If the surface is precious, tell us and plan the route rather than assuming the tracks will handle it.
What slope can a tracked scissor lift work on?
Two different figures, and mixing them up is the common mistake. Travel gradeability on the ZS0612C is 30 per cent, or 17 degrees, which is the slope it can drive on stowed. The maximum working slope, which is the ground it can set up and lift on, is 12 degrees laterally and 7 degrees vertically, levelled on the outriggers.
The working figure is the one that decides whether the job is possible. Measure or estimate the fall across the standing position and send it with your enquiry.
How do the levelling legs work?
The machine drives to the work position on its tracks, then the legs extend to take up the fall in the ground and bring the chassis level. Once level, the platform lifts. On the ZS0612C the legs are click-to-level; on the SC0610EL-2 they are hydraulic outriggers.
Both machines carry a tilt alarm with a lift cut-out, so the platform will not raise on a chassis that is out of level. That is a safety feature, not a fault, and it is the machine telling you the set-up position is wrong.
Can I drive it while the platform is up?
Not on the ZS0612C. Its specification records a travel speed of 2 kilometres per hour stowed and zero raised: the platform has to be fully lowered and the legs retracted before the machine can be repositioned. The SC0610EL-2 specification sheet on file does not record a drive-at-height figure either way, so we do not claim one.
This changes how the job runs. On a long run of work, a tracked machine means lower, move, re-level, lift, at every position. If the work is a continuous run on firm level ground, a wheeled machine that drives at height will finish faster.
How wide is a tracked machine, really?
Wider than our narrow wheeled machines. The ZS0612C is 1.15 metres and the SC0610EL-2 is 0.996 metres. By comparison the JLG ES1932 is 0.81 metres and the LGMG S0607E II is 0.79 metres.
We are stating this plainly because it is the assumption that causes the most trouble. A tracked machine will not fit a standard 0.82 metre personnel doorway. If narrow access is your constraint, the answer is a narrow wheeled scissor lift, not a tracked one. If it is narrow access AND soft ground, tell us early, because that combination is genuinely hard and worth solving before the truck is booked.
Are tracked machines electric or diesel?
Both of ours are electric. Tracked and electric are separate properties and they are often confused: a machine can be tracked and diesel, or wheeled and electric, and our own icon set distinguishes them for that reason.
Electric tracked machines suit occupied sites, residential work and anywhere exhaust is a problem. For a large unsealed site where the machine has to cross rough ground under its own power and carry real weight at height, look at a diesel rough terrain scissor instead: our LGMG SR1018D reaches 11.7 metres working height with a 454 kilogram platform, on four wheel drive.
How much does it weigh, and how is it delivered?
The ZS0612C is 1,820 kilograms and the SC0610EL-2 is 1,600 kilograms. Both are within the 2,736 kilogram rated load of our Brian James DP35 plant trailer, so customer pickup is possible in principle, subject to your vehicle rating, licence and load restraint.
Most tracked hires are delivered, because the sites that need tracks tend to be the sites where getting a trailer in is its own problem. We confirm the entry, the ground and the drop point before booking the run.
Tracked scissor lift or rough terrain scissor lift?
Tracked for sensitive surfaces, tight rural access and slopes where you need the platform levelled. Rough terrain for open unsealed sites, longer travel, higher capacity and more height.
The SR1018D rough terrain machine reaches 11.7 metres working height and carries 454 kilograms, with four wheel drive, 35 per cent stowed gradeability, 0.23 metres of ground clearance and auto-levelling outriggers. It also weighs 4,330 kilograms and is 1.79 metres wide, so it needs both the ground and the access to take it.
When is a tracked machine the wrong choice?
On a finished indoor floor, where a wheeled electric machine is cheaper, narrower and faster. Through a standard personnel door, which neither tracked machine fits. On a long continuous run of work, where not driving at height costs you the day.
And on any slope beyond the rated working figure. A machine that will not level is not a machine to persist with; it is the wrong set-up position, or the wrong machine.
Next step
Send us the surface, the fall across the standing position and the narrowest point of the route. Use the site access checker, compare machines on the comparison page, or describe the site and we will tell you whether tracks are the answer. Browse tracked scissor lifts and rough terrain scissor lifts.
Tracked and rough terrain machines
Tracked and electric are separate properties. Each machine page states its own power type and terrain rating.
Narrow Scissor Lifts
Athena 850BL Tracked Scissor Lift
- Working height
- 7.9 m
- Platform height
- 5.9 m
- Power
- Electric
- Terrain
- Tracked / self-levelling
Why it may suit: 19ft tracked self-levelling scissor lift, 7.9m working height, 250kg, bi-levelling crawler undercarriage for slopes and rough ground.
Worth checking: Tracked repositioning is slower than wheeled. Confirm surface rating.
Matched on verified fields: Working height, Platform height, Power, Terrain. Site access, ground conditions and dates still need checking against your job.
Scissor Lifts
Athena 870 BL EVO Tracked Scissor Lift
- Working height
- 7.9 m
- Platform height
- 5.9 m
- Power
- Bi-energy (mains electric or diesel)
- Terrain
- Tracked / self-levelling
Why it may suit: 19ft tracked bi-levelling scissor lift with 7.9 m working height and 250 kg on a full 1.50 by 1.20 m basket. Diesel drive for…
Worth checking: Tracked repositioning is slower than wheeled. Electric running is tethered and needs a 15 amp supply on a lead, because there is no on-board battery: if a 15 amp outlet is not within reach of the work area the machine runs on the Kubota diesel instead, so confirm the power before an indoor or enclosed job. Confirm the surface rating before tracking over finished ground.
Matched on verified fields: Working height, Platform height, Power, Terrain. Site access, ground conditions and dates still need checking against your job.
Telehandlers
Dieci Apollo 25.6 Telehandler
- Working height
- 5.78 m
- Power
- Diesel
- Terrain
- Rough terrain / 4WD
Why it may suit: 2.5 tonne telehandler with a 5.78 m lift height and 3.25 m forward reach. A compact fixed boom machine for residential and fit-out sites.
Worth checking: Read the load chart at the reach and height being used, not the headline 2,500 kg. The diesel engine means outdoor and well ventilated use only.
Matched on verified fields: Working height, Power, Terrain. Site access, ground conditions and dates still need checking against your job.
Suitability is subject to site access, ground conditions and availability. We confirm the machine against your job before hire.
These are our most requested machines across the Hawkesbury, The Hills District and rural north west Sydney.