# Civic Matters > Ask Anything About OKC >  Where can you rent a bucket truck in OKC/Edmond?

## BBatesokc

I'm needing to rent a bucket truck and I'm having difficulty finding one.

I actually saw a bucket truck the other day with some rental name on it, but I never got close enough in traffic to get the name/number.

What I can find and don't want; Articulating boom trucks/lifts, push around lifts or scissor lifts. 

I need a traditional bucket truck - a truck or a van with a bucket lift built-in to it - think OG&E bucket truck.

I'm on 2.5 acres with large mature trees and I want to cut the dead limbs off them. The cheapest estimate I got from a tree guy was $7,000. At that price I can buy a used bucket truck!

I've tried the push around lifts before and they won't work. The ground has to be very level and the leveling arms tear the crap out of the ground and driveway.

I've considered the self powered articulating boom trucks/lifts, but they have to be delivered via a semi and I was told they will be very hard on my ground and have a large turning radius.

Does anyone here know where you can rent a traditional bucket truck?

I've located a couple of used ones on Craigslist I may go ahead and buy if I can't find a rental.

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## musg8411

I just rented a towable one from a place on classen and around nw 3rd. Right across from okc kayak. I believe it's called rent it company. They have all sorts of bucket lifts.

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## BBatesokc

Lots of places have towable lifts; usually called articulating boom trucks/lifts, push around lifts. You can get those at United Rentals or even Home Depot.

Like I said above, those won't work (at least the one's I've seen/tried). They have leveling arms that dig into the ground, asphalt and can crack concrete if near the edge.  Did the one you rented have the 2-4 leveling arms?

If I could find one without the arms, that might work. My land is not on what anyone would consider a hill - but it is sloped for flood control. The two towables we tried both had to lift the boom trailer off the ground to try and get it level and it dug big trenches and cut into the driveway and barely missed my irrigation. Even after all that, the leveling alarms were still going off.

My easiest solution is a drivable traditional bucket truck.

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## musg8411

Right, I know what you are saying. They are open til noon today, so you could see if they have one. They had a huge yard with all sorts of different lift options.

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## Clown puncher

Ahern rentals

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## RadicalModerate

Home Depot has one.  It don't rent cheap.  Plus I'd bet it has inherent hazards for the inexperienced operator.

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## Clown puncher

You need an articulated boom lift.

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## RadicalModerate

> You need an articulated boom lift.


Does that mean that it speaks the operating instructions to you as you are preparing not to interface with overhead power lines?  Or is that a different sense of the term articulate?  Sorry . . . you said articulated.  That's very different, never mind.

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## BBatesokc

> You need an articulated boom lift.


Like I've said, unless it's attached directly to the truck (not towable) it won't work.

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## BBatesokc

> Home Depot has one.  It don't rent cheap.  Plus I'd bet it has inherent hazards for the inexperienced operator.


A bucket truck or a tow behind? I've called them before and they said all they carry is the tow behind - which won't work for me because it has 4 leveling arms. The ones we've tried before ran about $600 for the day.

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## RadicalModerate

> A bucket truck or a tow behind? I've called them before and they said all they carry is the tow behind - which won't work for me because it has 4 leveling arms. The ones we've tried before ran about $600 for the day.


I guess this has something to do with why making movies is sort of expensive.  And difficult. =)

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## BBatesokc

For my purpose, $600 a day is pretty cheap considering the tree trimmers want $7,000-$11,000 and it's only gonna take him half a day.

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## Clown puncher

This wouldn't work? $250 per day delivered .

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## BBatesokc

> This wouldn't work? $250 per day delivered .


When I spoke to United Rental they said the tires would do a lot of damage to the grass/dirt, the unit itself would probably weigh so much it would do damage to the driveway and the large turning radius would be an issue also. Hard to tell the size of that one in your photo. The one's at United were pretty big.

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## jay

Don't know if you want to travel that far, but there is a Shell station on I-40 and Banner Rd that rents them. About halfway between Yukon and El Reno.

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## mkjeeves

My gut is a truck would do more damage and weigh more. Both come in a lot of sizes though. 

As an example, the first lift I pulled up online weighs 10,000 lbs. 340AJ Articulating Boom Lift | JLG
A 3500 truck without a boom weighs more than that. 

Yep, the tires on the lift will probably do turf damage. I've used them with plywood before which might help and will add to the work and cost. Not easy and would be a real PITA if you plan to move around much. Trucks and lifts have a maximum slope angle that isn't all that great and trucks frequently have outriggers to deal with too. 

I've had the pros work on my trees in the backyard by climbing with spikes and using really tall ladders, and had a boom take a large tree out near the street and really rut the yard deeply. (and the neighbors when they backed up over the curb.) There's no easy solution.

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## kevinpate

Unless Edmond is missing out on all this rain in September, and the annual state fair rains to come soon, won't anything you drive to the trees that can not remain entirely on a very solid hard pack reek some serious havoc on your yard?

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## ctchandler

Have you checked with Hertz Equipment Rental?  There is one located at 5222 N. Bryant and I believe it's actually the I-35 Service road on the East side of I-35.  They have a good inventory of heavy equipment.
C. T.

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## bradh

Nothing a good pole saw, a ladder, climbing rope and some caribiners can't accomplish  :Smile:

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## BBatesokc

> Nothing a good pole saw, a ladder, climbing rope and some caribiners can't accomplish


Or a crew of 6 and a check for $7,000.

I do have the gas powered pole saw. I've got a 20' ladder, but no climbing rope or carabiners. But I do have a hunter's stick ladder. All of which has the makings for a trip to the emergency room.

I've had bucket trucks on my property before - when a tree fell on our house, when utility contractors were cutting limbs away from power lines and most recently when the guy came to re-rope our flag pole. None of them left hardly a mark on the grass - except when one driver did a standing hard right and pulled the grass up under the tires (similar to what my ZTR does if I turn to sharp when its wet).

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## rezman

> This wouldn't work? $250 per day delivered .


My brother and I have used this type of machine to trim trees with good results. It is far more manuverable than what a bucket truck is, and went places a bucket truck could not go. We took it through my double gate, through my back yard, into his yard, and were able to boom completely out over the neighbor's house to catch tree limbs over their house. With four wheel steering, four way tilt on the bucket, and being able to operate the whole machine from the bucket, it's the way to go.

If you're hell bent on a bucket truck, you may contact Sagon Truck rentals, or Roberts truck center.

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## Klop

Try Mike at Buckethead, LLC - Bucket Truck Services

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## BBatesokc

> Try Mike at Buckethead, LLC - Bucket Truck Services


I want to rent a truck and do the work myself, not pay a crew to bring their truck and do the cutting.

I guess I'll call some more places and try and locate a small articulating boom - but if they are not smaller than the one's at United, I don't see it working for my purpose. United sent someone out after we rented a towable unit and it wouldn't level itself. I asked about a self driven unit (like the boom above), but they said non of theirs would work; they required a pretty level surface, were too heavy for our driveway and would tear the turf up too much. But, possibly a smaller one would work if I can't find a bucket truck. A bucket truck would just be so much simpler. I can't imagine nobody rents one.

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## rezman

I forgot to mention earlier that there's a place kind of catty corner from our shop  over on 122nd west of Santa Fe called ETI that manufactures and services bucket trucks. They may have a line on rentals for you.

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## Urbanized

I don't have experience with these guys, but found this after a simple Google search. Found others too.

Rental Equipment | ETI Equipment

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## jompster

> I don't have experience with these guys, but found this after a simple Google search. Found others too.
> 
> Rental Equipment | ETI Equipment


My mom is a driver for ETI.  They usually have plenty of rentals available.  Try them  :Smile:

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## Mel

My son does trees and he uses some kind of canvas seat that you can haul yourself up to what you want to cut. I can ask him what kind of contraption it is and where he got it. Or get some pole climbing spiked boots and the safety harness. Either way would not impact the ground around the trees. Well, unless you fell.

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## BBatesokc

> My mom is a driver for ETI.  They usually have plenty of rentals available.  Try them


I had already called them. They almost exclusively rent commercially only.

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