Deck the halls with Christmas lights

It might feel a little early to start thinking about Christmas, but councils and commercial Christmas installation companies are already organising Christmas lighting displays.  Of course Christmas decorations won’t actually be put up until much later in the year, but professional installers are already thinking about how to safely install high level decorations as part of their Christmas projects.

Because high level Christmas installations are normally in public places, it is incredibly important that decorations are installed safely and quickly.  Which is where powered access equipment comes in handy as a very safe and efficient means of working at height, and with an access solution for every location.

When installing Christmas decorations in shopping centres or buildings with high level atriums, the access equipment you choose needs to be suitable for indoor use.   Some things  to consider when selecting the best piece of access equipment for your project are:

• A power source that won’t create fumes.  Elev8’s range of tracked access platforms are duel fuel and run on electric when used indoors.
• Getting access equipment into the building.  If you need powered access equipment that fits through a door way then a tracked access platform is a great option.  They are nice and compact when in travelling position and can be driven through many door ways on their tracks.  Our smallest tracked access platform the Leo 23GT measures just 0.98m wide in travelling position, meaning it can fit through many internal doors.
• The weight of access equipment on internal floors. Tracked access platforms give you a lot of working height for the pressure they exert on the floor.  The Leo25T Plus weighs 3.76 tonnes and has a maximum outrigger loading of 25KN.  Don’t forget to use suitable boards under your outriggers to spread the load.
• Protecting the floor from damage.  Our tracked access platforms have non marking rubber tracks, so you can drive them into position without making a mess of the floor.  When setting up suitable boards will need to be placed under each outrigger to spread the load.

Van mounted platforms are an excellent option for safely installing high level Christmas lights onto the public highway.  They are quick to set up, have compact outriggers and come fitted with beacons and chevrons to make them highly visible to road users.  Our van mounted platforms start with a working height of 13.2m and go all the way up to 16.5m (the LAT160-F which is on a 5-ton chassis).

All our van mounted platforms can be hired with an operator or on a self-drive basis.  We have plenty of van mounted platforms mounted onto 3.5t van chassis, which can be driven on most standard driving licences.  You can find out more about how to hire a self-drive van mounted platform here.  November and December are very busy times for our van mounted platform hire, so don’t forget to book early!

If you need a little more working height or greater outreach for your lighting installation, then one of our smaller truck mounted cherry pickers might be more suitable.  We have several options of self-drive cherry pickers on a 3.5t chassis with up to 22.6m of working height (CTE ZED 23.3JH ) or up to 16.4m of lateral outreach (Ruthmann TBR220), perfect for reaching right over the Christmas tree!

For or those with a suitable driving licence the Ruthmann T330 access platform gives up to 31m of working height and an astounding 21.2m of max lateral outreach.

When installing Christmas lights on some roads you may require traffic management.  Elev8’s NHSS 12d certified traffic management division would be happy to assist with the design of a safe traffic management plan and installation of traffic management.  We provide traffic management for any size of project anywhere in the UK.

For very high Christmas street light installations

We have a wide range of operated access platforms suitable for lighting installation, with safe working heights up to 104m!   The photo above shows the T720 and T380 working together over night to install Christmas lighting to the roof of Harrods in London.

Christmas lighting projects aren’t always located next to a road, or even a hard surface for that matter!  But don’t worry, there is a powered access solution suitable for every location.

For the installation of Christmas decorations off road a 4×4 pickup mounted cherry picker could be the right solution, or our tracked access platforms can be driven across grass and set up on rough terrain.

Tracked access platforms are also a great access solution when you need to install lighting in places with limited access.  The photo to the right shows one of our Leo23GT tacked access platforms being used to safely install Christmas decorations on the concourse outside The Shard in London.

Elev8 have years of experience of safe work at height and innovative lifting solutions.  If your Christmas lighting installation is complex we may have a solution to speed up the install, saving you both money and time.

For several years Elev8 have supplied access platforms for the installation of sponsored Christmas snowflake lights at Sheffield Children’s Hospital.  Last year Elev8’s Contract Lifting Team were given the opportunity to review the installation project.  We designed a clever and safe installation plan that allowed the snowflakes to be installed over just one weekend, rather than the several weekends it used to take.  You can find out more detail about this Christmas lighting project here.

For advice on the best piece of powered access equipment for your Christmas lighting installation, or if you would like our contract lifting team to suggest innovative solutions for your lighting installation project, please contact us.    Van mounted access platform hire get very busy during November and December, so if you need one for your Christmas installation please book well in advance.