Commercial Lifts Resource Sheet

Overview:

Individuals with mobility impairments experience difficulty in mounting and dismounting tractors, combines or grain trucks safely. A commercial lift mechanism might be necessary to gain access to the operator's platform.

Who benefits:

Individuals with lower extremity impairment or weakness, amputations, gait irregularity, balance difficulties, low grip strength, arthritis.

Commercial Resources*

Freedom Technologies
#3-2949 Miners Avenue
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7K 4Z6
Phone: 306-244-1508
Fax: 306-244-1931

A pickup-truck-mounted, electric lift allows user to transfer from truck seat to wheelchair and from wheelchair to a tractor, combine, or larger truck using a crane-type lift.

Lectra Aid® Person Lift
SFH Products, Inc.
1801 E. Medlock Dr.
Phoenix, AZ 85016
Toll Free phone: 1-888-224-1425

An electric vehicle-mounted lift that allows a user to transfer from the lift seat or platform to a tractor or truck using a vertical lifting mechanism.

Life Essentials
8796 S. US231
Brookston IN 47923
Phone: 765-742-6707
Fax: 765-563-3158

A full line of electric lifts (platform and seat) that allows user to transfer directly from a lift seat or platform into tractors, combines and trucks.

Considerations:

When use of a commercial lift is not feasible, a non-commercial lift might be fabricated. Fabricators should consult a professional engineer for advice and review of plans before making modifications to a tractor. If implemented the following suggestions may help reduce potential secondary injuries associated with modified tractors.

Choose a lift design that is suitable for the operator’s abilities and size.
Block access to potential crush, pinch or entanglement points.
Use appropriate electric motors. Winches do not wind and unwind the cable in a smooth or reliable manner that is safe for lifting people.
Maintain proper transfer heights for seat-to-seat transfers.
Modify tractor doors if necessary so that they open fully or stay open while a person transfers to or from the lift.
Include a braking mechanism such that the operator platform
can not free fall if the lifting mechanism fails.

Please refer to our Tip Sheet "Choosing a Design for or Using a Locally Fabricated Tractor Lift" for more information about and features to consider when using or designing lifting mechanisms.

Check with your state AgrAbility Project for assistance in locating fabricators, or check the yellow pages under metal fabrication, or custom welding shops.

*NOTE: Mention or display of a trademark, proprietary product, or firm in text or figures does not constitute an endorsement by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the University of Wisconsin, Easter Seals, or the AgrAbility Project, and does not imply approval to the exclusion of other suitable products or firms.

The AgrAbility Project is administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture CSREES. Funding for this document was provided under project number 00-41590-0932.