Cherry picker hire
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Cherry picker hire prices with an operator
Every cherry picker comes with a certified operator. Prices exclude VAT. Trailer-mounted and self-propelled machines are delivered on a truck or trailer: inside a main centre that's R1,300–R3,840 there and back, as its own line.
| Size | Rate | Price |
|---|---|---|
| 12–15 m cherry picker | Per day, with operator | R2,400–R4,000 |
| 12–15 m cherry picker | Per week, with operator | R11,500–R12,500 |
| 12–15 m cherry picker | Per month, with operator | R32,500–R37,000 |
| 16–17 m cherry picker | Per day, with operator | R4,150–R7,900 |
| 20–25 m cherry picker | Per day, with operator | about R8,200 * |
| 50 m+ cherry picker | Per day, with operator | about R16,500 * |
* Few price points for this one, so treat it as a guide; the exact price comes back on WhatsApp.
The 12–15 m class also has weekly (R11,500–R12,500) and monthly (R32,500–R37,000) rates, which work out well for painting, glazing and shopfitting contracts. The 20–25 m and 50 m+ prices rest on few price points, so treat them as a guide. Every rate, worked examples and what changes the price: cherry picker hire rates.
Get a cherry picker price on WhatsAppWhich size cherry picker? Working height and outreach
Three numbers decide the machine:
- Working height: how high a person in the basket can work. It's the height of the basket floor plus about 1.8–2 m. On the Genie TZ-34/20, a basket floor at 10.36 m gives 12.19 m working height.
- Outreach: how far the basket reaches sideways from the machine. You need it when you can't park right under the work: over a flower bed, a fence, a shop canopy or parked cars.
- Up-and-over clearance: how high an obstacle the boom can reach over and still come down on the other side, such as a boundary wall or a roof edge.
Height and outreach don't peak together: at full outreach the basket sits lower than its maximum height. Measure the height of the work and the distance from where the machine can stand, and we check it against the machine's range chart.
| Size | Typical machine | Working height | Outreach | Basket load | Per day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12–15 m | Trailer-mounted, Genie TZ-34/20 or similar; or a truck- or van-mounted unit | 12.19 m (TZ-34/20) | 5.59 m; 4.90 m up and over | 227 kg | R2,400–R4,000 |
| 16–17 m | Trailer-mounted, Genie TZ-50 or similar | 16.92 m (TZ-50) | 8.89 m; 6.71 m up and over | 227 kg | R4,150–R7,900 |
| 20–25 m | Truck-mounted or self-propelled telescopic boom | 20–25 m | Confirmed for the machine on your quote | Confirmed on your quote | about R8,200 |
| 50 m+ | Large truck-mounted or self-propelled telescopic boom | 50 m and more | Confirmed for the machine on your quote | Confirmed on your quote | about R16,500 |
What 227 kg means: two adults with hand tools, or one person with a box of fittings. It is not for lifting glass panes, aircon units or pallets: for loads, use a crane truck or a telehandler.
Example: a shop sign 7 m up, above a 3 m-deep canopy. You need about 9 m of working height and about 4 m of outreach over the canopy. The 12–15 m class does it from the pavement; a scissor lift can't, because it only goes straight up.
Truck-mounted, trailer or self-propelled?
Truck-mounted cherry picker
The boom sits on a truck or van. It drives to site, sets its stabilisers and works within minutes, so it suits street lights, signs, CCTV and several sites in a day. Searches like "cherry picker truck for hire" and "cherry picker van hire" mean this type.
Trailer-mounted (towable)
Light and narrow: a Genie TZ-34/20 weighs 1,431 kg and is 1.45 m wide stowed; a TZ-50 weighs 1,996 kg and is 1.68 m wide. It fits through gates and into back gardens, sets up on four outriggers (a footprint of 3.26 m × 3.59 m on the TZ-34/20 and 4.37 m × 4.37 m on the TZ-50) and runs on batteries, so it's quiet indoors.
Self-propelled boom
Drives around the site on its own wheels with people in the basket, so it moves along a building without setting up again. It's what most people call a boom lift.
Scissor lift
A large deck that goes straight up, with no outreach. Best on flat floors for ceilings, lighting and services. See scissor lift hire.
What is a cherry picker used for?
A cherry picker puts one or two people, with their tools, safely at height where a ladder or scaffold would be slow or unsafe. The jobs we send them for most:
Signage and branding
Installing, changing and repairing shop signs, billboards and pylon signs, often over a canopy or pavement.
Aircon and HVAC
Servicing wall-mounted units and pipe runs on the outside of buildings. The unit itself goes up by crane truck.
Solar
Access for installers to roof edges, inspections and panel cleaning on high roofs.
Glazing and facades
Sealing, cleaning and replacing windows on multi-storey buildings.
Painting
Facades, gables, steel structures and warehouse walls; weekly and monthly rates suit longer jobs.
Gutters and roofs
Gutter cleaning and repair, fascias, flashings and roof leaks on double-storeys and complexes.
Lighting
Street lights, floodlights, sports fields, parking areas and warehouse high-bay lights.
Trees and cables
Trimming branches clear of buildings, and CCTV, fibre and antenna work on poles.
What's the difference between a boom lift and a cherry picker?
None in principle: both are mobile elevating work platforms, a basket on a boom. In South Africa "cherry picker" usually means a truck- or trailer-mounted boom that sets up on stabilisers, and "boom lift" means a self-propelled machine that drives around the site with the basket up. Booms come in two shapes:
- Telescopic (straight) booms give the most horizontal outreach of any aerial work platform, for maximum height plus reach.
- Articulated (knuckle) booms have several pivot points, so they go up and over obstacles that would block a straight boom.
For work along a long building on site, see boom lift hire. For one spot reached from a road or driveway, a cherry picker is usually the simpler hire.
What qualification do I need to use a cherry picker?
You need a certificate of training for a mobile elevated work platform (code C53) from an accredited training provider. The Driven Machinery Regulations (reg 18(11)) forbid anyone to operate a lifting machine listed in the National Code of Practice (Notice 5588 of 2024) without one, and the code lists the MEWP. The operator also carries a licence card valid for up to 24 months.
To be trained, a person must be at least 18, physically able to do the work, and show a medical fitness declaration and an eye test (clause 12 of the code). On a construction site, the Construction Regulations (reg 23) add a medical certificate of fitness, written authorisation and a daily inspection before use.
With our hire you don't need any of this yourself: our cherry pickers come with a certified operator who runs the machine, and the people in the basket do the work. That's what "cherry picker and driver hire" or "cherry picker with operator" means. Anyone going up should wear a full-body harness clipped to the basket's anchor point.
Load-tested cherry pickers
A cherry picker is a lifting machine, so the Driven Machinery Regulations, 2015 apply:
- A thorough examination and performance (load) test by a lifting machinery inspector of a registered lifting machinery entity at intervals of no more than 12 months (reg 18(5)(a)). Mobile elevated work platforms don't need a new test each time they move to a new site within that period (reg 18(5)(c)).
- A six-monthly examination of the hooks, chains, ropes, brakes and safety devices that form part of the machine, by a competent person (reg 18(6)).
- If you hire the machine, you keep a register on your premises with its latest performance test and service records, not older than 12 months (reg 18(7)(b)).
Our cherry pickers are load-tested, and we send copies of the certificate and the operator's papers before the machine arrives, on request. Don't lift people in a bucket on a crane or a TLB instead: that needs a purpose-built man-cage to an approved SANS standard, approved by an inspector, and a risk assessment (reg 18(8)). Details: lifting machinery load tests and safety and certificates.
What you prepare before the cherry picker arrives
- Height and reach: the height of the work and the distance from where the machine can stand. Photos help.
- Firm, level ground for the outriggers: concrete, paving or compacted ground. Keep the pads off manholes, drains, trenches and soft lawn after rain.
- Access: gate width and turning space. A TZ-50 trailer unit is 7.16 m long and 1.68 m wide stowed; a truck-mounted unit needs the truck's width and turning circle.
- Overhead power lines: nobody may come inside a line's safety clearance in person or with objects without permission from the utility that runs the line (Electrical Machinery Regulations, reg 19(5)). Lighting and tree work near lines must be arranged with Eskom or the municipality first.
- People and traffic: cone off the area under the basket. If the machine stands on a road or pavement, get the municipality's permission and traffic control.
- Wind: the operator lowers the basket when wind is over the machine's limit, so leave a buffer day on long outdoor jobs.
How cherry picker hire works
- WhatsApp the job: what you're working on, the height, the reach, the town and the dates.
- We confirm in writing: the machine and size, the dates, the price and delivery as its own line.
- Pay the deposit to book.
- Your cherry picker arrives with an operator, with copies of the load-test and operator certificates if you asked for them. If it breaks down, you get a replacement machine or no charge for the downtime.
Full steps: how hiring works.
WhatsApp us the height and the jobCherry picker hire near you
We send cherry pickers with operators to all 9 provinces. Town pages show local prices and delivery: cherry picker hire in Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth and Rustenburg.
- Cherry picker hire in Cape Town
- Cherry picker hire in Durban
- Cherry picker hire in Port Elizabeth (Gqeberha)
- Cherry picker hire in Rustenburg
Lifting materials rather than people? See forklift hire, telehandler hire or mobile crane hire.
Questions people ask
How much is a cherry picker to hire for one day?
A 12–15 m cherry picker with operator is R2,400–R4,000 a day with operator, a 16–17 m is R4,150–R7,900 a day with operator, a 20–25 m is about R8,200 and a 50 m+ is about R16,500, excluding VAT. Delivery is its own line: inside a main centre it is R1,300–R3,840 there and back. Weekly and monthly rates are on cherry picker hire rates.
Where can I find cherry pickers for sale?
New cherry pickers are sold through the manufacturers' dealers and used ones at plant auctions. Before buying a used one, ask for its latest load-test certificate (no older than 12 months), the full service history and the manufacturer's plate with the serial number, which the Driven Machinery Regulations require on every lifting machine (reg 18(1)(c)). If you need one for a few days a year, hiring with an operator saves you the yearly load test, the six-monthly examinations and keeping an operator's certificate current.
How high can a cherry picker go?
Our largest class works at 50 m and more. Most jobs need far less: a double-storey gutter or sign is a 12–15 m job, and a three- or four-storey facade is 16–25 m. Working height is the basket floor height plus about 1.8–2 m, the reach of a person standing in it.
What is the hourly rate for a 20 ton excavator?
A 20–25 t excavator is R340–R690 an hour with operator, or R340–R680 an hour dry (operator included, you pay the diesel). It comes on a lowbed, which is charged as its own line. See 20 ton excavator hire.
What sector is plant hire?
Plant hire is part of the construction industry, and it serves mining, farming, roads, municipalities and factories too. Cherry pickers, scissor lifts and boom lifts are the access side of plant hire: machines that put people safely at height. More on plant hire across South Africa.
Related
Sources we checked
- Genie TZ-34/20 and TZ-50 trailer-mounted boom specifications
- Genie TZ-50 product page
- {'Genie': 'telescopic and articulated boom lifts'}
- Driven Machinery Regulations 2015 (GN R.540), reg 18 lifting machines
- Driven Machinery Regulations 2015, reg 1 definitions
- National Code of Practice for Training Providers of Lifting Machine Operators 2024 (Notice 5588), crane codes incl. C53
- National Code of Practice 2024, clause 12 entrance qualification conditions
- National Code of Practice 2024, clause 14 certification
- Construction Regulations 2014 (GN R.84), reg 23 construction vehicles and mobile plant
- Electrical Machinery Regulations 2011 (GN R.250), reg 19 overhead power lines
Need a cherry picker?
WhatsApp us the job, the town and the dates. We confirm the machine, the start date and the price in writing before the machine moves.
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