Buyers Guide: Scissor Lift
Posted on March 9th 2026 by Hannah Tilley.
What is a Scissor Lift?
A Scissor Lift Table is an essential piece of handling and lifting equipment that supports the lifting and transporting of heavy items. This tool is useful across many workplace settings and is available in small or larger load capacities depending on your requirements. A scissor lift trolley is transportable through a workplace and features brakes for stationary positioning. In comparison, a static scissor lift doesn’t feature castors, therefore it remains in a static position, typically for heavy-duty use.
There are many versions of scissor lifts, including hydraulic scissor lifts, electric, manual and static. The key benefit of a scissor lift, is that it improves productivity and efficiency in the workplace. In turn, this makes tasks quicker and easier. Moreover, this puts less strain on the workforce and improves ergonomics to eliminate workplace injuries.
A Certificate of Conformity
As handling specialists, we offer certificates of conformity across our TUFF range. These certificates are an optional extra and ideal for meeting health and safety standards in the workplace. This allows the equipment to meet safety compliance. If you require one, simply add this to your basket when purchasing for your digital copy.
Our best-selling 300kg TUFF Single Scissor Lift Trolley is CE Marked and complies with EN1570:2011 Regulations for full compliance. As a TUFF Lift Trolley, we offer a certificate of conformity available for your business.
How do I use a Scissor Lift?
Manual scissor lifts are easy to use with a simple mechanism. The manual lever to raise the table top with the use of a foot pump. This is located at the bottom of the trolley. If you want to lower the table, simply use the release lever to slowly lower the table to the bottom. Find the lever located on trolley handle. This makes it easy to higher the table to reach workbench heights, meaning it can also be used as a workbench extension.
In comparison, the electric scissor lift is operated via a control box with buttons. These are often turned on through a key, allowing the operator to lift and lower the table via battery power. This eliminates any manual movements, taking away the need to pump the table up via foot pump. Electric lifting often offers a smoother experience, improving lifting speed in only 12 seconds.
Below is an example of how a scissor lift works
*The video features outdated trolley styling*
What Load Capacity do I require?
Across our range, we have many scissor lift load capacities available from 150kg to 1000kg. To decide what load capacity you require, we suggest calculating the maximum weight of materials, tools, components or equipment that you intent to lift.
Once you have this figure, it can give you a guideline of what capacity you can comfortably work with. If you are in between two, we recommend opting for the larger capacity e.g you come to a figure of 400kg, opting for 500kg is vital. Moreover, this gives you extra weight to ensure you don’t exceed the recommended load capacity. Exceeding weight restrictions can be dangerous and put operators at risk of injury.
Weight Guidance:
🧰Light Duty: Choose a 150-300kg load capacity ideal for moving light tools, small components and equipment.
🔨Medium Duty: Opt for a heavier capacity such as 350-500kg, suitable for general use in workshops, warehouses for transporting of heavier items and maintenance tasks.
⚙️Heavy Duty: 800-1000kg load capacities, suitable for use with heavy tools, machinery and automotive components. It is ideal for warehouses and handling industrial loads.
Our Range of Scissor Lifts
We offer many scissor lift options, including manual and electric scissor lift tables, plus much more. Here’s a deep dive into our other lifting solutions, including static lift tables:
Stainless steel scissor lifts trolleys: Suitable for areas where hygiene is essential. A robust design with the ability to regularly wipe down, making it perfect for beverage, food, and hospital and pharmaceutical environments.
Low Profile Static Table: Easy loading onto the table with a ramp to minimise bending and ideal for use when packing pallets and removing stock from pallets. The low-profile table improve ergnomics when transporting stock and convenient loading via pallet truck.
U Shape Low Profile Static Table: This table allows easy loading by pallet truck without requiring pit install. The design is suitable for all different pallet trucks and stackers and fits EU pallets easily.
Single vs Double Lift Comparison
Generally, scissor lifts are supplied in single or double lift options. Both have their own advantages to improve your workplace.
Single Lift Tables
A single scissor lift is versatile for most applications with light-medium duty lifting capacities. The single lift mechanism extends and retracts the table to an average height. Generally, it is more cost-effective than double lifting tables and is ideal for packing, shipping, light-duty warehouse tasks aswell as extended workstations.
Double Lift Tables
In comparison, the double lift table has a greater lifting capacity to reach elevated surfaces. Typically, it is more capable of lifting heavier loads and provides a stable work surface even at maximum height. This ensures tools and equipment don’t fall off. Double scissor lifts are ideal for industrial, manufacturing, distribution operations and more.
How can a Scissor Lift help you?
There are many benefits scissor lifts can bring to your work environment. Let’s explore some of the key points:
📈Increased Productivity: Easily lifting and moving to increase efficiency and improve employee well-being, making tasks easier and quicker to complete without injury.
⚠️Improved Safety: Scissor Lift Tables and Trolleys improve ergonomics in the workplace and reduce injuries. Operator strain and heavy lifting are eliminated with the table lifting and lowers heavy items with minimal effort.
⚒️Versatile Uses: A lift trolley has multiple uses to transport items, and can double up as a mobile workstation. In addition, they have a compact design to fit through tight areas or storage. They can also be easily moved across all floor surfaces.
💰Affordability: Owning a scissor lift is a cost-effective solution in regards of cost-per-use with durability over time to last years to come. This is a much cheaper option than renting, which can be costly over small time periods.
Heavier Duty Options
If you’re looking for something more specialist to upgrade your current scissor lift or for an upcoming project, we have a table for you.
We have a few 1000kg Scissor Lift Trolleys available in both manual and electric options. Both are made to high quality with heavy-duty castors. The 1000kg TUFF Scissor Lift Trolley is CE Marked and features a working height of 380-1000mm. We also offer a 2000kg lift trolley option here.
In comparison, the 1000kg Electric Scissor Lift has a lift range of 430-1220mm in only 17 seconds via control buttons. This is ideal for regular heavy-duty use to improve workflow, with use also as a mobile workbench.
Furthermore, our Static Lift Tables range between 500-6000kg, depending on the size, load capacity and specific requirements. They are available in a range of different working heights and options, including electric, low-profile, single and double,aswell as quad and tandem lifting options. Speak to our specialist team to discuss your handling requirements.
Speak to our team
Our sales team are on hand to answer any questions and your best port of call for advice, site visits and much more. If you’ve found a cheaper quote – don’t worry, our team can price match to get you the very best deal. Speak to our team today via live chat, email and phone here.
