The scaffolding is set up on the street side, but the cornice that needs repairing is in the internal yard, accessible only through an entrance as wide as a doorway. Or the church nave has beams at twenty meters, and the only way in is the main entrance. Or again: the warehouse is level, but the lights to be replaced are halfway up the roof and there is no room to maneuver a boom truck. In all three cases the problem is not the work itself: it is getting there.
The tracked spider lift was built exactly for this. It is not an alternative to traditional scaffolding: it is the machine that gets in where scaffolding cannot be erected and where a truck-mounted platform cannot pass.
What sets a spider lift apart from other aerial work platforms
A boom truck or a truck-mounted platform takes up the road, requires clear space around it, and cannot pass through an entrance. Fixed scaffolding takes days to erect and dismantle, and cannot be moved. The tracked spider lift is compact during transport, lowers itself to pass through a narrow opening, then extends its stabilizer legs on the ground — even on a slope or uneven surface — and raises the platform to working height.
The tracks distribute weight evenly, so the machine moves across grass, gravel, historic paving, or resin flooring without leaving ruts and without requiring a prepared base. This is the detail that changes everything in historic yards and interiors.
Internal yards and enclosed facades
In historic city centers the internal yard is often the only access to the rear facade of a building. The problem is the opening: a medieval entrance or a pedestrian gate will not let anything wide through. The spider lift enters in its retracted position, passes through the opening, then positions itself in the yard and works on the facade without touching it.
Where this approach does not work is when the yard is so small that the stabilizer legs cannot find a secure footing, or when the ceiling of the entrance passage is so low that transit is impossible even in the lowered position. In those cases you go back to tube scaffolding or rope access, and no powered machine helps.
Churches, warehouses, and large interiors
In churches, vaulted ceilings and timber beams require periodic consolidation work, painting, or inspection. Fixed scaffolding blocks the nave for weeks and costs almost as much as the work itself. The spider lift enters through the main door, positions itself below the point to reach, and brings the operator to working height in a few minutes. Once that point is done, it moves to the next.
In industrial warehouses the spider lift handles the replacement of lighting systems, maintenance of overhead cranes, or restoration of the roofing membrane from the inside. Usable height is what matters: it must be checked against the chosen model, because not all spider lifts reach the same working height.
The limitation here is the floor load rating: before moving any aerial work platform inside a warehouse it is mandatory to know the allowable load of the floor slab. No spider lift is as light as it looks when it is working with the boom extended.
Three attachments, three different jobs
Attachments mounted on the tracked spider lift change the type of work it can do. The platform basket brings the operator to height to work directly on the surface: painting, sealing, inspection, element replacement.
The underslung boom allows working beneath a structure — a bridge, a slab, a cantilevered overhang — where the basket cannot rise because something above blocks it. The operator stays protected and works on the underside of the structure.
The crane with log grab kit or winch kit turns the spider lift into a lifting machine: useful when heavy materials need to be lowered or raised into a tight yard where a conventional crane cannot enter. Here the platform is not used to go up, but to handle loads in spaces where other machines cannot reach.
In the Cormidi lineup
The Cormidi tracked aerial work platforms include the KB11, mountable on the CMF multi-purpose machine, and the KB20 and KB23 with platform basket, underslung boom, and crane with log grab kit and winch kit. All pass through a narrow gate and stabilize on uneven ground. There are no hedge trimmer or digging attachment versions in the lineup: the Cormidi spider lift is designed for work at height and for lifting.
For work at height in historic settings, it is also worth reading how to work where trucks cannot enter in historic city centers and the safety regulations for aerial work platforms.
What to check before making a choice
Before bringing a spider lift to a jobsite, measure the access opening in both width and height. Check the floor load rating if you are working indoors. Verify the required working height against the usable height of the model. Assess whether the job requires the basket, the underslung boom, or crane lifting: these are different attachments and are not always interchangeable on the spot. To find the right model for a specific situation, contact a local Cormidi dealer.
