A scissor lift table is a platform raised and lowered by a folding scissor mechanism beneath it. Its job is to put the work at the height the operator needs, so that nobody is bending into a pallet at 150 mm or reaching over a stillage at shoulder height. It is one of the cheapest ways to design a lift out of a job — but "scissor lift table" covers machines from a £200 hand-pumped trolley to a mains-powered platform sunk into the floor, and choosing between them turns on three questions that have nothing to do with price.
This guide covers what the categories actually mean, what our own range does and does not include, and what each option costs, with the arithmetic set out so you can see where the money goes.
Mobile or static: the decision that comes first
Everything else follows from this one.
A mobile scissor lift trolley is a table on castors. You wheel it to the work, raise the load, and wheel it away. It needs no power supply, no installation and no floor works. It suits packing benches, assembly cells, van loading and anywhere the lifting happens in more than one place.
A static lift table is fixed where it is installed and runs on the mains. It lifts faster, repeats all day without an operator pumping a pedal, and takes far heavier loads. It suits a production line, a goods-in bay, or any position where the same lift happens hundreds of times a week.
At a matched 1,000 kg the static table costs 1.92 times the mobile trolley — £2,902.86 against £1,512.24, a difference of £1,390.62. That £1,390.62 buys you electric operation and loses you mobility. If the lift genuinely happens in one place, it is money well spent; if it happens in three, it is the wrong machine bought twice over.
What we actually stock — and what we do not
Being plain about this matters more than it might seem, because the sub-£500 scissor tables you will find elsewhere are a different class of machine.
| Machine | Capacity | Power | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Double Scissor Lift Trolley (MLTD100Y) | 1,000 kg | Foot-pedal pump, mobile | £1,512.24 |
| Static Lift Table, full platform (PSL80F) | 1,000 kg | Mains, 0.75 kW | £2,902.86 |
| Static Lift Table, U platform (PSL82U) | 1,000 kg | Mains, 0.75 kW | £2,902.86 |
| Static Lift Table (PSL105F) | 2,000 kg | Mains | £3,756.24 |
There is exactly one mobile scissor lift table in our range, and it is a double scissor rated at 1,000 kg. We do not stock a single-scissor model, and we do not stock a low-capacity trolley — so if you are looking for a 150 kg bench-height table for light assembly work, this is not the range for it and we would rather say so than sell you a 1,000 kg machine for the job. Our manufacturer's product notes do describe winch-operated single-scissor models; those are not configurations you can select, and we have not written this guide around them.
The U-shaped platform is free, and most buyers do not know it exists
The two 1,000 kg static tables are identical in price to the penny — £2,902.86 each. One has a full platform. The other (PSL82U) has a U-shaped cut-out measuring 1,050 L × 585 W mm, sized so that a pallet truck can drive straight in over the table and set a pallet down on it, then withdraw.
That changes how the table is loaded. With a full platform, something has to lift the pallet onto the table. With the U platform, a hand pallet truck you already own becomes the loading method — and it costs nothing extra. The full platform is the right answer only when you are lifting things that are not on pallets, or when you need the whole deck area to support the load. If pallets are what you are lifting, take the U.
Shared specification on these tables: lowered platform height 82 mm, raised 760 mm, lifting speed under load 42 mm/sec, full lift in 18 seconds, 0.75 kW mains motor with a remote control box carrying up, down and emergency stop. They comply with BS EN 1570 and BS EN 60204-1. The mobile trolley complies with EN 1570:2011 and runs on two fixed and two swivel braked castors with wheel guards.
Doubling the capacity from 1,000 kg to 2,000 kg costs £853.38, or 29.4% — which is cheap next to the cost of discovering mid-contract that the table will not take the load. As with any rated equipment, size on the heaviest thing you will actually put on it, not the average; our guide to load ratings, UDL and SWL explains why the plated figure is not a single number.
Pallet level loaders: the self-levelling alternative
A pallet level loader does the same ergonomic job without any controls at all. A spring or scissor mechanism under the platform sinks as you add weight and rises as you take it off, so the top layer of the pallet stays at roughly working height throughout picking or stacking. There is nothing to switch on and nothing for the operator to remember.
We list two: the standard loader (PLL1211) at £2,255.28, and the bellows version (PLL1312) at £2,734.38. The bellows are a concertina skirt that closes off the mechanism beneath the platform, and they cost £479.10, a 21.2% premium. Buy them where feet, hoses or swarf could get under a moving platform, or where the unit sits in a walkway; skip them in a clean, controlled cell where nothing is going to find its way underneath.
The PalletDisc (PLD1100, £1,440.36) is the cheapest way to remove the other half of the problem — walking round the pallet. It is a turntable, so the operator rotates the load rather than the operator. It is also the only product in this group with a published lead time: 10 days.
Smaller lifters, and the one that makes the others hard to justify
For lighter, more varied work, the VULCAN mini lifters combine lifting, transporting and stacking in one compact unit with adjustable forks and a removable work platform, conforming to EN 1757-2.
| Model | Capacity | Price | Cost per kg of capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
| MLE04Y | 100 kg | £1,624.20 | £16.24 |
| MLE03Y | 150 kg | £1,667.64 | £11.12 |
| EL1200Y | 400 kg (1,200 mm lift) | £1,890.00 | £4.73 |
Four times the capacity costs 16.4% more money. The 400 kg electric mini lifter is £265.80 above the 100 kg unit and £222.36 above the 150 kg one, and it is the only one of the three that publishes a lift height. On cost per kilogram of rated capacity it is three and a half times better value than the 100 kg machine. Unless floor space or unit weight rules it out, there is very little case for the smaller two. All three are electric — the manufacturer's notes mention hand-winch manual models, but none is an orderable configuration, so do not plan around one.
For taller work, the warehouse lifters and transporters reach 1,500, 2,000 or 2,300 mm at 100 kg or 200 kg, from £5,582.28 to £7,608.90, with a 300 mm load centre and a built-in battery that charges from a 13 amp socket. The price behaviour here is worth knowing before you specify:
- Going from 1,500 mm to 2,000 mm costs £986.64 — £1.97 per millimetre of extra height.
- Going from 2,000 mm to 2,300 mm costs £76.44 — £0.25 per millimetre, 7.7 times cheaper per millimetre than the step before it.
- Doubling capacity from 100 kg to 200 kg at a fixed 1,500 mm adds £1,215.96, or 21.8%.
The instruction that falls out of that is simple: if you are already buying the 2,000 mm machine, take the 2,300 mm. The last 300 mm is the cheapest height on the page and the one most likely to be the difference between reaching a top shelf and not.
For drums specifically, the heavy duty drum lifter comes at 500 mm lift (DLL03Z, £1,554.30) or 800 mm (DLL04Z, £1,900.02, suitable for plastic or steel drums) — 300 mm more lift for £345.72, a 22.2% premium. Our guide to drum handling equipment covers where a lifter beats a trolley or a rotator.
Sizing the table: three measurements and one count
Before you specify anything, write down four numbers:
- The heaviest load, including its pallet or stillage. A UK pallet is not a rounding error — see UK pallet sizes explained.
- The lowest height you need to reach. If the table must accept a pallet from a pallet truck, the lowered height matters more than the raised height — 82 mm on the static tables here.
- The platform footprint the load needs, remembering that overhang is what tips a table, not weight.
- How many lifts a shift. Below a handful, a manual trolley is fine. Above a few dozen, a foot pedal becomes the new manual handling problem you were trying to remove.
That last point is the one most often missed. A hand-pumped table used forty times a day has not designed the lift out of the job — it has replaced a back strain with an ankle and knee strain. Our guide to designing the lift out of the job works through where each class of equipment earns its place.
What goes wrong with lift tables
Four failure modes account for most of it, and three are specification errors rather than faults:
- Off-centre loading. A scissor mechanism is rated for a load spread across the platform. Put the whole weight on one corner and you are loading the pivots in a way the rating does not cover. This is the commonest cause of premature wear and of tables that "drift" down.
- Undersizing the platform. If the load overhangs, the effective load centre moves outward and the safe capacity drops below the plated figure.
- Hydraulic seep. A table that sinks slowly under load has a seal or valve problem. It is repairable, but it must be taken out of service until it is repaired — a table that lowers on its own is a crushing hazard.
- Nothing under the platform. Anything that can enter the scissor mechanism while it moves — a foot, a hose, a hand — is why the bellows option exists and why a lowering platform needs a clear zone around it.
Compliance: EN 1570, PUWER and LOLER
EN 1570 (BS EN 1570-1 in its current form) is the safety standard for lifting tables and covers guarding, controls and the prevention of crushing and shearing. Mains-powered tables are additionally built to BS EN 60204-1 for the electrical equipment of machines. Both of our lift table lines state compliance in the manufacturer's data.
In service, a lift table is work equipment under PUWER 1998: it must be suitable for the job, maintained, and used by people who have been trained on it. Whether LOLER 1998 also applies depends on what the table lifts. A table that raises goods only is generally PUWER equipment; a table that could lift a person, or that is used as a lifting accessory in a lifting operation, brings LOLER duties including thorough examination at statutory intervals. If there is any doubt in your application, treat it as LOLER and get a competent person to confirm — the cost of a thorough examination is trivial next to the cost of guessing wrong. We supply the equipment; we are not an inspection body, and where the honest answer is "have a competent person assess it", that is the answer.
What our product data does not tell you
Across all nine lifters and loaders we list: no warranty period is published, no stock status is published, and only one product — the PalletDisc, at 10 days — publishes a lead time. If any of those matter to your order, ask us before you place it rather than after.
Quick decision guide
- Lifting happens in more than one place → mobile double scissor trolley, £1,512.24.
- Same lift, same spot, all day → static table, £2,902.86 at 1,000 kg.
- Pallets loaded by pallet truck → the U-platform static table. Same price as the full platform.
- Over 1,000 kg → PSL105F at 2,000 kg, £3,756.24.
- Continuous picking or stacking from a pallet → pallet level loader, £2,255.28, or £2,734.38 with bellows.
- Operators walking round the pallet → PalletDisc, £1,440.36.
- Light loads, mixed tasks, needs to travel → the 400 kg electric mini lifter at £1,890.00, not the 100 kg one.
The full range is on the lifters and loaders page. If the load only needs moving along the floor rather than raising, a pallet truck is the cheaper answer — see manual vs electric pallet trucks. If it needs raising into racking rather than to bench height, that is a pallet stacker, and pallet stackers vs pallet trucks covers the split. For very heavy wheeled loads that need pushing rather than lifting, look at electric tugs.