What Equipment Do I Need to Install Siding?

Siding is a people-at-the-wall problem. A scissor on a driveway slab is the production machine for a two-story box you can drive up to. An articulating boom is for gables, wrapping corners, and working over shrubs the owner still likes. A telehandler is for palletized product, not for hanging lap from the forks.

Equipment for installing siding

Primary machines

Articulating boom (45–46 ft class)

Primary

45–46 ft articulating is the common house size; 63 ft only if you measured.

Up-and-over for gables, corners, and walls you cannot park under.

Skip it when every wall is a straight shot from a driveway slab — rent a scissor instead.

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26 ft rough-terrain or slab scissor

Primary

26 ft RT (~69 in wide) outdoors; 26 ft electric if you can stay on pavement.

Long, straight elevations with a decent surface under the machine.

Skip it when you must reach over landscaping or a porch roof.

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Optional / nice to have

Towable boom (T350 / T500 class)

Optional

JLG electric towables we rent. Outriggers need firm ground, not wet lawn.

Punch-list peaks and a two-person crew that can hitch.

Skip it when you will move all day — self-propelled is cheaper in hours even if the day rate is higher.

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Compact telehandler

Optional

19 ft 5,500 lb class for most homes.

Stage palletized siding without carrying bundles through the house.

Skip it when the supplier is placing pallets where you need them and you have a small elevation.

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Typical pairing

Most two-story homes: articulating 45–46 ft for the week, plus a compact telehandler for the first morning of material. Ranch with a driveway: 26 ft scissor and skip the boom.

Straight wall, straight-up machine

If the work is over the deck and the ground is a driveway or compacted pad, a 26 ft RT or a slab scissor on pavement will beat a boom on speed. Indoor 19 ft scissors do not belong in the flower bed.

Gables, jogs, and landscaping

Articulating 45–46 ft class reaches over obstacles. Towable T350/T500 class is for a small crew that can hitch and will only be at a few peaks. A Z-80 is a commercial building, not a rambler in Mapleton.