Wally Johnson, back in 1946, created the markets for both aerial work platforms and scaffold towers all by himself. He accomplished this by establishing a business that was known as UpRight. Mr. Wally Johnson was a very skilled mechanical engineer who hailed from Berkeley, California. He stumbled upon access machinery when he started searching for a a way to paint his home.
Mr. Johnson found it hard to look for capable scaffolding when he began a home painting project. Existing scaffolding was not able to deal with the uneven terrain on his property. After being really unsatisfied with his options, he decided to design his very own aluminum scaffold tower along with adjustable legs.
The Snorkel Company was also founded the very same year in St. Joseph, Missouri. This small business helped to transform the new elevating boom lift. The machinery was made for firefighting and rescue work. In less than 2 decades, the technology had developed into self-propelled boom lifts.
The first self-propelled lift was sold by Snorkel during 1977. This particular product line did not take long to become the company's main business.
Wallace Johnson rapidly catapulted to the top of the business with his new scaffold. When he had attained this field, he decided to start all over and make the world's first self-propelled aerial lift.
During 1972, Mr. Johnson opened a new factory in Selma. There he produced the "Flying Carpet" scissor lift. After this new and exciting machine exploded onto the marketplace, the innovative product soon out-ranked the scaffolding component as the company`s main source of revenue.
During the year 1980, Wallace Johnson passed away, while the company, UpRight Inc. was sold at that time as well. Mr Johnson's pioneering and inventive spirit did continue to live on. During 1994, UpRight introduced the first micro-scissor in the globe. They went on to pioneer the self-propelled mast lift, the TM12.