A bundle of architectural shingles weighs 60 to 80 pounds. A 2,000-square-foot roof takes 60 to 80 of them. Somebody has to get all of that up there — and then get roughly the same weight of tear-off back down again.
How your crew handles that single problem shapes your labor cost, your injury risk, your callback rate, and how many jobs you finish in a week. It is one of the few decisions in roofing where the right equipment pays for itself in measurable time saved.
This guide covers the four ways contractors move material onto a roof, with honest comparisons of reach, capacity, and cost. We make one of them. We will tell you plainly where it fits and where it does not.
The short version
- Ladder hoists reach highest and cost least — 28 ft standard, 44 ft extended, $2,500 to $6,000 — but they only move material up.
- Conveyor trucks are a supplier service rather than equipment you own. Around $150 delivery, 31 to 43 ft, with strict access and clearance rules.
- Boom trucks handle palletized bulk on commercial decks at $500 to $1,200 per lift. Overkill on a 22-square ranch.
- Drivable lifts are the only option that also brings debris down — 4,000 lb capacity, but capped at a 12 ft lift.
- Most contractors' real bottleneck is cleanup, not delivery. Time your crew for a week before you spend anything.
First, a note on the names
This equipment has no standard vocabulary, which makes it genuinely hard to shop for. Search for a roof lift and you get results for a ladder lift. Ask two suppliers for a shingle ladder lift and one quotes a track hoist while the other quotes a conveyor truck.
- Ladder hoist, ladder lift, laddervator — a track system leaning against the house with a powered platform. The most common meaning.
- Shingle lift, shingle hoist, shingle ladder lift — the same machine, named for what it usually carries.
- Shingle elevator — also the same machine. Some manufacturers prefer this term for models that carry material up and over the roof edge rather than stopping at it.
- Roofing lift, roof lift — the broadest term. Can mean any of the above, and often means a drivable lift or a boom. Always ask what someone actually means.
When you compare quotes, confirm three things: the reach, the capacity, and whether the unit handles debris on the way down. Those answers tell you what you are actually buying, whatever it is called.
Which method fits which job
If you want the answer without reading four sections, find your situation below.
- Three storeys or taller. A ladder hoist with extended track. Nothing else here reaches, and a drivable lift definitely does not.
- Steep pitch, tight equipment budget. A pivoting ladder hoist. It adjusts 35 to 75 degrees and delivers over the edge instead of stopping at it.
- Clean access, staging a whole job at once. A conveyor truck from your supplier. No capital spend, and the roof is loaded before your crew arrives.
- Commercial deck, palletized material. A boom truck. The per-lift cost only makes sense spread across a large roof.
- Residential tear-off where cleanup eats your afternoons. A drivable lift. It is the only one that carries debris off the property.
- Mixed work. Many contractors run a hoist and a drivable lift together. They solve different halves of the same day.
Ladder hoists
Reach 28 ft standard, 44 ft extended · Capacity 200–500 lb · Buy $2,500–$6,000 · Rent $150–200/day · Debris down? No
The ladder hoist is the workhorse of residential roofing. It is the cheapest powered way to get material up, it fits on a ladder rack, and it has been doing this job for more than fifty years.
It is a track-and-carriage system. Aluminum track sections lean against the structure, a motor drives a platform up the track, and the platform delivers material to the roof edge. RGC has been building them in Buffalo for over 75 years; Safety Hoist Company, TranzSporter, GEDA, and ShingleLadder compete in the same space.
Capacity and reach
Most manufacturers offer 200, 250, 300, 400, and 500-pound capacities. The standard configuration is 28 feet, typically three 8-foot sections plus one 4-foot section, and you extend to roughly 44 feet by adding sections. Track stores on your ladder rack between jobs.
Power and speed
Gas engines and 110V electric are both standard. Battery units are the newer entry — TranzVolt's G2 Pro Kit runs on two 20V batteries for about eight hours at 2 feet per second with a wireless remote, removing both the extension cord and the fuel can from your job site. The fast units are genuinely fast: ShingleLadder claims a bundle on the roof every 10 seconds, roughly 20 squares in 10 minutes, from a unit weighing 85 pounds.
Steep slopes
Pivoting models adjust between 35 and 75 degrees and deliver material up and over the roof edge rather than stopping at it. On a steep pitch, that matters more than any spec on the sheet.
Where ladder hoists fall short
They move material in exactly one direction: up. When the tear-off comes down, you are back to tarps, wheelbarrows, and a dumpster in the driveway. They also require assembly on every job, need stable footing, and add a ladder to a roofline that may already be crowded.
Choose a ladder hoist if you work steep pitches, need reach above 12 feet, run tight margins on equipment spend, or already have a debris process you are happy with.
Conveyor trucks
Reach 31–43 ft · Capacity bundle by bundle · Cost ~$150 delivery, or $300–800 rental · Debris down? No
The conveyor truck is usually not something you own — it is a service your supply house provides. A belt-driven boom mounted to a delivery truck runs bundles from the bed to the roof.
For a delivery day on a straightforward house, this is hard to beat. Your supplier stages the whole job on the roof before your crew arrives, and you pay a delivery fee rather than buying equipment. Fees run around $150 at many suppliers, often with a per-mile charge beyond 50 miles.
The constraints are real
Conveyor trucks cannot operate within 10 feet of power lines or tree branches. They need room to park and maneuver, and they need to reach the roof without crossing a curb, sidewalk, or lawn. Many suppliers will not rooftop 4x8 insulation board, TPO, PVC, or EPDM rolls by conveyor at all for safety reasons. And if the driver decides the setup is unsafe, your material ends up on the ground and your morning is gone.
Choose a conveyor truck if your supplier offers it, the house has clean access, and you are staging a full job in one delivery.
Boom trucks and knuckle booms
Reach 50–160 ft · Capacity thousands of lb · Cost $200 delivery, $500–1,200 per lift · Debris down? No
A knuckle boom or boom truck lifts palletized material in bulk, at reaches from 50 feet to well over 100. For a large commercial roof, nothing else is practical.
For most residential work it is overkill. Boom lifts require scheduling, sometimes permits, a clear setup area, and certified operators. Those costs make sense spread across a 40-square commercial deck. They do not make sense on a 22-square ranch.
Choose a boom truck if you are working tall or large-scale commercial, moving palletized material, or the roof is simply out of reach of anything else.
Drivable lifts
Reach 12 ft · Capacity 4,000 lb in 4.1 cu yd · Buy low-to-mid $30,000s · Rent $200–250/day · Debris down? Yes
This is the category we build, so weigh the rest of this section accordingly. The comparison is still worth making, because a drivable lift solves a different problem than the other three.
The Equipter® 4000 is a self-propelled, towable container on a hydraulic lift. It tows behind a standard pickup, unhitches, and drives itself into a backyard on wide tires that do not rut the lawn. The container raises to 12 feet and holds 4,000 pounds, with a 4-foot rollback that positions it over flower beds rather than on top of them.
Why it is a different category
It works in both directions. Raise it to the roofline and your crew loads material off it. Leave it there and the same container catches tear-off as it comes down. When it is full, drive it to a dumpster or dump truck, raise, and release the hydraulic tailgate. Debris never touches the lawn.
That is the real comparison. A ladder hoist solves material delivery. A drivable lift solves material delivery and debris containment, which is why the labor math works out differently. Equipter reports that 56% of 4000 owners finish two to six more jobs per month, and 17% finish at least six more.
Specifications
12-foot lift, 4-foot rollback, 4,000-pound capacity, 4.1 cubic yard container, 3,940-pound unit weight, 7,500 GVW, Honda iGX 390 engine, steel frame with aluminum container, independent outriggers, electric-over-hydraulic disc brakes. No special license required — operators need a walkthrough, not a certification.
What it costs
New units run in the low-to-mid $30,000s depending on configuration and freight. Used units trade between roughly $13,000 and $30,000, and the machines hold 75 to 80% of their value — which changes the ownership math considerably compared to equipment that depreciates hard.
Where it falls short
The 12-foot lift reaches the eave of most residential and low-rise commercial roofs. It will not reach a third story. If your work is consistently tall, a ladder hoist with 44 feet of track is the better tool, full stop. It is also a larger capital purchase than a hoist and needs a truck rated to tow it. If your volume is low or your jobs are mostly steep and tall, the numbers may not favor it.
Choose a drivable lift if you run residential tear-off volume, debris cleanup is eating your crew hours, property damage callbacks are costing you, or you want the job site to look different from every other bid the homeowner got.
How to actually choose
Skip the spec sheets for a minute and answer three questions.
- How tall is your typical roof? Above two storeys you need a ladder hoist with extended track, or a boom. Below that, everything is on the table.
- Is your bottleneck material going up, or debris coming down? Most contractors instinctively answer up, because that is the visible problem in the morning. Then they spend the last two hours of the day on cleanup. Time your crew honestly for a week before you decide.
- What does a property damage callback cost you? Not just the repair — the referral you did not get. If you are eating one or two a season, that number belongs in the equipment math.
Running the numbers yourself
The math is simpler than it looks. Take your crew's fully loaded hourly cost, multiply by the hours you would save per job, multiply by jobs per month. Compare that against the monthly payment or rental cost.
A worked example: a four-person crew at $180 an hour, saving two hours across eight tear-offs a month, recovers $2,880 of labor. Against a $650 monthly payment that nets roughly $2,230 a month, and the equipment covers its own payment inside the first two jobs. Run it with your own numbers — if the hours saved are closer to half an hour, the maths stops working, and you should know that before you sign anything.
Two figures people forget. First, disposal: if a drivable lift means skipping the driveway dumpster on some jobs, that fee and the permit hassle come off the cost side. Second, resale: equipment holding 75 to 80% of its value has a very different five-year cost than equipment that does not, even at a higher sticker price.
Then be honest about the third thing, which is harder to put a number on. A clean job site is the most visible signal of professionalism a homeowner sees, and it is what they describe to the neighbour who asks who did their roof. Some contractors treat that as marketing spend rather than equipment spend. That is not an unreasonable way to look at it.
Rent before you buy
Any of this equipment can be rented before you commit, and that is the honest recommendation regardless of which direction you lean.
Run a ladder hoist for a week on real jobs. Run a drivable lift for a week on the same kind of jobs. Time the tear-off. Time the cleanup. Count the trips to the dumpster. The answer usually becomes obvious by Wednesday, and you will have real numbers instead of a sales pitch.
Equipter rentals are available through a nationwide dealer and rental network.
Frequently asked questions
What is a ladder hoist?
A ladder hoist is a track-and-carriage system that carries roofing material from the ground to the roof edge. Aluminum track leans against the structure and a powered platform runs up it. It is also called a ladder lift, shingle elevator, shingle hoist, or laddervator.
How much weight can a shingle lift carry?
Most ladder hoists are rated between 200 and 500 pounds, covering roughly three to six bundles per trip. Drivable lifts carry considerably more — the Equipter 4000 is rated at 4,000 pounds.
How high can a ladder hoist reach?
The standard configuration reaches about 28 feet. Adding 4-foot or 8-foot track sections extends most models to roughly 44 feet, enough for most three-storey residential work.
What does a shingle lift cost to rent?
Roughly $150 to $200 per day for a ladder hoist through national and regional rental yards, though rates vary by market and duration. Drivable lifts rent for about $200 to $250 per day.
Is a ladder hoist OSHA compliant?
Ladder hoists are widely used to meet material-handling safety requirements, and manufacturers build to applicable standards. Compliance depends on correct setup, footing, and operation — follow the manufacturer's instructions and your own safety program.
Can a shingle lift also remove debris?
No. Ladder hoists move material in one direction, upward. Removing tear-off requires a separate process — tarps and wheelbarrows to a dumpster, or a drivable lift that catches debris at the roofline and carries it out.
Gas or electric ladder hoist — which is better?
Electric units are quieter, need no fuel, and suit residential neighbourhoods and enclosed spaces, but require a power source. Gas units are independent of power access. Battery models split the difference with roughly eight hours of runtime and no cord.
What is the difference between a shingle lift and an Equipter 4000?
A shingle lift is a track hoist that carries material up to the roof edge. The Equipter 4000 is a drivable container on a hydraulic lift that carries material up and catches debris coming down, then hauls it off the property. Different tools for overlapping problems — the shingle lift reaches higher, the drivable lift handles both directions.
Equipter® is a registered trademark of New Heights LLC. Product names, specifications, and pricing referenced for other manufacturers belong to their respective owners and are cited for comparison purposes. Pricing observed in 2026 and subject to change.
Share this article
