Back during the year 1946, Wally Johnson started to create the markets for both the aerial work platforms and scaffold towers all by himself. He did this by starting a business that became UpRight. Mr. Wally Johnson was a really skilled mechanical engineer who lived in Berkeley, California. He stumbled upon access equipment when he began looking for a a way to paint his house.
Mr. Johnson found it hard to look for capable scaffolding when he started a house painting project. Current scaffolding was not able to handle the uneven ground on his property. After being really discontented with his choices, he decided to design his own aluminum scaffold tower together with adjustable legs.
In that same year, the Snorkel Company was founded within St. Joseph, Missouri. The company was responsible for introducing a revolutionary new elevating boom lift to the market. The equipment was made for firefighting and rescue work. In less than 20 years, the technology had developed into self-propelled boom lifts.
The first self-propelled lift was sold by Snorkel in 1977. This particular product line did not take long to become the main business for the company.
Wallace Johnson rapidly catapulted to the top of the industry with his new scaffold. When he had attained this field, he decided to start all over and make the first self-propelled aerial lift in the globe.
In 1972, Mr. Johnson opened a new factory in Selma. There he produced the "Flying Carpet" scissor lift. After this exciting and new machine exploded onto the marketplace, the innovative product soon out-ranked the scaffolding component as the main source of revenue of the company.
Wallace Johnson passed away in 1980. At that time, the company UpRight Inc. was sold but his pioneering and inventive spirit lived on. During the year 1994, UpRight launched the first micro-scissor in the world. They went on to pioneer the TM12, that is the self-propelled mast lift.