Wally Johnson, back in 1946, created the markets for both aerial work platforms and scaffold towers all by himself. He attained this by establishing a company which became UpRight. Mr. Wally Johnson was a very gifted mechanical engineer who resided in Berkeley, CA. He stumbled upon access equipment when he started searching for a a way to paint his house.
Mr. Johnson found it hard to search for capable scaffolding when he started a house painting project. Existing scaffolding could not deal with the uneven ground on his property. After being really unsatisfied with his choices, he decided to design his own aluminum scaffold tower together with adjustable legs.
The Snorkel Company was also founded the same year in St. Joseph, Missouri. This small company helped to transform the new elevating boom lift. The machinery was made for firefighting and rescue work. In less than 20 years, the technology had developed into self-propelled boom lifts.
During 1977, Snorkel sold its very first self-propelled lift. This particular product line did not take long to become the main business for the company.
Wallace Johnson quickly catapulted to the top of the business with his new scaffold. Once he had attained this field, he decided to start all over and invent the world's first self-propelled aerial lift.
In the year 1972, Mr. Johnson opened a new factory within Selma. There he manufactured 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 company`s main source of revenue.
Wallace Johnson passed away during 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 very first micro-scissor in the world. They went on to pioneer the self-propelled mast lift, the TM12.