Service and maintenance – mini-cranes, vacuum lifters, powered access
Hird Ltd has a national team of qualified engineers who are fully qualified and experienced in servicing and maintaining vacuum lifters, powered access equipment and mini cranes.
Our extensive product knowledge means we have the know-how to keep mini cranes, mobile elevating working platforms (MEWPs) and vacuum lifting equipment maintained safely to meet LOLER and PUWER standards.
Mobile emergency and planned maintenance
We have a team of mobile engineers who can attend customer’s premises and worksites across the UK to maintain and service equipment quickly and efficiently with least disruption to operations.
All Hird engineers carry a stock of parts, and we can order other parts rapidly, so many maintenance tasks and repairs can be carried out with a first-time fix.

Our mobile engineers will respond rapidly to an emergency breakdown call out, or they will carry our maintenance and servicing as part of a scheduled service.
Where necessary, we will collect equipment and take it to one of our maintenance centres to carry out more complex maintenance or machine refurbishment tasks.
We have an extensive parts store but if your mini crane, MEWP, or vacuum lifter, cannot be repaired quickly, we can provide a replacement machine to minimise downtime.
Planned, preventive lifting equipment maintenance
Planned, preventative maintenance will keep your lifting and powered access equipment compliant with the required regulatory standards.
Scheduled maintenance of mini cranes, vacuum lifters and powered access platforms helps you work safely and efficiently for longer, with fewer costly breakdowns.
Hird carries our regular servicing, including the Thorough Examination, of a wide range of lifting and access equipment, including pick and carry cranes, spider cranes, glazing robots, material lifts, cherry pickers, scissor lifters, and aerial booms.
We carry out maintenance, repairs and servicing of machines from manufacturers that include Genie, JLG, Skyjack, Niftylift, Pop Up Products, Valla Cranes, Maeda Cranes, UNIC Cranes, Winlet Vacuum Robots, Wood’s Powr-Grip, Pannkoke, and Kappel.
All servicing packages can be designed specifically for your machines.
Service and maintenance – Thorough Examination
Most customers schedule lifting and powered access servicing to be done at the same time as the LOLER Thorough Examination. Services will normally include a full visual inspection to check for faults, damage, wear and tear or missing parts, as well as routine filter changes and lubrication of parts.
Service and maintenance – Mini-Cranes
Mini-crane servicing will normally include:
- Filters, Oils, Battery fluids & Grease
- Operational function tests
- Electrical testing
- Wire-rope inspection (where applicable)
Potential problems can be spotted early and rectified on the spot.
Service and Maintenance – Vacuum Lifters
All machines being serviced receive the same 8-point vacuum lifter test as our hire machines do. This includes:
- Vacuum system inspection and cleaning
- Suction test
- Critical component inspections
- Electrical charging and PAT test
- Operational function test
- Decal and LOLER certificate inspection.
Hird is an approved repairer for Kappel vacuum lifters.
Service and maintenance – powered access
We maintain and service a full range of access platforms, including scissor lifts, boom lifts, push-around lifts, and personnel masts.
We will design powered access maintenance programmes to suit your operation, from scheduling to the level of service you need.
A typical service will normally include:
- Filters, Oils, Battery fluids & Grease
- Operational function tests
- Electrical testing
- Component inspections.
Hird Test for MEWP endurance
Battery endurance tests developed by Hird for articulating booms and scissor lifts have been taken up by manufacturers and equipment supplies around the world.
The Hird Test puts the mobile elevating platforms (MEWPs) through a repeated series of standard manoeuvres across a measured course.
Battery endurance is measured by the number of cycles of the manoeuvre a MEWP achieves before the battery starts to fail.
Find out more about the Hird Test here.
LOLER and PUWER compliance
Putting the safety of your operators first is always the number one priority.
Under LOLER 1998 and PUWER 1998, it is a legal requirement to have lifting and access equipment tested and regularly carry out a thorough examination.
LOLER and PUWER compliance checks, including thorough examinations, are normally carried out at the same time as servicing.
For material handling equipment, the frequency of testing and thorough examination is every 12 months.
For personnel lifting equipment, such as cherry pickers and scissor lifts, it is every 6 months.
Book your scheduled maintenance
Find out more about lifting and powered access maintenance and servicing services from Hird.
We also provide a full range of training, including PASMA, IPAF, CPCS, and safety training, as well as nationwide equipment hire and sales.
Call us on 01482 227333 or click below to enquire online.