Wally Johnson, back in 1946, created the markets for both scaffold towers and aerial work platforms all by himself. He accomplished this by starting a company that became UpRight. Mr. Wally Johnson was an extremely skilled mechanical engineer who lived in Berkeley, California. He stumbled upon access machinery when he began searching for a solution to painting his home.
When Mr. Johnson was embarking on his home painting project, he had a futile search for scaffolding that could handle the uneven ground that surrounded his home. After being very 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 same year within St. Joseph, Missouri. This small company helped to revolutionize the new elevating boom lift. The equipment was produced for firefighting and rescue work. In less than twenty years, the technology had developed into self-propelled boom lifts.
In 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. After he had accomplished this field, he decided to start all over and make the first self-propelled aerial lift in the world.
In the year 1972, Mr. Johnson opened a new factory in Selma. There he manufactured 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 income.
Wallace Johnson passed away in the year 1980. At that time, the company UpRight Inc. was sold but his inventive and pioneering spirit lived on. During the year 1994, UpRight introduced the first micro-scissor in the globe. They went on to pioneer the self-propelled mast lift, the TM12.