Back in 1946, Wally Johnson started to create the markets for both the aerial work platforms and scaffold towers all by himself. He did this by establishing a business which became UpRight. Mr. Wally Johnson was a very gifted mechanical engineer who lived in Berkeley, California. He stumbled upon access machines when he started searching for a solution to painting his home.
While Mr. Johnson was embarking on his house painting project, he had a fruitless search for scaffolding which could deal with the uneven ground which surrounded his home. After being very unsatisfied with his options, he decided to design his own aluminum scaffold tower along with adjustable legs.
In that same year, the Snorkel Company was founded in St. Joseph, Missouri. The company was responsible for introducing an innovative new elevating boom lift to the market. The machinery was made for rescue and firefighting work. In less than 2 decades, the technology had developed into self-propelled boom lifts.
In the year 1977, Snorkel sold its very first self-propelled lift. This specialized 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. After he had accomplished this field, he decided to start all over and invent the world's very first self-propelled aerial lift.
During 1972, Mr. Johnson opened a new factory in Selma. There he made the "Flying Carpet" scissor lift. After this new and exciting equipment 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 1980. At that time, the company UpRight Inc. was sold but his pioneering and inventive spirit lived on. In the year 1994, UpRight introduced the world's first micro-scissors. They went on to pioneer the self-propelled mast lift, the TM12.