Back in 1946, Wally Johnson started to create the markets for the scaffold towers and aerial work platforms all by himself. He attained this by starting a business that was known as UpRight. Mr. Wally Johnson was an extremely gifted mechanical engineer who resided in Berkeley, CA. He stumbled upon access equipment when he began searching for a a way to paint his home.
When Mr. Johnson was embarking on his house painting project, he had a futile search for scaffolding which can deal with the uneven ground which surrounded his house. After being very unsatisfied with his options, he decided to design his very own aluminum scaffold tower together with adjustable legs.
The Snorkel Company was also established the same year in St. Joseph, Missouri. This small company helped to revolutionize the new elevating boom lift. The machine was made for rescue and firefighting work. In less than 2 decades, the technology had developed into self-propelled boom lifts.
During the year 1977, Snorkel sold its first self-propelled lift. This specialized product line did not take long to become the company's main business.
Wallace Johnson rapidly catapulted to the top of the industry with his new scaffold. When he had accomplished this field, he decided to start all over and create the very first self-propelled aerial lift in the world.
Mr. Johnson in the year 1972, opened a factory within Selma, where he made the "Flying Carpet" scissor lift. After this new and exciting machinery exploded onto the marketplace, the innovative product soon out-ranked the scaffolding component as the main source of income of the company.
Wallace Johnson passed away in 1980. At that time, the company UpRight Inc. was sold but his inventive and pioneering spirit lived on. In 1994, UpRight launched the very first micro-scissor in the world. They went on to pioneer the self-propelled mast lift, the TM12.