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 starting a business that was called UpRight. Mr. Wally Johnson was an extremely skilled mechanical engineer who hailed from Berkeley, CA. He stumbled upon access machines when he started looking for a solution to painting his home.
Mr. Johnson found it hard to search for capable scaffolding when he started a house painting project. Existing scaffolding could not handle the uneven terrain on his land. After being really unsatisfied with his choices, he decided to design his own aluminum scaffold tower complete with adjustable legs.
The Snorkel Company was also established the same year within St. Joseph, Missouri. This small business helped to transform the new elevating boom lift. The equipment was made for firefighting and rescue work. In less than 20 years, the technology had developed into self-propelled boom lifts.
In 1977, Snorkel sold its first self-propelled lift. This specialized product line did not take long to become the main business for the company.
It did not take long for Wallace Johnson to catapult to the top of the business and achieve worldwide dominance with his scaffold. After he had accomplished this field, he decided to start all over and make the first self-propelled aerial lift in the world.
Mr. Johnson during the year 1972, opened a factory in Selma, where he produced 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.
In 1980, Wallace Johnson passed away, while the company, UpRight Inc. was sold at that time also. Mr Johnson's pioneering and inventive spirit did continue to live on. In 1994, UpRight introduced the very first micro-scissor in the world. They went on to pioneer the self-propelled mast lift, the TM12.