If you’ve spent more than five minutes on a jobsite, you’ve seen both names painted on high-reaching boom arms. One of the most common questions contractors ask our team when upgrading telehandler capacity, replacing high-hour machines, or expanding a fleet for multi-story commercial work is: What’s the difference between JLG and SkyTrak?
JLG acquired SkyTrak in 2003. Both brands originate from the same parent manufacturer, share core engineering, and are sold, rented, and serviced through Southeastern Equipment. Understanding how their designs and capabilities differ makes it simple to pick the right machine for your jobsite.
JLG sells telehandlers under two names, JLG and SkyTrak, split further into Compact and High Capacity series by model. Most of the guts are shared across both brands, so you're not sacrificing engineering by picking one badge over the other. Think a Toyota-and-Lexus-type relationship.
JLG produces a broad spectrum of equipment, including boom lifts, scissor lifts, and high-capacity telehandlers, while SkyTrak focuses exclusively on rugged telehandlers built for daily material handling.
JLG's telehandlers range from 5,500 to nearly 17,000 pounds of lift capacity, with heights topping out around 44 feet. That means there's a machine sized for a small landscaping crew and one built for heavy commercial lifting. Beyond telehandlers, JLG also builds boom lifts and scissor lifts. Articulated boom swing platforms as high as 150 feet, telescopic booms stretch to 186 feet, and scissor lifts range from compact low-level units under 20 feet to rough-terrain machines topping 90 feet. Add towable booms and stock pickers for warehouse work, and JLG covers just about any job that needs height.
If your crew needs one brand for both the telehandler and the aerial work platform, JLG is the one-stop option.
SkyTrak has built its reputation as the ultimate jobsite workhorse. Simple, tough, and dependable, a SkyTrak lift is engineered for straightforward material handling across compact and heavy-duty job sites.
The SkyTrak 3013 is the runt of the lineup at 2,700 pounds of capacity and 13 feet of lift height, small enough to squeeze through a garden center gate or work a tight farm lot. From there, it climbs through machines like the SkyTrak 6042 (6,000 pounds, 42 feet), built for masonry and framing crews, up to the SkyTrak 10054 and SkyTrak 12054, which handle 10,000 to 12,000 pounds with 53 feet of reach for steel erectors and big commercial jobs. The 12054 adds a Stabil-Trak rear axle system to keep the machine steady when you're fully extended with a heavy load, plus ClearSky connectivity hardware for fleet tracking.
Pull up JLG and SkyTrak models side by side on our new equipment page to compare reach, lift height, and capacity model to model. Check the rental inventory page if buying isn't the move yet.
|
Feature/Capability |
SkyTrak Telehandlers |
JLG Telehandlers & Aerials |
|
Primary Engineering Focus |
Dedicated material handling & jobsite lifting |
Versatile reach, material handling, & aerial work |
|
Capacity Range |
2,700 to 12,000 lbs |
5,500 to ~17,000 lbs |
|
Product Portfolio |
Telehandlers only |
Telehandlers, boom lifts, scissor lifts, towable booms |
|
Key Features |
Stabil-Trak rear axle stabilization, ClearSky telematics |
Multi-access capability, high-reach telescopic booms |
|
Best Used For |
Framing, masonry, & high-volume material placement |
Commercial job sites needing shared aerial & lifting fleets |
Not ready to buy outright? Our Rental Purchase Option lets you run either brand on your own site first, with every rental payment applied straight toward the purchase price if you decide to keep the machine. Want to see how a specific model handles before committing to anything? Our local sales team will bring it to your site for a hands-on demo.
Got an older machine taking up space on the lot? We'll weigh its history and condition against real industry data and apply a fair trade value toward whatever JLG or SkyTrak model replaces it.
Doesn't matter where you bought it. Southeastern's factory-trained technicians, backed by more than 500 years of combined experience, work on any color machine that rolls into the shop, including SkyTrak and JLG. With 16 locations across Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, and Michigan, local help is rarely far from your jobsite.
New equipment backed by the Southeastern Promise gets mileage and travel time covered on warrantable repairs, plus a loaner unit of a similar class if something goes wrong in the first year or 250 hours. Need a part? Order OEM or aftermarket parts anytime through our 24/7 online parts portal, with same-day shipping on in-stock orders placed before 2:30 PM EST and hassle-free 30-day returns.
Our JLG parts collection includes over 7,600 parts, including boom and scissor lift cylinders and valves, control modules and joysticks, platform and rail components, drive motors, engine parts, and filters. A lot of those are serial-break specific, so keep your machine’s data plate handy when you order or call 740-432-6303 for help.
Set up a preventative maintenance plan and let us handle the upkeep instead of finding out about a problem the hard way, or add an extended warranty once the factory coverage runs out so you're never caught exposed. A CNH Productivity Plus credit line makes it easier to manage repairs, planned maintenance, and parts without straining your cash flow.
Yes. SkyTrak has been a JLG-owned brand since 2003 and is sold alongside JLG's own telehandler lineup.
Oshkosh Corporation, which picked up JLG (then Oshkosh Truck Corporation) in 2006. JLG dates back to 1969 and was founded by John L. Grove, whose initials became the company name.
Mostly focus. SkyTrak builds only telehandlers, from compact to heavy-duty, with features like Stabil-Trak. JLG's telehandlers share components with SkyTrak but sit inside a broader lineup that also includes boom lifts and scissor lifts.
Not here. We sell and service both, so the right call comes down to which model fits the job, not which badge is on the hood.
Ready to buy? Shop SkyTrak equipment or shop JLG equipment on our new equipment page. Already running one and need a hand? Schedule service with your local branch, any brand, any color, no hard feelings.