MEWP width guide

What the quoted width actually covers

A published width figure usually describes the stowed chassis, but that convention isn't universal, and it doesn't always include guardrails, an extended basket, deployed outriggers or optional equipment bolted to the side of the machine. Two machines quoted at the same width on paper can need meaningfully different clearance once you account for what's actually sticking out.

Never plan to the exact millimetre

Selecting a machine whose quoted width matches an opening exactly, with no margin, is asking for trouble. Steering geometry, surface irregularities, door furniture and simple driving accuracy all eat into that margin before the machine has even started work. Leave real clearance, and treat the quoted figure as a minimum opening, not a target.

If the route is genuinely tight, our under 800 mm and under 1 metre collections are a faster starting point than filtering the full catalogue by hand.

Width is one constraint among several

A machine that clears the narrowest doorway can still fail on stowed height, overall length, turning radius or floor loading further along the route. Check the whole path from unloading point to work position, not just the tightest single point, before assuming a machine will actually get where it needs to go. Our guide to choosing a MEWP covers that full route check in order.