A hurricane-impact picture window the manufacturer calls a four-person lift. A 900-pound storefront IGU. A triple-panel sliding glass door on a waterfront patio. A floor-by-floor re-glaze on a commercial tower. One operator with a remote sets all of it. Iron Bay rents the Smartlift SL 609 HLE RT to glass companies across Florida from our Tampa yard.
Florida's bread and butter. Impact glass is heavy by design, and full-house replacements after named storms mean dozens of picks in a week. The vacuum grips impact IGUs exactly like standard glass.
Oversized retail panes and multi-panel sliding glass doors are the picks that used to need six sets of hands. The yoke tilts the panel into the track and eases it home without a cracked corner.
Tower re-glazes and curtain-wall replacements where panels stage at floor level. Smartlift gear replaces windows on upper floors from the inside out, riding the construction hoist up. Tight footprint, battery power, no crane on the street.
Single panes and IGUs, replacement and new construction, including full-house re-glazes after named storms.
Single panes up to 1,320 lb with the arm in.
Oversized multi-panel sets for waterfront homes and condos. Lift, tilt, and walk the panel into the track.
New construction and replacement on commercial and condo facades.
Heavy oversized panes for high-end residential.
If your pane is over 1,300 lb or has unusual geometry, send specs and a photo. We'll confirm fit before booking. Need more capacity or reach for a facade project? We can source larger Smartlift units through the partner network. See the lineup on the purchase page.
A 6-person glazing crew at $30 an hour costs $180 an hour. Add the breakage risk on a $4,000 IGU and the injury risk on a manual lift, and the numbers get worse. Then compare it to one person, a Smartlift, and a remote.
| Job pattern | Manual crew install | 1 person plus Smartlift | You save |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single 900 lb storefront IGU set | About $720 labor for 4 hours, plus ~10% breakage risk on a $4,000 pane. Real cost about $1,120. | About $30 labor (1 person, 1 hour) on top of your day or week rental. | About $400 to $700 per job, plus zero injury risk. |
| Hurricane impact glass replacement (residential, ~30 panes over 5 days) | About $3,600 labor plus breakage risk. About $4,500 for the week. | Week rental $1,625, insurance $244, round-trip delivery $300, plus about $600 in 1-person labor. About $2,769 for the week. | About $1,700 a week, plus zero injury risk. |
| One IGU breakage avoided | $4,000 replacement plus the schedule slip. | Covered by the 15% insurance line on a Smartlift rental. | One incident pays for a month of rentals. |
Glass companies that use a Smartlift on every install above 600 lb stop calling for crew help. Once the math is obvious, it's hard to go back.
We're new, so while we build our own customer wall, here are glass and window companies on the record with Smartlift gear. Photos courtesy of Smartlift.
"The work gets done faster and safer." A second-generation Swedish glazier runs jobs solo that used to take at least two people. His unit rides in a van, in elevators, and through narrow doorways.
"We cannot and do not want to do without it anymore." A German window dealer sets conservatory glass that used to need a rented crane truck plus extra installers. The SL 609 replaced both, and the saved man-hours paid for the machine.
On a Danish hospital tower with no crane access, facade contractor Kai Andersen set more than 300 windows at 550 to 770 pounds each, minutes per pane, from the inside out with the SL 1009 (the big brother of our unit, and one we can source). "We definitely feel that it makes us more efficient."
Real Iron Bay customer stories will live here as our rental work in Florida builds. We won't fabricate quotes.
The unit is rated to 1,320 lb with the arm in, dropping to 330 lb at full extension. Most storefront IGUs, sliding door panels, and residential impact panes are well within range. Send dimensions and we'll confirm.
Yes. Impact glass has the same smooth, sealed surface as standard architectural glass. The vacuum cups grip it the same way.
Yes. Oversized multi-panel sliders are one of the best uses. The yoke tilts the panel to match the track angle, and the side-shift eases it into the channel without levering against the frame.
At deck level, yes. The unit rides a construction hoist, works off battery power indoors, and sets panels from the inside out the way Smartlift gear did on the Copenhagen tower case above. For picks beyond its 14 ft height or 1,320 lb rating, ask us about sourcing a larger unit.
Yes. Day, week, or month. We see heavy demand August through November, so book ahead.
Tell us the pane sizes, dates, and zip. Quote within 2 hours. Easy to remember: (855) 677-RENT.