EXHIBIT 99


Cautionary Statements Pursuant to the Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995


The Company wishes to inform its investors of the following important 
factors that in some cases have affected, and in the future could 
affect, the Company's results of operations and that could cause such 
future results of operations to differ materially from those expressed 
in any forward looking statements made by or on behalf of the Company.  
Disclosure of these factors is intended to permit the Company to take 
advantage of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities 
Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  Many of these factors have been 
discussed in prior SEC filings by the Company.  Though the Company has 
attempted to list comprehensively these important cautionary factors, 
the Company wishes to caution investors that other factors may in the 
future prove to be important in affecting the Company's results of 
operations.

Cyclical Demand -- Demand for new equipment manufactured by the Company 
tends to be cyclical, responding historically to varying levels of 
construction and industrial activity, principally in the United States 
and, to a lesser extent, in other industrialized nations.  Other factors 
affecting demand include the availability and cost of financing for 
equipment purchases and the market availability of used equipment.  
Company management continuously monitors these and other factors that 
affect demand for the Company's equipment. However, predicting levels of 
demand beyond a short term is necessarily imprecise and demand may at 
times change dramatically.

Consolidating Customers Base; Rental Companies -- The principal 
customers for the Company's new equipment are independent 
equipment distributors that rent the Company's products and provide 
service support to equipment users. In recent years, growth in sales to 
equipment rental companies has outpaced growth in direct sales to end 
users, resulting in equipment rental companies comprising a larger share 
of total sales.  At the same time there has been substantial 
consolidation in ownership among rental companies, resulting in a more 
limited number of major customers comprising a substantial portion of 
total sales.  Unanticipated purchasing decisions by any of these major 
customers could materially affect overall demand for the Company's 
products and the Company's financial performance.  More generally, 
during recessionary conditions, demand for equipment by equipment rental 
companies typically declines more sharply than demand for equipment 
purchased by end-users.

Manufacturing Capacity -- Despite continuous improvement programs that 
have achieved substantial improvements in manufacturing efficiency and 
throughput, the Company's ability to meet additional growth in demand 
for new equipment is constrained by manufacturing capacity limits.  Long 
lead-times required to fill customer orders is a negative factor in the 
Company's ability to compete for new business and subcontracting costs 
incurred to increase capacity affect profitability.  The Company 
recently acquired an 109,000 square foot manufacturing facility which, 
when fully operational by year-end 1996, should alleviate capacity 
constraint for scissor lifts. However, capacity to manufacture boom 
lifts, which comprise a larger percentage of sales, is becoming 
increasingly limited.  Given the cyclical nature of demand, this 
investment, or other capital investments to acquire additional lift 
manufacturing facilities involves significant risks.  The Company is 
addressing capacity constraints by outsourcing certain production 
processes and relocating certain manufacturing operations to leased 
facilities. Ultimately, to service increasing international sales, the 
Company is considering establishing a manufacturing presence overseas.

Product Liability -- Use of the Company's products involves risks of 
personal injury and property damage and liability exposure for the 
Company. The Company insures against this liability through a 
combination of a self-insurance retention and catastrophic coverage in 
excess of the retention.  The Company monitors all incidents of which it 
becomes aware involving the use of its products that result in personal 
injury or property damage and establishes accrued liability reserves on 
its financial statements based on liability estimates with respect to 
claims arising from such incidents.  Future or unreported incidents 
involving personal injury or property damage or unanticipated variances 
between actual liabilities for known incidents and Company estimates may 
adversely affect the Company's financial performance.

Availability of Product Components -- The Company obtains raw materials 
and certain manufactured components from third-party suppliers.  To 
reduce materials costs and inventories, the Company relies on supplier 
partnership arrangements with preferred vendors as a sole source for 
"just-in-time" delivery of many raw materials and manufactured 
components.  Because the Company maintains limited raw materials 
inventories, even brief unanticipated delays in delivery by suppliers, 
including due to labor disputes, impaired financial condition of 
suppliers, weather emergencies or other natural disasters, may adversely 
affect the Company's ability to satisfy its customers on a timely basis 
and thereby affect the Company's financial performance.

Foreign Sales -- A growing component of the Company's business has been 
export sales to Europe, Latin America and Asia.  Maintenance and 
continued growth of this segment of the Company's business may be 
affected by changes in trade, monetary and fiscal policies, laws and 
regulations of the United States and other trading nations and by 
foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations and the ability or inability 
of the Company to hedge against exchange rate risks.

Competition; Continued Innovation -- The Company faces substantial 
competition in the market for its products and some of the Company's 
competitors are, or in the future may be, owned by larger enterprises 
that may have greater financial resources and offer wider product lines 
than the Company. Throughout its history, the Company has devoted 
substantial resources to product development and has generally succeeded 
in being a market leader in introducing new high-reach products or 
incorporating new features and functions into existing products.  New 
products introduced within the prior two years account for typically 
between 20 and 25 percent of product sales in current years.  The 
Company also holds certain patents which it believes are valuable. 
Successful product innovation by competitors that reach the market prior 
to comparable innovation by the Company or that are amenable to patent 
protection may adversely affect the Company's financial performance.

Unanticipated Litigation -- The Company occasionally has faced 
unanticipated intellectual property and shareholder litigation which has 
involved significant unbudgeted expenditures.  The costs and other 
effects of any future, unanticipated legal or administrative proceedings 
may be significant.

Dependence Upon Key Personnel -- The Company believes that it has 
developed a strong management team which intends to continue the 
Company's growth and profitability.  However, the loss or unavailability 
of certain key management personnel, principally L. David Black, the 
Company's Chairman of the Board,  President and Chief Executive Officer, 
could adversely affect the Company's business and prospects.