HIAB hire in Blackburn
Along the M65, and up into the valley
The M65 makes this part of Lancashire straightforward to work. It runs the length of the corridor, so once we are on it Blackburn, Accrington, Great Harwood and Clitheroe are all within reach of one another, and a day can take in more than one job without much of it being spent driving. We come up from Manchester through Bury to join it, or over the tops on the A666 if the job is in Darwen.
The industrial work here has a particular character. A great deal of it happens in older mill and works buildings, in Blackburn itself, along the valley bottom in Darwen and around Accrington and Church. These are buildings that were never laid out for modern lorries. The entry is narrow, the yard is small and often on a slope, the surface may be setted, and the opening the load has to go through is frequently on the first or second floor rather than at ground level. None of that stops the work. It just means the position the lorry stands in matters more than the lift does.
Then the ground changes. Out past Whalley and Clitheroe into the Ribble Valley, and up the lanes towards Sabden, Ribchester and Waddington, it is farms, barns, converted outbuildings and rural yards. The access is usually a long track with a gateway at the end of it, and after any decent rain that track will be soft. That is worth mentioning when you email, because it changes what we bring and how we set up.
Along the corridor
The Blackburn and east Lancashire work we get asked for
- Machinery in and out of mill and older industrial buildings
- Loads lifted to a first or second floor opening
- Container deliveries, collections and yard repositioning
- Plant and machinery moved between sites along the M65
- Cabins, welfare units and site offices set down and levelled
- Steel, timber and site materials placed where the crew need them
- Farm and barn deliveries up the lanes in the Ribble Valley
- Tanks and vessels into agricultural and industrial buildings
- Pods and garden buildings lifted over a wall, fence or hedge
- Work on soft or sloping ground where the lorry has to be packed up
Manchester based, and we drive up
We have no depot in Blackburn or anywhere else in Lancashire. Our lorries, our drivers and our secure yard are all in Manchester and we travel out from there. On this corridor that is no great obstacle, but it does mean an early start, and it means that if you have two jobs to do it is worth putting them on the same day.
Every vehicle goes out with our own driver. Email us and describe the job in plain terms: what it is, where it is now, where it has to end up, what the entry is like and what the ground is like. That is enough for us to tell you what we would send and how long we would need.
Common questions
HIAB hire in Blackburn, answered
How long is the run up to Blackburn?
Around an hour from our Manchester yard, up through Bury and onto the M65, or over the tops on the A666 for Darwen. Once we are on the M65 the whole corridor opens up, so Accrington, Great Harwood and Clitheroe are not much further than Blackburn itself.
Is the travel from Manchester charged on top?
No, there is no separate travel line. The journey is part of the price along with the vehicle and the time on site. If you have more than one job up here, or a load heading further into Lancashire, it is worth telling us, because putting them on the same day usually works out better for you.
Can you lift into an old mill or a first floor opening?
It is a lot of what we do up here. The mills and older industrial buildings along the M65 tend to have a narrow entry, a yard that was laid out for horses rather than artics, and a loading door on an upper floor. What decides it is where the lorry can stand and what is overhead. Send us a photograph of the approach if you can, it saves a lot of guessing.
The track is soft after rain. Will you still come?
Tell us and we will plan for it. In the Ribble Valley this comes up often. A loaded lorry on wet ground is a genuine problem, and a HIAB has to be standing on something firm before the boom moves. Sometimes the answer is to stand on the hard standing and reach in. Sometimes it is to put boards down. Sometimes it is to wait for a drier day. What we will not do is turn up, sink in and make a mess of your yard.
Do you work Saturday mornings up here?
Yes, to half twelve on a Saturday. On a job this far out it means an early departure from the yard, so give us some notice in the week. It suits work in a unit that has to be empty, or a farm job that cannot happen on a working weekday.
How far into the Ribble Valley and east Lancashire do you go?
All of it. Clitheroe, Whalley, Longridge, Ribchester and the villages, and east through Burnley, Padiham, Nelson and Colne. We also work nationally through England, Scotland and Wales.
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