Low loader hire
For machines that will not go on a flatbed
Some plant simply will not travel on a flat bed. It is too tall once it is up there, it is too heavy for the axles, or it is tracked and needs a ramp and a low deck to get on in the first place. That is what a low loader is for.
The deck sits close to the road, so a tall machine still clears bridges and the load stays stable. The ramps at the back mean tracked and wheeled plant drives straight on. Once it is up, the machine is chained and strapped down properly for the road, and it comes off the same way at the other end.
Our drivers do the loading and the securing. That is not an extra. You are hiring the vehicle and the driver together, so there is nothing for you to arrange beyond telling us what the machine is and where it has to be.
What goes on the low loader
The low loader work we get asked for
- Tracked excavators and diggers, large and small
- Dumpers, loading shovels and site rollers
- Telescopic and articulated boom lifts
- Scissor lifts and mast climbing machines
- Telehandlers and industrial forklifts
- Factory and workshop machinery coming out on a relocation
- Dismantled boom and lattice sections
- Machines going out to hire and coming back off it
- Breakdowns and off hires that need collecting
- One off items that are too tall for a flat bed
What to tell us when you email
What the machine is, ideally the make and model, because that tells us more than any description will. Then where it is now, where it is going, and whether it drives. Those four things are usually enough for us to price it and put the right vehicle on it.
After that it is access. Where we can get the low loader in, whether there is hard standing to load from, and whether the ground at the far end will take a loaded trailer without sinking into it. Soft ground is the thing that catches people out most often, so say something if you are not sure.
Low loader hire in Manchester is a short run for us and the North West is routine, but the trailers go a great deal further than that. A machine collected in Greater Manchester and delivered in Kent is one booking on one vehicle.
Common questions
Low loader hire, answered
What is a low loader for?
Machines that are too tall or too heavy to sit on a normal flat bed. The deck on a low loader sits much lower to the ground, so a tall machine still travels legally and a heavy one is spread properly across the axles. Boom lifts, excavators and industrial machines are the usual customers.
Do you load the machine, or do I have to?
We load it. Our driver takes care of loading, chaining and securing the machine, and unloading at the other end. You do not need to find a driver or a banksman, and nobody from your side has to drive anything up a ramp.
Can you move tracked machines?
Yes, tracked and wheeled both. Tracked machines are our bread and butter on the low loader, because the ramps and the low deck are exactly what they need. If it is a rubber tracked machine going onto a finished surface at the far end, mention it and we will plan for that.
What if the machine will not start or will not drive?
Still doable in most cases, but it changes the job, so tell us before the day rather than on it. A machine that cannot drive itself up the ramps has to be winched or lifted, and that needs planning and sometimes a different vehicle.
Is it just plant, or will you move other things?
Anything that suits a low deck. Industrial machinery coming out of a factory, mast machines, dismantled boom sections, static units and one off items that are simply too tall for a flat. Email and describe it.
How far will you go?
We are in Miles Platting in Manchester and we work across Greater Manchester and the North West daily, plus long distance jobs into England, Scotland and Wales. A machine going from a Manchester depot to a site in Wales is a normal week for us.
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