Plant and machinery transport
Machines moved, and lifted on and off at both ends
Moving plant is rarely just a question of the journey. The machine has to get onto the vehicle, and the place it is sitting is often not somewhere a machine can be driven out of. A yard corner, a basement, a workshop doorway, the wrong side of a fence.
Because the HIAB crane is on our lorry, we do not need the machine to drive itself anywhere. We can lift it out, put it on the bed, take it to the other end and lift it back off into position. Where the machine does drive and it suits a ramp, it goes on a low loader instead. We pick whichever is right for the machine rather than making the machine suit one vehicle.
We do this for plant hire companies moving their own fleet in and out of hire, and for contractors and site managers with a single machine that needs to be somewhere else on Monday. Both are normal work.
What we move
The plant and machinery work we get asked for
- Tracked and wheeled excavators and diggers
- Site dumpers, rollers and loading shovels
- Telescopic, articulated and scissor lifts
- Telehandlers and industrial forklifts
- Factory and workshop machinery on a relocation
- Machines lifted out through a doorway or over a wall
- Deliveries out to hire and collections back off it
- Breakdowns and machines that will not drive
- Machine plus attachments on the same load
- Runs of several machines as a site sets up or clears down
The machine is the easy half of the question
Tell us the make and model and we will know what we are dealing with. What we cannot guess at is the site. Can the lorry stand next to the machine, will the ground take it, is there an overhead cable in the way, and is the gate wide enough for the vehicle the machine needs?
Every job goes out with one of our own drivers, ALLMI and CPCS trained, so the loading and the securing are ours to worry about, not yours. If we think a job needs a proper plan rather than a booking, we will say so and set it up as a contract lift.
Plant transport services get asked for under all sorts of names, and the one people use most is simply "can you move a machine". Whether it is one mini digger going across town or a run of machines coming off a finished site, it is the same conversation: what the machine is, where it is now, and what it has to get past to reach where it is going.
Common questions
Plant and machinery transport, answered
What kind of plant do you move?
Excavators and diggers, tracked and wheeled. Dumpers, rollers and loading shovels. Boom lifts, scissor lifts and telehandlers. Forklifts of most shapes. Industrial and factory machinery coming out of a building. If you are not sure it suits us, email and describe it.
Does the machine have to drive on, or can you lift it?
Either. A machine that drives goes up the ramps onto a low loader. A machine that does not drive, or one that has to come out through a doorway or off an awkward bit of ground, gets lifted on with the HIAB crane instead. That is the advantage of having the lift on the vehicle.
Do you work for plant hire companies?
A lot of our plant work is exactly that, machines going out on hire and coming back off it, often several moves in a week. We are happy to work to a schedule.
I only have one machine to move. Is that too small a job?
No. One digger, one forklift or one lift going from A to B is a normal booking for us and we do them every day. You will not be pushed to the back of the queue for having one item.
Can you get a machine out of a building?
Frequently. We reverse up to the doorway, set the outriggers down and lift the machine straight out onto the bed. Tell us the height and width of the opening and roughly what is inside, and we will tell you whether it is a HIAB job or whether something else is needed.
What do you need to know to price it?
Make and model of the machine if you have it, where it is now, where it is going, whether it drives, and what the access is like at both ends. Access is the thing that changes the answer most, so mention it even if it seems obvious to you.
Related
