Telehandlers and forklifts
Moved between sites and into buildings, lifted in through openings where they cannot be driven.
Lifted on, not driven on · Mainland UK
Plant and machinery transport
The crane is on the lorry. A machine that will not start, has no operator with it or cannot climb a ramp still gets loaded — and set down exactly where it is needed at the other end.
Why it matters
Loading is where plant moves go wrong
Most failed plant movements fail at the loading, not on the road. The machine will not start, the operator has gone home, the ramp angle grounds it out, or there is no hard standing to load from. A lorry with its own crane removes all four problems.
The same applies at the delivery end. Rather than needing somewhere to unload and then driving the machine across the site, we can place it directly where it is going to work — inside a compound, behind a building, on the far side of a trench.
Where a machine is too tall for a flatbed we put it on the low loader instead, and where it is over 2.9 metres wide the movement becomes an abnormal load and we handle the notices.
What we move
Plant, machinery and equipment
Access platforms and boom lifts
Booms and scissor lifts collected from depots and set down inside the compound rather than at the gate.
Long-distance machine moves
Norwich to Kilmarnock in one movement. At 44 tonnes gross the journey is worth doing once rather than twice.
Fabrications and frames
Engineering equipment and steel fabrications that are neither standard plant nor ordinary freight.
Generators and compressors
Skid-mounted units collected, carried and set down on their bearers ready to be connected.
Machinery into finished buildings
Factory plant taken in through openings and positioned on prepared bases inside live premises.
Before you book
The three figures we need
Plant movement quotes go wrong on estimates. These three, taken from the machine plate rather than guessed, settle almost everything.
Operating weight
From the machine plate or the manufacturer’s data, including attachments and any ballast. This decides both the vehicle and whether the crane can lift it.
Travelling dimensions
Length, width and height as the machine will actually sit on the bed — boom lowered, bucket off, mirrors folded. Over 2.9 metres wide changes the paperwork.
Access at both ends
How the lorry gets in and where it can stand with its legs out. Gateway width, kerbs and anything overhead tell us more than a site plan does.
Our biggest crane lifts over 8 tonnes and the vehicle carries up to 5.5 tonnes, and capacity falls the further out the crane works; the full charts for all five cranes are on the lifting capacity page. If a machine is outside the chart at the radius you need, we will tell you before the day rather than on it.
Common questions
Plant and machinery transport, answered
What is the advantage over a normal plant lorry?
A machine that will not start, has no operator on site, or simply cannot climb a ramp still gets loaded, because our crane picks it up. On a beavertail or a low loader without a crane, a machine that will not drive is a wasted journey.
How heavy a machine can you carry?
Weight and lifting are two separate questions. On weight, our artics and wagon and drags run at 44 tonnes gross, so the payload is generous. On lifting, our biggest crane lifts over 8 tonnes and the vehicle carries up to 5.5 tonnes, so tell us the machine weight and we will check it against the chart before committing.
Do you move tracked machines?
Yes. Tracked plant travels with the tracks cleaned and the machine chained to its own lashing points. For taller machines a low loader keeps the travelling height legal — see our low loader page.
Can you collect from a hire depot?
Yes, and it is a lot of what we do. Depot to site, site to site as a job phases, and back to the depot at the end. Tell us the collection reference and we will deal with the depot directly.
What about access platforms and booms?
Regular work for us. Boom lifts, scissor lifts and telehandlers move between sites constantly, and the lifting capability means they can be set down inside a compound rather than left at the gate.
Do you do one-off machine moves for private customers?
Yes, not just trade accounts. Tell us the make and model and where it has to go, and we will come back with a price.
What does plant and machinery movement involve?
Plant machinery transport means getting a machine from where it is to where it is needed without driving it there. We lift it onto the bed with the vehicle's own crane, secure it, move it and lift it off at the far end. For anything too tall or too heavy for a flatbed the low loader does the same job with a lower deck height.
Do you offer plant transport services or plant hire?
Transport only. We move plant, we do not hire it out. That is worth being clear about because the two get confused constantly: if you need a machine, you want a plant hire company; if you have a machine and it needs to be somewhere else, that is us.
Make and model, and where it is going
That is enough to start. We will confirm the vehicle, the loading method and the price.
