Plant and machinery transport: the complete guide

1. What plant and machinery can be transported?

SK Recovery's plant and machinery transport covers small plant and equipment up to 3.5 tonnes — including mini excavators, dumpers, rollers, generators and access equipment — for hire companies, builders, landscapers and private owners. Machines travel on a 7.5-tonne tilt-and-slide bed with a low loading approach, which suits tracked machinery and low-clearance equipment that would struggle with steep ramps.

2. What the operator needs to give you a price

• The machine — type, make and model if you know it, and its weight. Weight decides whether the machine is within the 3.5-tonne payload.
• Collection and delivery locations — postcodes, plus site names and contacts.
• Whether it starts and drives or tracks under its own power.
• Access and ground — gates, slopes, soft ground, low branches, anything tight at either end.
• Timing — delivery windows, site hours and any deadline, such as a machine needed for a job starting date.

If you do not know the machine's weight, say so — it can usually be identified from the make and model, and it is far better checked before the truck leaves than at the gate.

3. How machinery transport works, step by step

1. The movement is agreed — machine, weight, locations, access, timing and the full price, confirmed upfront.
2. The bed is positioned and lowered. The tilt-and-slide bed drops to a shallow angle with a low loading approach.
3. The machine is loaded — driven or tracked on under its own power, or winched where that is suitable.
4. It is secured using D-ring anchor points and wheel chocks, ready for the road.
5. It travels insured under goods in transit and on-hook cover.
6. It is unloaded at the destination — site, yard, depot or home — positioned as agreed where access allows.

Request a machinery transport quote

4. What affects the cost of machinery transport?

• Distance — including the truck's full round trip.
• The machine — weight and size within the 3.5-tonne payload, and how it loads.
• Ground and access — firm yard loading is quick; soft, steep or restricted sites take longer.
• Condition — a machine that starts and tracks on is simpler than a non-starter.
• Timing — early deliveries, fixed site windows and urgent moves.
• Regular work — repeated movements between the same sites can be planned as scheduled transport.

5. Collections and deliveries on site

Site work runs on other people's rules, so share them early: opening hours, delivery booking arrangements, who signs for the machine, and where exactly it should be put down. Early deliveries and unattended delivery can be arranged in advance, where suitable. For hire fleets and regular site work, our scheduled machinery transport service plans repeat movements between sites, yards and depots.

6. Machines that will not start

Plant often needs moving precisely because it has stopped. Where a machine will not start, loading by winch may be possible, subject to its condition and the access available — a machine on firm, level ground is a very different job from one on a slope or soft ground. Describe the machine's position and surroundings honestly when you book, and the operator can plan the loading rather than improvise it.

7. Questions to ask any machinery transport operator

• Is my machine within your payload, and how will you load it?
• Is the price the full price, agreed upfront?
• Is the machine insured while it is on your truck?
• Can you meet our site delivery window?
• Who do I call on the day for an update?

Common questions

Need machinery moved?

Call 07944 597463 or request a quote with the machine, its weight and both locations. For cars and vans instead, read our vehicle transport guide.