Two identical machines can differ by thousands of euros in total cost, and the difference has nothing to do with the price tag. It is everything that happens between the seller's floor and your first cut.
Access decides the price
Before anything else, someone has to answer a boring question: can the machine physically leave the building and enter yours? Door widths, ceiling height, floor loading, a ramp, a lift, a corner in a corridor — each of these can turn a straightforward job into a crane day. Photographs of the route on both ends save more money than any negotiation over the price.
The usual cost items
- Dismantling — draining coolant and oil, removing chip conveyors, splitting the machine if needed, securing axes for travel.
- Rigging — skates, toe jacks, a forklift of the right capacity, or a crane when the machine has to go over a wall.
- Transport — low loader for heavy machines, standard trailer or container for the smaller ones, plus permits when the load is oversized.
- Insurance — cover for the machine's value during the move, not just the haulier's minimum liability.
- Positioning and levelling — foundation bolts, levelling pads, sometimes epoxy grouting.
- Re-commissioning — electrical connection, phase rotation, air supply, geometry check and a test part.
Weight is not the whole story
A five-tonne machine with a high centre of gravity and a fragile column can be more difficult than a ten-tonne machine that sits flat on its base. Tell the rigging company what the machine is, not only what it weighs.
Get the move quoted before you agree the purchase price. It is the only way to compare two machines honestly.
Downtime is a real cost too
If the machine you are replacing has to keep running until the new one arrives, you need floor space for both, or a plan for the gap. Shops that skip this step often discover that the cheapest machine cost them a fortnight of production.
What we can take off your hands
We organise dismantling, rigging, low-loader or container transport, CMR and export documents across Europe, and we can quote the whole move together with the machine so you see one number instead of five. See what that includes or ask for a quotation for a specific machine and address.