Contents
Machine movement in Stockport and across Greater Manchester
We provide machine movement in Stockport for engineering firms, food producers, distribution sites, hospitals and the businesses still working out of the town’s mills. We move single machines and full production lines. That covers new installations, relocations from one site to another, internal moves and re-layouts, removals and disposal, loading and transport, storage between sites, and replacing machines that have broken down.
The M60 brings loads close to almost every part of the town, and the viaduct and rail bridges set a height limit on the last stretch of some routes. We work across Stockport, Bredbury, Reddish, Cheadle, Heaton Chapel, Hazel Grove, Marple and Poynton, and out to Wilmslow and Glossop. Most moves are priced the same working day from a desktop survey.
What a machine move involves
The order of work rarely changes. The machine is disconnected and made safe, rigged and extracted, transported, then positioned, levelled and set down on its mounts. Heavy items leaving a building go out by crane onto a low loader. Moves within a factory are done with jacks, skates and gantries and never touch the road.
What we move in Stockport
| Equipment | Where it usually is | How it moves |
|---|---|---|
| CNC machines, presses and machine tools | Engineering units at Bredbury Park and in Reddish | Raised on jacks, run out on skates and loaded by crane or gantry |
| Production and packing lines | Food and drink manufacturers around the town | Split into marked sections and reassembled in the new layout |
| Racking, conveyors and sortation equipment | Distribution units along the M60 | Taken out bay by bay while the rest of the warehouse trades |
| Print and finishing machinery | Light manufacturing in the older mill buildings | Broken down to sub-assemblies where the doors or floor demand it |
| Chillers, air handling units and pumps | Plant rooms in hospitals, schools and public buildings | Craned from the roof, or brought through on skates and a gantry |
| Transformers and switchgear | Substations and water treatment works across the area | Delivered to hardstanding, then jacked down onto the plinth |
Tell us the weight, the footprint and where it is going. The machine movement service page covers each stage in more detail.
Contact us
Get In Touch
Please leave a few details and a member of our machine movement team will be in touch to discuss your requirements in more detail.
Where we work in and around Stockport
Most of our machine movement work in Stockport comes from six kinds of site.
Bredbury Park and the M60 estates
Bredbury Park, Reddish and the estates along the motorway are the busiest part of our Stockport work. Firms here buy new machines and outgrow their units, and we bring plant in or clear it out. See our industrial sector page.
Mills and older industrial buildings
Some of the surviving mills still house print and light manufacturing firms. Others are being converted, and their old plant has to come out first. Low ceilings and narrow doors mean machines leave in sections or on skates, over floors whose capacity we check before anything moves. See our print and packaging page.
Town-centre regeneration
The redevelopment running through the town centre puts new plant rooms into residential and mixed-use blocks. We set generators, pumps and air handling units on their bases for the mechanical contractor. See our construction sector page.
Food and drink production
Food manufacturers around the town add lines and reorganise a floor when a product changes. We plan the work around your cleaning schedule and hand the line back section by section as each part is set. See our food and beverages page.
Hospitals, schools and public buildings
Here we move plant: chillers, pumps, boilers and air handling units, plus some laboratory and kitchen equipment. School jobs go into the holidays, and hospital moves follow a route agreed with the estates team. See our healthcare and pharma and education pages.
Rail and utilities
Rail equipment is moved inside a booked possession, and substation or water treatment changes follow the outage the network operator gives us. See our rail and power and renewables pages.
Access and planning for a machine move in Stockport
Points we check on most Stockport jobs:
- Getting loads in and out. The M60 circles the town, with the A6, A34 and A560 running in from it. Before we price, the route is checked for weight limits and pinch points on the final stretch.
- The viaduct and rail bridges. The railway crosses much of the town on bridges and the viaduct, which caps the height of a loaded trailer on some routes. Tall machines are measured against those clearances at survey.
- Floors and ground. Mill floors, and the made ground along the Mersey and the Tame, need their capacity confirmed before a skate route or crane pad is set out. Point loads are spread with steel plate or mats.
- Working hours. A move in a live factory goes into a weekend or a planned stop. We allow for setting up and clearing away inside that time.
- Road closures. Where a load-out needs a lane or pavement closed, we arrange the traffic management and road closure with Stockport Council.
Moving large or heavy machinery by road
A vehicle and load over 44,000kg gross, 2.9m wide or 18.65m long is an abnormal load. Up to 80,000kg the highway and bridge authorities need two clear working days’ notice through ESDAL, rising to five above that, when the police need notice too. Loads over 2.9m wide or 18.65m long also need two clear working days’ notice to the police. Above 150,000kg or 6.1m wide a Special Order is needed, applied for about ten weeks ahead. We handle the notifications ourselves or with your haulier. From Stockport, heavy loads join the M60 and head out on the M56 or M62.
Postcodes and areas we cover
We cover every SK postcode and the districts around the town:
- Stockport: Edgeley, Reddish, Heaton Chapel, Bredbury, Romiley, Woodley and the town centre
- South and west: Cheadle, Cheadle Hulme, Gatley, Bramhall and Hazel Grove
- East: Marple, Mellor, Hyde, New Mills and Glossop
- Further out: Manchester, Ashton-under-Lyne, Poynton, Wilmslow, Macclesfield and Buxton
We also move machinery right across the UK.
Why Stockport firms choose Synergy Lifting for machine movement
- Kit for mills and modern units. We bring low-headroom gantries and skates for tight mill floors, and cranes for the open yards on the M60 estates.
- Priced from a proper survey. Floors, doors and the route to the road are checked before we quote, so the job on the day matches the price.
- One firm from start to finish. The crane, skates, jacks, gantries and transport are ours, and our own people run them from rigging to set-down.
- Qualified and accredited. CPCS and NPORS operators, lifts planned to BS 7121, equipment inspected under LOLER and PUWER, SSIP approved, Constructionline Gold Member, certified to ISO 9001 and ISO 14001, and members of the Construction Plant-hire Association.
More than machine movement
A Stockport machine move can bring in other work, so we also offer:
How a machine move works
- Send us the weight and dimensions, where the machine is now, where it is going and your dates, with photos if you have them.
- We price it from a desktop survey, usually the same working day. Complex moves may need a site visit first.
- We write the method statement, risk assessment and lift plan.
- On the day we rig and extract the machine, transport it and put it in position.
- It is set down and levelled, then handed over for your engineers to commission.
Common questions
Our machine is on an upper floor of a mill. Can you get it out?
Yes. We check what the floor will carry, the width of the doors and stairwells, and whether a hoist or a new wall opening can be used. The machine then comes out whole on skates or in sections, with a crane lifting from the yard where it has to leave above ground level.
Will a tall machine clear the rail bridges on the way out?
We measure the loaded height against the bridges on each possible route at survey. If the machine is too tall on its trailer, we route around the low structures or use a lower-deck trailer, and guards or hoods can come off for the journey.
Who disconnects and reconnects the machine?
Mechanical disconnection and making safe is usually ours, and we position the machine precisely enough for commissioning. Electrical and control reconnection is coordinated with your own engineers or the machine manufacturer, and who covers what is agreed at survey stage.
Can you move a machine that has broken down?
Yes. Breakdown work is prioritised because production has usually stopped. Call us with the machine details and we will give you a firm attendance time on the call.
Get a quote for machine movement in Stockport
- Phone: 0161 568 8586
- Email: stockport@synergy-lifting.co.uk
Send the weight, the dimensions and both addresses, and photos of the machine and the way out if you can.
We also provide machine movement in Manchester, Warrington, Wigan and Stoke. See all the machine movement locations.