A CNC machine is the worst combination of properties a load can have: extremely heavy (5,000 to 60,000+ lbs), top-heavy with a high center of gravity, full of precision-ground surfaces that hold tolerances in ten-thousandths — and usually parked in the middle of a working shop with 30 inches of clearance on either side. This is precisely the job industrial rigging exists for.
Before anything moves: machine prep
- Power down and lock out — electrical disconnect by a qualified electrician, air and coolant lines drained and capped.
- Secure the moving axes. The spindle head, table, and tool changer get brought to their transport positions and locked with the OEM's shipping brackets or fabricated bracing. An unsecured axis sliding mid-lift can destroy ways and ballscrews.
- Remove what should travel separately — tooling, chip conveyor, probes, sheet-metal guarding that blocks rigging points.
- Photograph and document everything — connections, leveling-foot positions, alignment references — so reassembly isn't archaeology.
The lift: where machines get ruined
CNC machines have designated lift points in the manual, and only those. Lift from the casting in the wrong place — or worse, pry under the sheet metal — and you twist the machine's geometry; it'll power on fine and never cut straight again. The standard rigging sequence:
- Toe jacks raise the machine inches at a time from the proper jacking points.
- Machine skates (or air skates on delicate floors) go underneath, and the machine rolls along a planned, floor-load-checked path.
- Where a vertical lift is needed, it's a gantry or crane pick from the manual's lift points, slings padded and angles kept inside spec, with the high center of gravity respected at every step.
The numbers that matter
Weight and C.G. from the manual, not a guess · doorway and path clearances measured to the inch · floor capacity along the route · lift points per the OEM · transport on air-ride only · re-level at destination to the builder's spec before first cut.
Transport and reinstallation
Machining centers ride air-ride trailers, tarped or shrink-wrapped against weather, often with shock indicators on the crate. Oversized machines move as heavy haul with the same permit logic as any big load. At the destination the process reverses — skate in, set on the new pad, then level to the manufacturer's spec and recommission. Leveling isn't cosmetic: machine geometry, circularity, and positioning accuracy all start from a level casting.
One crew that rigs it out, hauls it, and sets it back down — that's the whole point of doing rigging and transport under one roof. Moving a VMC, lathe, or a whole machine shop? Send us the model list and both floor plans — we'll plan the move machine by machine.