Transformers and generators are some of the heaviest, most valuable, and least forgiving equipment on any site. A transformer that takes a hard jolt may need testing before it can be energized. We rig them off the truck and onto their foundations with jacks, skid systems, and cranes, planned around the OEM's handling requirements.
Quick answer: Transformer and generator rigging is the lifting, moving, and setting of power equipment — substation and pad-mount transformers, generator sets, switchgear, and turbines — onto pads and foundations. Badass Logistics uses hydraulic jacking and skidding, gantries, and crane lifts, rigged only from the manufacturer's designated jacking pads and lift points, with impact monitoring and OEM coordination from delivery to final set.
A large transformer isn't just heavy. Its core and windings are sensitive to shock, it may ship with an impact recorder that the manufacturer will read before accepting it, and it can only be jacked and lifted from specific points built for the purpose. Lift from the tank wall or jack from the wrong spot and the damage may not show until testing — or worse, until it's energized.
Generators and switchgear bring their own problems: long enclosures with off-center weight, shipping splits that have to line up perfectly, and pads in tight equipment yards surrounded by things you don't want to hit. Our crews plan every set from the manufacturer's drawings, weights, and handling instructions, and choose the method that puts the least stress on the equipment and the site.
Many of these jobs don't use a crane at all. A transformer is often rolled off the trailer onto cribbing and jacked and skidded onto its pad. Generators and enclosures in open yards are usually crane lifts. Either way, the same crew runs the plan from the truck to the foundation. For the move-in itself, see how to move a transformer into a building.
Large transformers jacked, skidded, and set on foundations with OEM coordination.
Pad-mount and dry-type transformers set at plants, campuses, and data centers.
Standby and prime generators and their enclosures set on pads and in yards.
Switchgear and switchboard shipping splits set and aligned for bolting together.
Turbines, engines, and large motors moved and set on their bases.
Prefabricated electrical buildings and skids set on foundations.
Every manufacturer publishes handling requirements for its equipment. Our plans follow them, and they usually come down to a few principles:
Oil filling, nitrogen handling, dressing, testing, and electrical connection are specialized work done by the manufacturer, your electrical contractor, or testing firms. We coordinate the sequence so the equipment is set and ready when they arrive.
The method depends on the equipment, the site, and how close the truck can get to the foundation:
The equipment is jacked up from the trailer, transferred onto cribbing and skid track, and pushed across to the foundation in controlled strokes. Common for large transformers and tight substations.
Generators, enclosures, and smaller transformers in open yards are often picked directly from the truck to the pad with a planned crane lift.
Where there's no room for a crane but the equipment has to be lifted and traveled, hydraulic gantries do the job with precise control.
Hydraulic gantries, jack-and-slide, toe jacks, and air skates — heavy moves where a crane can't reach.
Jacking & Skidding // riggingCrane lifts planned, rigged, and signaled by our crew — rooftop units, machine picks, and critical lifts.
Crane & Rigging // riggingGenerators, UPS modules, switchgear, cooling units, and loaded racks — rigged into live and new-build data centers.
Data Center Rigging // project freightProject cargo and project freight — container to warehouse, crating, and dedicated lanes managed as one plan, never one-off loads.
Project Freight // riggingEngineered lifts, machine setting, and heavy moves — from a few hundred pounds to 200,000 lbs and beyond.
Industrial RiggingSend the OEM data sheet and the site. We'll plan the set from the truck to the pad.
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