Rigging-Busters are CNC machine movers for St. Catharines, Ontario, and the rest of Niagara. Our crew rigs, hauls and sets lathes, machining centres, grinders and other machine tools for job shops, auto suppliers, greenhouse-equipment builders and marine repair shops, then re-levels each machine so it is ready for your electricians and the builder’s technician.
We know what makes CNC machine moving different from other plant work: a heavy casting on a small footprint, axes and a spindle that must be locked, a coolant tank to drain and a control that must be backed up before the power goes off. If you run a machine shop, we plan the move around your production; we move machines, we do not make parts.
Need a machine moved in St. Catharines, ON or elsewhere in Niagara? Tell us the machine and both addresses, and we will plan the move.
- Plant equipment only: we are industrial equipment movers, so no household, apartment or office moves.
- One crew, start to finish: rigging, hauling, set-in-place, levelling and millwright installation.
- Fast replies: quotes within 2–4 business hours, and estimates are free.
- Minimum job: 3,500 CAD. Most industrial jobs cost more, and your written quote shows the full price.
- Where we work: St. Catharines, Niagara Falls, Thorold, Welland and the rest of the Niagara Region, plus Hamilton and southern Ontario.
Want a ballpark first? Our Heavy Lifting & Moving Calculator gives an instant, rough price range.
or give a call +1-647-846-5179
Whether you need to transport a single lathe or relocate an entire production line, our industrial machine and heavy equipment movers plan the job from the first visit to the final level check.
Comprehensive CNC Machine Moving Services in St. Catharines
Rigging-Busters covers each part of your CNC machine moving requirements in St. Catharines and across the Niagara Region. Use one service or combine them.
CNC Machine Relocation
Our CNC machine relocation service handles moves within Niagara and beyond, for example a lathe going from a small unit in Merritton to a larger building in Thorold, or a machining centre moving into a new plant in Welland. We plan each one from the first site visit to the restart.
CNC Machine Transport
As a CNC machine transportation company, we haul with the same crew that rigged the machine. It travels blocked and chained on a trailer picked for its weight and height, on a route checked for permits, low clearances and the Welland Canal crossings.
CNC Machine Installation
Besides moving and transport, we offer CNC machine installation: we set the machine on its marks, level it and do the millwright work, so it is ready when your electricians and the OEM technician arrive.
Customized Moving Solutions
Every shop runs on its own schedule, so we build customized moving solutions around it: one machine over a long weekend, a shop moved in phases, or a machine bought at auction and delivered to your door. We plan all our industrial moving services this way, including CNC machinery relocation services in St. Catharines.
How We Move a CNC Machine in St. Catharines
Every CNC move follows the same seven steps. What changes is who owns each one:
- Site visit (our crew): we take the weight and lifting points from the nameplate and the manual, then walk the route: floor, trench covers, doors, ramp or dock.
- Method and permits (our crew): we choose skates, a gantry or jack-and-roll, book the trailer and apply for any City, Niagara Region or MTO permit the load needs.
- Backup and drain (your team or the OEM): parameters, offsets and programs are saved, the coolant is drained, and chips and tooling are cleared.
- Power off (your licensed electricians): the machine is locked out and disconnected, and air and coolant lines are capped.
- Lock and skid (our crew): we lock the axes, secure the spindle and tie down doors and covers, then raise the machine onto skates or rollers.
- Haul (our crew): the machine rides chained and blocked on the planned route, canal crossing included.
- Set, level and restart (our crew, then the OEM): we land the machine on its marks and re-level it; the OEM technician restores the backup and checks the accuracy.
Preparing the Machine: Backups, Coolant and Shipping Brackets
The week before the move belongs to your shop. Ask your maintenance lead or the machine builder for a full backup of the control, including parameters, pitch-error compensation, tool offsets and programs, and keep a copy off the machine. Drain the coolant tank, clean out the chips, and remove the tooling, vises and fixtures. Find the shipping brackets that came with the machine if you still have them. Book the OEM technician for the restart early, because their first open date often decides the moving day.
Rigging Methods and Industrial Moving Equipment
On moving day we lock every axis with the shipping brackets or with blocking, secure the spindle and strap down the doors and covers. Our industrial moving equipment is chosen for the building:
- Machinery skates and toe jacks on a sound, level floor
- Jack-and-roll with steel cribbing to raise a heavy machine in stages
- A hydraulic gantry where the machine must be lifted and there is no overhead crane
- A heavy-capacity forklift in the yard and at the dock
- Your overhead crane if it is rated for the load, or our crane or a licensed partner crane outdoors
Permits in St. Catharines and the Niagara Region
Each road authority on the route issues its own oversize or overweight permit. The City of St. Catharines permit covers City roads only, and the application must include a sketch of the vehicle dimensions and the travel route; the City sends carriers to Niagara Region and the MTO for their roads (City of St. Catharines road permits). Regional roads need a Niagara Region permit, and a load over 63,500 kg crossing a Regional structure pays an extra Ontario Bridge Formula check fee (Niagara Region road permits).
The QEW and Highways 405, 406 and 420 are provincial, so an oversize load there needs an MTO oversize permit. The Niagara Parkway belongs to Niagara Parks: vehicles over 5,000 kg need its written permission, a heavy vehicle permit is required when the Parkway is the only way to bring in a heavy load, and the load may use only the shortest possible stretch (Niagara Parks permits). We apply for each permit and build the lead time into the schedule.
Crossing the Welland Canal and the US Border
The Welland Canal runs through the city: St. Catharines is its northern entrance, and several of its locks are inside city limits. The QEW crosses the canal on the Garden City Skyway, with no lift bridge to wait for. When the Skyway is closed, traffic is sent to the Homer Lift Bridge, which rises for passing ships, so we plan the crossing time and a second route before moving day.
For a machine bought from or sold to a US shop, Highway 405 runs from the QEW to the Lewiston–Queenston Bridge, which takes commercial trucks; the Rainbow Bridge does not. Cross-border US transport is quoted case by case. Customs data, state permits and the Niagara truck crossings are explained under moving machinery across the border.
Set-In-Place, Re-Levelling and OEM Recommissioning
At the new site the machine goes back on its levelling pads, and we level it with a precision level before anything is reconnected. Your licensed electricians restore power; your team or the OEM loads the backup, checks the geometry and cuts a test part. New concrete can settle, so on a new floor we suggest a second level check once the machine has run for a few weeks.
Moving heavy plant equipment too? For industrial equipment moving beyond machine tools, our machinery movers in St. Catharines handle the rest of the plant, and industrial rigging services in St. Catharines cover rigging-only work.
or give a call +1-647-846-5179
CNC Machines We Move in St. Catharines
Our CNC movers in St. Catharines handle the machine tools found in Niagara job shops, tool rooms and plant maintenance departments:
- Vertical machining centres and 5-axis machines
- CNC lathes, turning centres and Swiss-type lathes
- Horizontal machining centres with pallet systems
- Boring mills and large lathes from marine and repair shops
- Grinders, EDM machines and coordinate measuring machines (CMMs)
- Press brakes, shears, and laser or plasma cutting tables
- Robot cells, bar feeders, chip conveyors and control cabinets
Industries We Serve in St. Catharines and Niagara
Automotive and mobility technology accounts for more than 1,800 direct jobs in St. Catharines, and GM Canada has put 28 million dollars into a cogeneration project at its St. Catharines Propulsion Plant, according to Invest in St. Catharines. The City also points to greenhouse systems automation, built on Niagara’s role in Canada’s greenhouse industry, and to marine work, including an 8.7 million dollar investment at Heddle Shipyards. We move machine tools for the shops that supply those plants, for greenhouse-equipment builders, and for marine repair and fabrication shops.
Closing Shops, Auctions and Used Machines
When a shop closes or sells its equipment at auction, the machines must be out by a fixed date. We rig, load and haul CNC machines for buyers and sellers within that window, then set the machine in place and level it at the buyer’s shop. Moving a whole shop or plant? See our factory and plant relocation services in Hamilton, which also cover St. Catharines.
CNC Machine Moving Cost in St. Catharines: What Affects the Price
We price each CNC move as its own job once we know the machine and both sites. These are the factors that change the number:
- Weight and shape: weight, height and centre of gravity, plus loose units such as a chip conveyor, coolant tank or bar feeder
- The buildings: door sizes, docks or ramps, trench covers and floor loading at both ends
- Lifting method: skates, jack-and-roll, a gantry or a crane lift (any crane time is part of your quote)
- The route: distance, City, Niagara Region or MTO permits, and the canal crossing
- Added services: crating, storage between sites, millwright work and a return visit to re-level
- Timing: evenings, weekends or a plant shutdown
The lowest-cost moves are the ones where the machine is backed up, drained and disconnected before we arrive, and where one quote covers rigging, transport and set-in-place. For a first range, try our Heavy Lifting & Moving Calculator.
Why St. Catharines Shops Choose Us for CNC Machine Moving
What a St. Catharines shop gets when it hires Rigging-Busters as its CNC moving company, a machine moving company that does industrial work only:
- Machines only: machine tools and plant equipment, never homes or offices.
- Same crew from start to finish: our CNC movers rig, haul, set and level the machine.
- Gear matched to the building: skates, jack-and-roll and gantries, with crane lifts by our crane or a licensed partner.
- Permits handled: City of St. Catharines, Niagara Region and MTO permits, and Niagara Parks permission when the Parkway is the only route.
- Your schedule: evenings, weekends and shutdowns, to move your machines safely and efficiently.
- Quick answers: quotes within 2–4 business hours.
- Insured: liability and workers’ compensation insurance (WSIB in Ontario), with a certificate of insurance on request.
A good fit: single CNC machines, full machine shop moves, new machine deliveries and installation, machines bought at auction or from a closing plant, and machines coming from or going to the US.
Not a fit: CNC machining, programming or repair, CNC rental, used-machine sales, crane rental, scaffolding, and household or office moves. If you are looking for movers in Niagara Falls, Ontario for a home or an apartment, a residential moving company is the right call.
or give a call +1-647-846-5179
Contact Rigging-Busters Today
Ready to move a CNC machine?
Ask for a free quote on CNC machine moving services in St. Catharines. Our CNC machine movers in St. Catharines reply within 2–4 business hours.
Have These Ready for an Exact Quote
Put these details in your quote request and we can price the move without a second call:
- The machine: make, model and weight, with a photo of the serial plate
- What travels with it: chip conveyor, coolant tank, bar feeder, pallets or transformer
- Both addresses, with door sizes, docks and trenches, and whether the route crosses the Welland Canal or needs the Niagara Parkway
- Dates: the last day the machine runs and the day it must cut parts again
- Prep status: control backed up, coolant drained and power disconnected, or still to do
- Photos of the machine and the path to the truck
Let Us Handle Your CNC Machine Moving Needs
Tell us what the machine is, where it is going and when it must be back in production, and we will build the move around that date.
Quotes are in Canadian dollars (CAD), and we accept cash or cashless payment.
Send the machine details to get your CNC move quoted.
or give a call +1-647-846-5179
Service Area: St. Catharines, Niagara Falls and the Niagara Region
In St. Catharines we work in every part of the city: Port Dalhousie, Port Weller, Grantham, Merritton (a separate town until 1961) and the sites along the Welland Canal. The map below shows our Niagara service area, roughly 50 km around St. Catharines.
Across the region we cover Niagara Falls, Ontario, Thorold, Welland, Pelham, Port Colborne, Fort Erie, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Lincoln and Grimsby, and Hamilton is next door. Same service nearby: CNC machine movers in Hamilton. For longer moves, see our machinery movers across Ontario.
Key Niagara Cities We Serve
| City | Province | Country |
|---|---|---|
| St. Catharines | Ontario | Canada |
| Niagara Falls | Ontario | Canada |
| Grimsby | Ontario | Canada |
| Fort Erie | Ontario | Canada |
| Lincoln | Ontario | Canada |
| Niagara-on-the-Lake | Ontario | Canada |
| Port Colborne | Ontario | Canada |
| Pelham | Ontario | Canada |
| Thorold | Ontario | Canada |
| Welland | Ontario | Canada |
or give a call +1-647-846-5179
Other Services in St. Catharines
Related services from our crew in St. Catharines and Niagara Falls, Ontario, or browse all our services in St. Catharines:
- Heavy Equipment & Machinery Movers in St. Catharines, ON
- Heavy & Industrial Rigging Services in St. Catharines, ON
- Lab & Medical Equipment Movers in St. Catharines, ON
- Forklift Moving Service in St. Catharines, ON
Location of our sales office:
264 Welland Ave, St. Catharines, ON L2R 2P8, Canada
CNC Machine Moving in St. Catharines: FAQ
It depends on the machine and the two sites: weight, size and loose units, the access at each end, the lifting method, the distance, and any City, Niagara Region or MTO permit. We quote each CNC move after reviewing photos and both addresses. Estimates are free, and our Heavy Lifting and Moving Calculator gives a first range.
The usual risks are an axis or spindle damaged because it was not locked, a tall machine tipping on a ramp or uneven floor, a cracked trench cover, a coolant spill, and lost accuracy after a hard set-down. Locked axes, a checked route, a blocked and chained load and re-levelling before restart remove most of them.
You get one crew that plans the route and permits, rigs the machine with skates, gantries or jack-and-roll, hauls it, and sets and levels it at the new site. There are no hand-offs between a rigger, a trucker and an installer, and the move is timed around your production, so the machine is back cutting parts sooner.
Only for an oversize or overweight load, and each road authority issues its own. The City of St. Catharines covers City roads and wants a sketch of the vehicle and the route with the application. Niagara Region covers Regional roads, and the MTO covers the QEW and Highways 405, 406 and 420. We apply for every permit on the route.
Usually on the QEW over the Garden City Skyway, which crosses the canal without a lift bridge. When the Skyway is closed, traffic goes to the Homer Lift Bridge, which rises for passing ships, so we plan the timing and a second route before moving day. A load over 63,500 kg crossing a Niagara Region structure also pays a bridge-formula check fee.
Only with written permission from Niagara Parks. Vehicles over 5,000 kg need it, a heavy vehicle permit is required when the Parkway is the only way to reach the site, and the load may use only the shortest possible stretch. For most sites in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Niagara Falls and Fort Erie, we route on the QEW and Regional roads instead.
Your side: a full control backup with parameters, offsets and programs, a drained coolant tank, cleared chips and tooling, and licensed electricians to disconnect and later reconnect power. Our side: axis locks, a secured spindle, rigging, transport, set-in-place and re-levelling. The OEM technician then reloads the backup and checks accuracy before production starts.
Yes, case by case. From St. Catharines, Highway 405 runs to the Lewiston–Queenston Bridge, which takes commercial trucks; the Rainbow Bridge does not. Send us the seller address, the machine details and who handles the customs paperwork, and we will quote the rigging at the seller, the haul and the set-in-place at your shop.
All of St. Catharines, including Port Dalhousie, Port Weller, Grantham and Merritton, plus Niagara Falls, Thorold, Welland, Pelham, Port Colborne, Fort Erie, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Lincoln and Grimsby. Next door, see our CNC machine movers in Hamilton. Send both addresses with your quote request and we will confirm the route.
No. We move CNC machines and other plant equipment; we do not machine parts, write programs, rent machines or repair them. For CNC machining, call a machine shop. St. Catharines has several. If you own a shop and are moving, adding or replacing machines, we handle the rigging, transport and set-in-place.
