Rigging-Busters is a team of CNC and machine tool movers working for shops and plants in Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge. Our CNC machine movers and riggers lock down, skid, load, truck and set in place machining centres, lathes, grinders, EDM machines and press brakes, from one-off machine relocations to a complete machine shop.
If you run a machine shop, a tool-and-die shop or a production cell, the hard part of a move is not the lift. It is keeping the machine accurate and getting it cutting again on schedule. We plan the job with your maintenance lead and the machine’s OEM, so everyone knows who backs up the control, who disconnects the power and when the restart is booked.
- Industrial only: machine tools and plant equipment, no household, office or single-item moves.
- One crew, start to finish: lock-down, rigging, CNC transport, set-in-place, levelling and millwright installation.
- Quick quotes: replies within 2–4 business hours, and estimates are free.
- Where we work: Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge, the Waterloo Region townships and nearby cities.
Want a ballpark first? The Heavy Lifting and Moving Calculator gives a rough price range from a few answers about your machine.
or give a call +1-647-846-5179
CNC and Machine Tool Moving Services in Kitchener-Waterloo
Each service can be booked on its own or quoted together as one job:
- CNC machining centres, lathes, mills, grinders and EDM machines: moved, rigged and installed
- Press brakes, hydraulic presses, stamping and punch presses
- Machine shop and tool-and-die shop relocations, planned machine by machine
- Levelling and anchoring on the new footprint, ready for the OEM to recommission
- New machine installation: unloading, de-crating and setting the machine on its pads
- In-plant moves, unit-to-unit moves and facility-to-facility relocations
- Rigging, skating and hydraulic gantry lifts for heavy machine tools
CNC Machine Relocation
Many machine relocations in Waterloo Region are short trips with tight access: a lathe moving to a larger unit across Kitchener, or a machining centre going from Waterloo to a new building in Cambridge. We plan the route out of the building before the method, checking door widths, floor joints, trench covers, racking and turns, because moving heavy equipment through a working shop is where most of the planning goes.
CNC Machine Transport
For CNC transport the machine travels locked down, blocked and strapped on a flatbed, lowboy or tilt-deck trailer matched to its weight and height. Most single machine tools fit within the legal size limits on the right trailer; tall, wide or very heavy machines need oversize permits, and we apply for them. Machine transportation further afield, including cross-border runs to the US, is quoted the same way.
CNC Machine Installation
Installation decides whether the move was a success. Our millwrights set the machine on its levelling pads or anchors, line it up with your layout and check clearances for doors, chip conveyors and coolant tanks. Your licensed electricians reconnect power, and the OEM’s technician does the final levelling, alignment and test cuts before production restarts.
How We Move a CNC Machine in Kitchener-Waterloo
Seven steps, and who handles each one:
- Details and photos (you): make, model, serial plate, weight, both addresses, door and ceiling heights, and your shutdown dates.
- Site check (our crew): we walk the route out, check floors, ramps, trench covers and overhead obstructions, and choose the lifting method.
- Control backup and draining (your team or the OEM): parameters, programs, offsets and PLC files are backed up, and the coolant is drained.
- Disconnect (your licensed electricians): power is disconnected and locked out, and your maintenance team shuts off the air and coolant lines.
- Lock-down and skidding (our crew): we lock the axes and secure the spindle, table or turret, then raise the machine onto skates or forks and roll it out.
- Transport (our crew): a trailer matched to the load, with Region of Waterloo, municipal and MTO permits when the load is oversize.
- Set-in-place and restart (our millwrights, then the OEM): the machine is set and rough-levelled, your electricians reconnect it and the OEM recommissions it.
Preparing a CNC Machine: Your Shop’s List and the OEM’s
Your side of the preparation, ideally done the week before:
- Back up the control: parameters, part programs, tool and work offsets, and PLC files, on two separate drives.
- Record the machine’s level readings and keep any recent ballbar or laser report, so the OEM can compare after the move.
- Drain the coolant tank, clear the chips, empty the tool magazine and take the tool out of the spindle.
- Ask the OEM for the floor or foundation requirements at the new site, and book its technician for the restart early: that date often decides when you are cutting again.
Our side is the mechanical lock-down. The axes are locked, the spindle head, table or turret is secured with the OEM’s shipping brackets where the machine has them, and the doors and control pendant are tied off so nothing swings in transit.
Skates, Gantry, Forklift or Crane: Choosing the Method
Most machining centres and lathes are raised with toe jacks and rolled out on machinery skates. Long, heavy beds such as horizontal boring mills may need a hydraulic gantry where the building has no overhead crane, and very heavy machines are raised in stages with jack-and-roll. Machines built with fork pockets can travel on a heavy-capacity forklift. When a machine can only come out from above, the lift is done by our crane or a licensed partner crane, planned as part of the move.
Moving a machine only within your building? That is a rigging service rather than a full move, and plenty of shops call a rigging company just for that. See our industrial rigging services in Kitchener.
Machine Transport and Permits in Waterloo Region
Up to three road authorities can be involved in one move. The Region of Waterloo issues oversize load permits for loads over the Highway Traffic Act limits on Regional roads. Its permit terms set a minimum processing time of 10 business days (20 for a superload), and the carrier must survey the route before the permit is issued and arrange any escorts, including police escorts through Waterloo Regional Police. The Regional permit does not replace a city or township permit for local streets, and half-load restrictions are checked with each municipality. Highway 401 and the Conestoga Parkway (Highways 7, 8 and 85) are provincial, so an MTO oversize permit applies there; Ontario asks carriers to apply at least 5 business days ahead. Beyond Waterloo Region, MTO single-trip permits, trailer choice and load securement are explained in machinery transport in Ontario.
After Delivery: Levelling, Re-Levelling and the OEM Restart
On the new floor our millwrights set the machine on its pads, square it to your layout marks and rough-level it. The OEM’s technician then does the precision levelling, the geometry checks and the recommissioning. Plan one more level check a few weeks after start-up: new slabs and freshly set pads settle, and re-levelling early helps the machine hold its tolerances.
or give a call +1-647-846-5179
Machine Tools We Move for Kitchener-Waterloo Shops
Our Kitchener-Waterloo CNC movers handle machine tools and the shop equipment around them, such as:
- Vertical and horizontal machining centres, 5-axis machines and CNC routers
- CNC lathes, turning centres, Swiss-type lathes and manual engine lathes
- Surface and cylindrical grinders, wire and sinker EDM machines, and coordinate measuring machines
- Press brakes, shears, turret punches and laser cutting machines
- Stamping presses, hydraulic presses and injection moulding machines
- Compressors, coolant systems, tool cribs and heat-treat ovens
Presses, Press Brakes and Large Lathes
Stamping presses, press brakes and large lathes are heavy, tall or long, and many sit on their own foundation or in a pit. For Kitchener-Waterloo and Cambridge shops we confirm the weight and centre of gravity from the manufacturer’s data, plan the lift or skate route with you, and secure or remove loose parts such as dies, back gauges and tailstocks before the move. Depending on the doors and the floor, presses go out on skates, a gantry or a crane; large lathes are lifted only at their marked points so the bed isn’t strained. At the new location each machine is set on its prepared foundation and levelled, ready for your OEM or maintenance team to restart it.
Industries We Serve in Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge
Waterloo Region builds cars, automation systems, nuclear components, plastic parts and furniture. The Waterloo Economic Development Corporation’s list of the region’s largest manufacturers includes Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada, ATS, Eclipse Automation and BWXT in Cambridge, Mitchell Plastics in Kitchener and Waterloo, Krug in Kitchener and Teledyne DALSA in Waterloo. Around them sits a deep layer of job shops: the Ontario Machining Network directory lists 48 machine shops and fabricators in Kitchener and 33 in Waterloo, most of them offering CNC machining. We move machines for automotive and automation suppliers, mould makers, aerospace and nuclear component shops, plastics moulders and general job shops.
Machine Shop and Tool-and-Die Shop Relocations
A machine shop relocation is a sequence, not a single lift. We work from a floor plan of the new building, mark each footprint and the order in which machines must arrive, and bring the support equipment across first, so the first machines can run as soon as they are recommissioned. A machine that has to wait for its spot can go into storage between move-out and installation, and machines that arrive in a crate are de-crated on site. For whole production lines and turnkey plant moving, see factory and plant relocation services in Kitchener.
CNC Machine Moving in Cambridge
Cambridge has the densest cluster of machine shops in Waterloo Region. The Ontario Machining Network directory lists 86 shops and fabricators there, 55 of them offering CNC machining and 14 doing tool and die work, against 48 shops in Kitchener. The City of Cambridge says advanced manufacturing accounts for nearly 20% of its workforce, and names robotics and automation, automotive, aerospace and nuclear among its industries.
Cambridge Industrial Areas and Employers
Cambridge was formed in 1973 from Galt, Preston, Hespeler and Blair, and its shops are spread across all of them, from older buildings in Galt and Preston to newer industrial units near Highway 401. Older buildings often mean narrower doors, floor joints and step-downs, so we check access at both ends before quoting. The largest employers include Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada, which begins building a hybrid-only Lexus NX at its Cambridge complex in December 2026, the automation builders ATS and Eclipse Automation, BWXT’s nuclear components plant and Canadian General-Tower. For their supplier shops, a model launch or a new contract usually means new machines arriving, cells being rearranged and older machines going out.
Permits for Machine Moves on Cambridge Roads
Cambridge streets are City roads. Under the City’s Traffic and Parking By-law 22-044, a vehicle and load over the Highway Traffic Act dimensions or weights needs a permit from the City’s Director of Engineering before it moves. The same by-law lets the City post lower load limits on named roads and bridges, and it keeps heavy trucks to listed streets except for deliveries that cannot be reached another way, so the route is planned street by street. Regional roads crossing the city need the Region of Waterloo permit described above, and Highway 401 needs an MTO permit. We handle all three; a machine that stays within the legal limits on its trailer needs none.
or give a call +1-647-846-5179
CNC Machine Moving Cost in Kitchener-Waterloo: What Affects the Price
Every CNC move is quoted for the job in front of us, because two machines of the same weight can need very different work. The price depends on:
- The machine: weight, footprint and height, and whether it travels in one piece or in sections
- Access at both ends: dock or grade door, door width, aisle turns, floor capacity and trench covers
- Method: skates, gantry, forklift, jack-and-roll or a crane lift (crane time is included in your quote)
- Protection: shipping brackets, wrapping or crating for longer trips and storage
- Road: distance, plus oversize permits and escorts if the load needs them
- Installation: levelling pads, anchoring, millwright time and coordination with the OEM visit
- Timing: weekend or shutdown-week work to protect production
Two things lower the bill: a machine that is backed up, drained and emptied of tooling before the crew arrives, and an OEM visit booked close to the delivery date so nobody waits on site. For a rough range, use the Heavy Lifting and Moving Calculator.
Areas We Cover in Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge and Nearby
Our CNC movers work across the Tri-Cities: Kitchener, including Huron Business Park and the industrial lands off Homer Watson Boulevard; Waterloo, including the Northfield Drive area and the City’s new Generation Park; and Cambridge, from Galt to Hespeler. In the townships we cover Woolwich (Elmira, St. Jacobs and Breslau), Wilmot (New Hamburg and Baden), Wellesley and North Dumfries (Ayr). We also take machine moves in Guelph, Brantford, Stratford, Woodstock and Milton: see machinery movers in Guelph and CNC machine movers in Brantford, or machinery movers across Ontario for the rest of the province.
Key Cities We Serve Around Kitchener-Waterloo and Cambridge
| City | Province | Country |
|---|---|---|
| Kitchener | Ontario | Canada |
| Ayr | Ontario | Canada |
| Baden | Ontario | Canada |
| Brantford | Ontario | Canada |
| Cambridge | Ontario | Canada |
| Guelph | Ontario | Canada |
| Elmira | Ontario | Canada |
| Elora | Ontario | Canada |
| Fergus | Ontario | Canada |
| Milton | Ontario | Canada |
| Milverton | Ontario | Canada |
| New Hamburg | Ontario | Canada |
| Paris | Ontario | Canada |
| Stratford | Ontario | Canada |
| Tavistock | Ontario | Canada |
| Waterloo | Ontario | Canada |
| Woodstock | Ontario | Canada |
or give a call +1-647-846-5179
Why Waterloo Region Shops Choose Us
- Machine tools are the job: CNC machines, presses and shop equipment, never household or office moves.
- One crew from lock-down to levelling: the people who rig the machine also truck it and set it.
- Clear roles: your team or the OEM handles the control and coolant, your licensed electricians handle power, and we handle rigging, transport and set-in-place.
- Permits and routes handled on Region of Waterloo, city and MTO roads.
- Planned around production: moves scheduled into your shutdown or over a weekend.
- Fast answers: quote replies within 2–4 business hours.
- Insured: liability and workers’ compensation insurance (WSIB in Ontario), with a certificate of insurance on request.
When you compare quotes, ask each CNC mover the same three questions: who locks the machine down, who levels it at the new site, and is transport included in the price? The answers make quotes comparable.
A good fit: single CNC machines, cell and shop relocations, new machines delivered by a dealer, and machines bought at auction or from another shop.
Not a fit: CNC machining, cutting or punching services (we move machines, we don’t make parts), machine repair or calibration, used-machine sales, crane or equipment rental, and household or office moves.
Have These Ready for an Exact Quote
Send these with your quote request and we can price the move without guesswork:
- The machine: make, model and a photo of the serial plate, plus the weight if you know it
- Both addresses, with door sizes, dock or grade access and any steps or ramps
- Photos of the machine and the route out of the building
- Preparation status: control backed up, coolant drained, OEM technician booked
- Dates: your target date or shutdown window
- Extras: crating, storage, levelling and anchoring, or removal of an old machine
Other Services in Kitchener-Waterloo
Moving presses, a production line or other heavy equipment? Our machinery movers in Kitchener-Waterloo handle general machinery moving across the region, and you can browse all our services in Kitchener-Waterloo. Related pages:
- Heavy Equipment and Machinery Movers in Kitchener, ON
- Heavy and Industrial Rigging Services in Kitchener, ON
Location of our sales office:
55 King St W, Kitchener, ON N2G 1A1, Canada 👇
CNC Machine Moving in Kitchener-Waterloo and Cambridge: FAQ
It depends on the machine and both sites, so every CNC move is quoted per job. Weight and size, access at each end, the lifting method, distance, any oversize permits and the time spent levelling set the price. A control that is backed up and drained before we arrive saves crew hours. For a rough range, use our Heavy Lifting and Moving Calculator, or call (647) 846-5179.
Yes, up to the point where the OEM takes over. Our millwrights set the machine on its pads or anchors, square it to your layout marks and rough-level it. The OEM technician then does the precision levelling, geometry checks and recommissioning. Book a second level check a few weeks after start-up, because new floors and freshly set levelling pads settle.
By locking it down before it moves. Your team or the OEM backs up the control and drains the coolant; we lock the axes, secure the spindle, table or turret with the OEM’s shipping brackets, and lift the machine evenly onto skates or forks. It is blocked and strapped on the trailer, then re-levelled on arrival before the OEM recommissions it.
Back up the CNC parameters, programs, offsets and PLC files, and record the machine’s level readings. Drain the coolant, clear the chips and empty the tool magazine and spindle. Have your licensed electricians disconnect and lock out the power, and shut off the air and coolant lines. Clear the route out of the building and confirm the OEM technician’s date for the restart.
Only when the vehicle and load go over the Highway Traffic Act size or weight limits. The Region of Waterloo issues oversize permits for Regional roads, with a minimum of 10 business days to process and a route survey first. City streets need the local municipality’s permit, and Highway 401 or the Conestoga Parkway need an MTO permit. We prepare and file the applications.
Yes. Cambridge has the most machine shops in Waterloo Region, and we move CNC machines, press brakes and tool-and-die equipment for shops in Galt, Preston and Hespeler, including automotive and automation suppliers. We also work as heavy equipment movers for Cambridge plants, moving presses, moulding machines and complete cells, with one crew from lock-down to set-in-place.
Yes, for City streets. Under Cambridge Traffic and Parking By-law 22-044, a vehicle and load over the Highway Traffic Act dimensions or weights needs a permit from the City’s Director of Engineering. Regional roads through Cambridge need a Region of Waterloo permit, and Highway 401 needs an MTO permit. The by-law also sets truck routes and posted load limits, so we plan the route street by street.
Yes. A machine shop relocation is planned as a sequence: support equipment first, then each machine in the order it must run at the new address. Our heavy machinery movers rig, truck and set every machine, and machines that cannot go straight to their spot can be stored in between. We can plan the move so part of your floor keeps running while the rest relocates.
Yes. When a new machine arrives from the dealer or OEM, we unload it, take it out of its crate or off its skid, rig it through the building and set it on its pads. Your licensed electricians connect the power, and the OEM’s technician commissions the machine. Tell us the delivery date and truck type so the crew and equipment are ready when it lands.
No. We move machines; we don’t cut parts, repair, rebuild or calibrate machines, and we don’t sell used ones. If you need CNC machining or punching services, a machine shop is the right call. If you own the shop and need a machine moved, relocated or installed in Kitchener, Waterloo or Cambridge, our crew is the one to call.
