Rigging-Busters is an industrial rigging company in Kingston, ON, and its surrounding area. Our riggers lift, skid, turn and set heavy machinery for manufacturers, fabricators and processing plants in Kingston, Loyalist Township, Greater Napanee and Gananoque.
We focus on industrial rigging services and heavy equipment handling for the industries across Kingston, Ontario: production machinery, process equipment, presses and machine tools, whether the job is one lathe moved between bays or a whole line rigged out, hauled and set in a new building.
- Industrial work only: machinery and plant equipment; we do not move homes or offices.
- One crew from rigging to set-in-place: riggers, drivers and millwrights on the same job.
- Quotes within 2–4 business hours after we receive the job details.
- Coverage: Kingston and the towns along Highway 401 from Napanee to Gananoque (see our service area).
Need a number for the budget first? Try the Heavy Lifting & Moving Calculator for a rough price range.
or give a call +1-647-846-5179
Rigging Service Professionals for Kingston Plants
Our rigging service professionals are riggers and millwrights who do industrial work and nothing else. Before a machine moves, they weigh up the load, find its centre of gravity, decide where the slings or jacks go and walk the route from the machine to the door. They are used to moving valuable machinery inside working plants, where the job has to fit around production.
Rigging-Busters is a rigging business built around that planning. Kingston rigging jobs range from a toolroom mill in a small machine shop to large process equipment in a chemical or metals plant, and each one gets the same checks before the first lift.
Specialized Machinery Moving & Rigging Services
Planning a machinery installation or relocation in Kingston, ON? Our machine moving and rigging services cover one step or the whole job.
Our specialty rigging and machinery moving work covers the loads that do not fit a standard move: tall machines that must be lowered to clear a door, long line sections, top-heavy cabinets, and laser, coating and laminating equipment that has to stay level the whole way. These specialty rigging services are planned piece by piece, often with jacks, skates and a gantry working together.
or give a call +1-647-846-5179
Industrial Moving Services in Kingston
From equipment transfers between two Kingston buildings to complete plant relocations along the 401, our industrial moving services in Kingston are sequenced around production: the order machines leave in, the order they arrive in, and the days your lines can be down.
The goal is minimum downtime. Machines you can spare go first; the ones that keep you running move last and are set first at the new site.
Prioritizing Safety in Every Rigging Job
Rigging safety is a set of rules followed the same way on every Kingston job:
- Rated gear only: every sling, shackle and spreader we use is rated for at least five times the load it carries, the safety factor set by O. Reg. 213/91, s. 172.
- Distance from overhead lines: no part of a load or lifting device comes within 3 m of an energized line of 750 V to 150 kV (s. 188).
- Lockout first: your maintenance staff or your licensed electricians isolate and lock out power before rigging starts.
- Controlled loads: tag lines on anything that could swing or spin during a lift.
- Floor and route checked: slab loads, trench covers, pits and overhead clearances are confirmed before anything rolls.
or give a call +1-647-846-5179
Expert Rigging Project Planning
Have a rigging project in Kingston, Ontario coming up? Our rigging experts work through it with you before the price is fixed: what each machine weighs, where it can be picked, which doors and floors it crosses, the route between buildings, the permits, and the dates your production can spare it. Professional rigging is mostly preparation, so we try to find the surprises on paper rather than on moving day.
Industrial Rigging Professionals From Plan to Set
The industrial rigging professionals who plan the job are the ones who do it: riggers rig and move the machine, drivers haul it, and millwrights level and anchor it at the other end. You deal with one crew from the first walk-through to the final level check.
How a Kingston Rigging Job Runs
Most jobs follow the same seven steps:
- Send the basics: what the machine is, its weight and size from the nameplate or manual, both addresses and your dates.
- Site visit when needed: door openings, ceiling height, floor capacity, pits and the path to the loading door or dock.
- Choose the method: machinery skates, a hydraulic gantry, jacks and cribbing, a heavy-capacity forklift, or a crane lift with our crane or a partner crane, depending on weight, balance and space.
- Book the permits: City of Kingston, Lennox and Addington County and MTO permits for oversize loads, with escorts where the size calls for them.
- Make it safe to move: your maintenance team or your licensed electricians disconnect power, air and fluids, and loose parts are secured or removed.
- Rig, load and haul: the machine is rigged on rated gear, moved out, loaded and chained down for heavy equipment hauling on a trailer suited to it.
- Set, level and hand over: placed on its marks, levelled, anchored if required and handed back for reconnection; millwright installation on request.
Heavy Industrial Rigging Equipment We Use
The gear comes from the plan. Depending on the job, our crew brings:
- Machinery skates and tank rollers for rolling loads across plant floors
- Hydraulic gantry systems where there is no overhead crane
- Jacks and cribbing for raising machines in stages and for jack-and-roll moves
- Slings, shackles and spreader bars rated for each pick
- Heavy-capacity forklifts for loading, unloading and short carries
- Trailers matched to the load for hauling
- Crane lifts with our crane or a partner crane
Good heavy industrial rigging in Kingston is less about owning specialized equipment than about choosing the right piece for your floor, your doors and your machine.
Rigging Inside Your Plant, or the Whole Move
Not every job leaves the building. Turning a press for a new cell, sliding a lathe two bays over or lifting a unit onto a mezzanine is equipment rigging on its own, and we take it on as an industrial rigging service by itself, with no truck. When the machine is leaving, the same riggers load it, haul it and set it at the new address. For larger moves, including whole plants, see our heavy machinery movers in Kingston.
Permits for Heavy Loads in Kingston and Lennox and Addington
Inside the city, a load over the Highway Traffic Act limits needs a City of Kingston oversize/overweight trip permit for the specific days and route of the move, applied for through Kingston Permit Central. Anything over 120,000 kg gross vehicle weight, 5.00 m wide or 45.75 m long is a superload: the City issues those case by case after evaluating the route, the infrastructure and any seasonal or temporary load restrictions.
West of the city, Lennox and Addington County requires an excess load permit on County roads for anything wider than 2.60 m, higher than 4.15 m or longer than 23.00 m, applied for through its online portal. The County typically wants large oversize moves finished between 9:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., and escorts start at 4.00 m wide, with more of them as loads get wider or longer. Highway 401 and Highway 15 are provincial highways that need an MTO single-trip permit, applied for at least five business days ahead.
Crossing the Cataraqui River and the US Border
Two local details shape longer moves. The temporary bridge on the LaSalle Causeway is lifted out on scheduled marine-opening days between April and November, and the causeway then closes to all traffic for most of that day. Moves between downtown and the east side of the Cataraqui River are planned around the closure schedule published by Public Services and Procurement Canada. For machines going to or from the United States, the Lansdowne port of entry at the Thousand Islands Bridge links Highway 401 with Interstate 81 and has dedicated commercial truck lanes, and we can skid, crate and load machines for cross-border transport.
When a Kingston Rigging Job Needs a Crane
Most machinery rigging in Kingston plants is done with skates, gantries and jacks, with no crane at all. A crane earns its place when a machine has to come off a flatbed with no dock, go up onto a roof or mezzanine, or be picked through an opening in the roof. Then we bring our crane or a partner crane, and our riggers rig the load and set it. If you need an operated crane by the hour for construction or other lifting, a crane rental company is the better choice.
Setting, Levelling and Installing New Equipment
Rigging ends when the machine is ready to run. At the new spot our millwrights place it on its marks or anchors, level and align it, and rebuild anything that travelled in sections, ready for your electricians to reconnect. That applies to new equipment too: a machine arriving from a dealer or the manufacturer can go straight from the truck to its foundation.
What We Rig in Kingston
Our equipment riggers handle the machines Kingston plants depend on:
- CNC machines, lathes, mills and grinders
- Laser cutting and laser processing systems
- Presses, press brakes, shears and fabrication equipment
- Coating, laminating and converting lines
- Printing presses and finishing equipment
- Transformers, switchgear and generators
- Heavy lab and research equipment
- Food processing and packaging machinery
Kingston Industries We Rig For
Invest Kingston counts over 100 manufacturing firms in the city, employing more than 5,000 people in metal fabrication, chemical products, latex and resin materials, clean and renewable energy systems, agri-business and food processing, and defence and rail transportation. Employers range from global names such as Novelis, INVISTA and Alstom to local manufacturers such as Metalcraft Marine, Anchor Concrete and SnapCab, and the city sits on the Highway 401 corridor and the CN rail line between Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal. Plants keep adding equipment: in August 2024 IPG Photonics announced more than 21 million dollars for a new 37,300-square-foot production facility, and Cancoil Thermal over 16 million dollars for new manufacturing and R&D equipment in its Kingston plants.
Rigging Services Cost in Kingston: What Changes the Price
Every Kingston rigging job is priced on its details. What moves the number most:
- Weight and shape: how heavy the machine is, how tall, and where its centre of gravity sits
- Access at both ends: door sizes, ceiling height, floor capacity, docks or grade-level doors
- Method: skates and a gantry inside, or a crane lift; crane time, when needed, is included in your quote
- Distance and permits: City, County or MTO permits, escorts for wide loads, and LaSalle Causeway closure days on cross-river moves
- Timing: shutdown, evening or weekend work around your production
- Add-ons: crating, storage, anchoring, levelling and millwright installation
Small jobs are priced as small jobs: one machine moved inside your plant does not carry the cost of a full relocation. Ask for rigging, hauling and setting in one quote so you can compare like with like, and use the Heavy Lifting and Moving Calculator for a first range.
Additional Rigging Services in Kingston
Besides lifts and moves, our rigging experts in Kingston also handle:
- Pre-move site checks with a written method and crew size for your budget
- Receiving new equipment: unloading at your dock and setting it in place
- Skidding and crating for storage or shipping, including cross-border transport to and from the United States
- Short-term storage while a building or foundation is finished
- Plant closures and auction removals on the buyer or seller deadline
or give a call +1-647-846-5179
Service Area: Kingston, Loyalist, Napanee and Gananoque
We work across Kingston, from the industrial streets in the north-west such as Centennial Drive, Resource Road and Innovation Drive to sites east of the Cataraqui River. Around the city we cover Loyalist Township (Amherstview, Odessa and Bath), Greater Napanee and Deseronto to the west, South Frontenac to the north, and Gananoque to the east.
Comparing local rigging companies for a plant outside this area? We also offer industrial rigging in Ottawa, industrial rigging in Oshawa and Durham Region and industrial rigging in Toronto, and we haul machinery along the 401 in both directions.
Kingston-Area Towns We Cover
| City | Province | Country |
|---|---|---|
| Kingston | Ontario | Canada |
| Deseronto | Ontario | Canada |
| Gananoque | Ontario | Canada |
| Napanee | Ontario | Canada |
or give a call +1-647-846-5179
Why Kingston Plants Hire Us for Rigging
- Industrial only: plant machinery and equipment; no household or office moves.
- Rigging and millwrighting together: one crew lifts, hauls, sets and levels.
- The right method for the floor: skates, gantries and jacks inside; our crane or a partner crane when a lift needs one.
- Permits arranged: City of Kingston, Lennox and Addington and MTO, with escorts when the load needs them.
- Scheduling around shutdowns and shifts.
- Quotes within 2–4 business hours.
- Insured: liability and workers’ compensation insurance (WSIB in Ontario), with a certificate of insurance on request.
When you compare rigging contractors, ask who does each part of the job and who answers for it. With us, the riggers, the drivers and the millwrights are one crew working to one plan.
A good fit: single machines and in-plant moves, machine tools and presses, line changes and new installations, laser and coating equipment, and plant moves and closures between Napanee and Gananoque.
Not a fit: industrial rigging supplies such as slings, wire rope and shackles (a rigging supply store is the right call). Also not a fit: crane rental or operated crane hire on its own; sailboat mast and rigging work or other marine rigging (a marine rigger or boatyard is the right call); theatrical or concert rigging; heavy equipment repair; household or office moves; rigger jobs or training.
Before You Ask for a Quote: What We Need
Include these in your quote request and we can usually price the job in one pass:
- The job: one machine or several, and whether it stays in the building or leaves
- Nameplate details: make, model, weight and dimensions (a photo works)
- Both sites: addresses, door sizes, ceiling height, floor, and dock or grade access
- Timing: shutdown dates, the move-in date or an auction removal deadline
- Extras: hauling, a crane lift, crating, storage, levelling or millwright installation
- Photos of the machine and the route out of the building
Other Services in Kingston
Related services in Kingston (see all our services in Kingston for the full list):
Location of our sales office:
556 O’Connor Dr, Kingston, ON K7P 1N3, Canada 👇
Kingston Rigging: FAQ
Industrial rigging means moving heavy plant equipment in a planned, controlled way. Riggers confirm the weight and centre of gravity, decide where to lift or jack, pick rated slings and hardware, and then raise, skid or roll the load with jacks, skates, a gantry or a crane. In a Kingston plant that could be a laser system going into a new bay or a coating line moving to another building.
A rigging company plans and carries out the moves that are too heavy or awkward for a plant’s own staff. That means lifting machines off their foundations, moving them across the floor or between buildings, loading and hauling them with the right permits, and setting and levelling them at the new spot. We do all of that for Kingston plants, or only the rigging if your team handles the rest.
On City of Kingston roads, any vehicle and load over 120,000 kg gross vehicle weight, 5.00 m wide or 45.75 m long needs a superload permit, which the City issues case by case after checking the route, the infrastructure and any seasonal or temporary load restrictions. Smaller oversize loads need a regular trip permit for set days and a set route, applied for through Kingston Permit Central.
Any load wider than 2.60 m, higher than 4.15 m or longer than 23.00 m needs a County excess load permit, applied for online, and the County reviews the route on each application. Large oversize moves typically have to be finished between 9:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., and escorts start at 4.00 m wide. We plan moves to Greater Napanee and Loyalist Township around those rules.
Mostly manufacturing. Invest Kingston counts more than 100 manufacturers with over 5,000 workers, in metal fabrication, chemical products, latex and resin materials, clean energy systems, agri-business and food processing, and defence and rail transportation. Those plants run presses, CNC machines, laser and coating equipment, process equipment and packaging lines, and all of it needs rigging when it is installed, moved or taken out.
No to both. We are riggers: the slings, shackles, skates and jacks we bring are for our own jobs, and a rigging supply store sells wire rope and lifting hardware. We also do not rent cranes or operators by the hour; a crane rental company covers that. When a machine move needs a crane, we bring our crane or a partner crane as part of the job.
No. Sailboat mast and rigging work, such as stepping a mast or replacing standing rigging, is a job for a marine rigger at a boatyard or marina. We rig industrial machinery: production equipment, machine tools and plant systems. If a boatbuilder or a marina needs a heavy shop machine moved, lifted onto a new foundation or installed, that is a job we can quote.
Each job is priced on its own details once we have them: the machine’s weight, size and balance, access at both ends, the method and any crane lift, the hauling distance, the permits and escorts, and the timing around your production. Single machines are priced as single jobs, not as full moves. For a first range before you send details, try our Heavy Lifting and Moving Calculator.
Heavy rigging is rigging for loads that a forklift alone cannot handle safely: large presses, long machine beds, coating lines, transformers and tall process equipment. The load is raised in stages on jacks and cribbing, rolled on skates or lifted with a gantry or crane, and the floor, the route and every lifting point are checked first. On public roads around Kingston, these loads usually also need permits.
Rigging is everything done to make a load safe to lift: finding its weight and centre of gravity, choosing the lifting points, and fitting the slings, shackles and spreader bars. Lifting is the movement itself, by crane, gantry, jacks or forklift. Both are planned together, and on our Kingston jobs the riggers who attach the load also guide it to its final position.
