An industrial press is the heaviest thing most factories own, and moving one is governed by what the floor underneath it can bear rather than by what a crane can pick. A 400-tonne mechanical stamping press, a hydraulic deep-draw press standing three storeys to the top of its crown, an injection moulding machine with a 2,000-tonne clamp, a forging hammer that needs an inertia block under it, a press brake or a guillotine shear — each puts its mass through a small footprint, and the ground bearing pressure at the foot of a heavy press will exceed what an ordinary warehouse slab is rated to carry. Across 22 years and 1,213 recorded moves, Seemleius has relocated presses and forming equipment between units in Dubai, across the wider UAE and into the Free Zones, from a single 30-tonne power press to multi-tonne presses lifted in pieces. The lift is the visible part. The foundation work, the disassembly of crown and ram, the re-levelling and the tonnage re-calibration are where a press move is won or lost, and all of it is planned at the survey.
Equipment categories handled
Mechanical & stamping presses
Power presses, progressive-die and transfer presses from 10 tonnes of force to 1,000 tonnes and beyond. Flywheel and clutch-brake assemblies handled with care, crown and bolster separated where weight or height demands it.
Hydraulic presses
Deep-draw, forming and compression presses up to 5,000 tonnes of force. Cylinders supported, the hydraulic system bled before the move and refilled and purged of air at destination so the press cycles cleanly.
Injection & blow moulding
Clamp units, injection units and the tie bars between them, plus blow-moulding machines and their accumulator heads. Platens protected, the screw and barrel supported along their length for transit.
Forging & die-cutting
Forging hammers and their inertia blocks, drop and screw presses, die-cutting and clicker presses. The anvil mass and foundation isolation treated as part of the move, not an afterthought at the new site.
Press brakes & shears
Hydraulic and CNC press brakes, guillotine and swing-beam shears. Back-gauge axes and ram parallelism logged before disassembly so the machine squares up to the same datum on rebuild.
Dies, bolsters & tooling
Heavy dies, bolster plates and quick-change tooling crated and moved with the press they belong to. Each die indexed to its parent machine so nothing is mismatched at recommissioning.
Why an industrial press is different
Move a lathe and the load spreads across a long bed; move a press and the same mass concentrates under a small frame. A 1,000-tonne press may weigh only 60 to 120 tonnes as a deadweight, but it stands that weight on four feet, and the ground bearing pressure under each foot is the number that decides whether the destination slab needs a new foundation, a thicker pad or spreader plates. The first question on a press job is never how heavy — it is how heavy, over how small an area, onto what. A floor rated for general plant can be the thing that stops a move, and that is established at survey, not discovered when the press is hanging off the hook.
Then there is the press itself. A tall press rarely travels whole. The crown, the ram and the bolster come apart so the assembly clears doorways and road-height limits and so each piece sits within crane capacity, and that disassembly has to be reversible to fine tolerances, because a press that goes back with its ram a fraction out of parallel will not hold tonnage across the bolster. The hydraulic system is bled down before the move and refilled and purged at the other end. The dies travel crated and indexed to their machine. At destination the press is set on its foundation, anchor bolts placed and grouted, the frame re-levelled and squared, and the tonnage re-calibrated against the manufacturer's figures before it is handed back. Where the lift exceeds a single crane's safe capacity, the move is run as a tandem lift — two cranes under one signed lift plan, the load shared and the rigging engineered for it.
Methodology and equipment
A press move follows the same backbone as every industrial job we run, set out in full on our machinery moving methodology page, with the emphasis here on point loads, heavy lift and foundation work rather than on routing a delicate line.
Decommission and disassemble. Controlled power-down, services disconnected, the hydraulic system bled and the accumulators discharged. Crown, ram and bolster separated where height or weight requires it, each interface photographed and the fasteners boxed against their joint. Ram-to-bed parallelism and back-gauge settings are recorded before anything comes apart, so the press squares back to its own datum.
Heavy jacking and skating. Hydraulic gantries and synchronised jacking systems raise the press off its feet; machine skates and Hilman roller sets move it along the surveyed route where overhead lift is not available. Toe-jacks handle the close work. Loads are calculated to each rest point, because a heavy press parked on the wrong slab panel is a problem of its own.
Mobile and tandem cranes. Yard lifts and roof openings are taken with mobile cranes sized to the piece — commonly in the 100-tonne to 400-tonne class, and larger where a single multi-tonne casting demands it. Where one crane will not safely carry the load, two are rigged in tandem under one lift plan signed by the appointed person. Crane mats and timber packing spread the outrigger and load point pressures so the ground or slab carries the crane without local failure.
Die handling. Heavy dies and bolster plates are lifted with rated below-the-hook gear, crated for the road leg and indexed to their parent press. Tooling and change-parts are boxed and labelled so nothing is mismatched when the press is brought back up.
Set, grout and commission. At destination the press is landed on its foundation, anchor bolts placed and grouted to the manufacturer's pattern, the frame re-levelled and squared. The hydraulic system is refilled and purged of air, the press dry-cycled, and the tonnage re-calibrated against the OEM's figures before handover.
The site survey, in detail
Nothing is quoted firm until an engineer has walked both origin and destination, and for a press the survey is led by loads rather than by route. We establish the deadweight of each piece and the ground bearing pressure it puts down, then check the floor or slab rating at every rest point and at the final position, flagging where a foundation, a thicker pad or spreader plates are needed. We confirm crane access and standing — the hardstanding for the outriggers, the swing radius, the headroom, and whether a tandem lift or a roof opening is in play. Where the press sits in or needs a pit, we measure the pit dimensions against the machine so the foundation, the anchor pattern and the levelling allowance are right before the press arrives. The output is a written method statement with the disassembly and rebuild sequence, the lift plan, the foundation and grouting scope, and any Free Zone approvals flagged. The free survey is the foundation of every quote, and for a UAE site we can usually arrange it within a working day or two of your enquiry.
Mechanical stamping press into a new workshop
A metal-forming shop bringing a 250-tonne progressive-die stamping press into a newly fitted workshop, where the question was whether the floor would take it. The coordinator had an engineer establish the ground bearing pressure under the press feet at survey, found the general-duty slab short of the figure, and brought a foundation contractor into the plan to cast a reinforced pad before the press arrived. The crown was separated for the lift, the press set on its anchor bolts and grouted, then re-levelled and tonnage-calibrated against the maker's figures before the shop ran its first die.
Injection-moulding line moved within the UAE
A plastics manufacturer relocating a row of injection-moulding machines, the largest a 1,300-tonne clamp, to a larger hall across the Emirate. The coordinator sequenced the machines so the heaviest moved first while the crane was on standing, had the hydraulic systems bled before transport, and protected the platens and tie bars for the road leg. At destination each machine was set, the hydraulics refilled and purged of air, and the screw and barrel checked before the line was dry-cycled. The tooling travelled crated and indexed so no mould was paired to the wrong machine.
Multi-tonne hydraulic press lifted by two cranes
A deep-draw hydraulic press whose main casting was beyond the safe capacity of a single mobile crane, so the lift was run in tandem. The coordinator co-ordinated the lift plan with the appointed person, had crane mats laid to spread the outrigger pressures on a yard that would not otherwise carry the load, and timed the two-crane pick so the casting cleared the roof opening squarely. Anchor bolts were grouted to the maker's pattern at the new position, and the press re-levelled and calibrated before the customer signed it off.
My worry with the stamping press was the floor — the new unit had a standard slab and I was not sure it would hold a 250-tonne press. The survey caught it. The coordinator worked out the bearing pressure, told me straight that the slab was short, and brought in a foundation contractor before the press ever moved. It was set, grouted, levelled and calibrated, and it has run dies all day without a tonnage problem since.
Moving a row of injection-moulding machines is not just heavy lifting — the hydraulics have to come back right or you spend a week chasing air in the system. The coordinator had the systems bled before transport and purged properly at the other end, kept the platens and tie bars protected, and made sure every mould went back to the machine it came off. The line dry-cycled cleanly and we were moulding again on schedule.
The tandem lift of our hydraulic press was handled well and the rigging was clearly engineered, no shortcuts. My only gripe was that the grouting cure meant we waited an extra day before we could calibrate, which I had not fully budgeted for in the schedule. In fairness the coordinator had told me the cure time at survey and I had not pencilled it in. The press came up level and held tonnage first time, so the result was sound. I would use them again.
Frequently asked questions — industrial press moving
What foundation work is needed at the destination?
It depends on the press and the slab it is landing on. A heavy press concentrates its mass on a small footprint, so the first check is the ground bearing pressure under the feet against the slab rating at the new position. Where the floor is short, the options are a reinforced pad, a deeper foundation, or spreader plates to share the load. The survey establishes which is needed and we bring a foundation contractor into the programme so the pad is cast and cured before the press arrives, with the anchor-bolt pattern set to the manufacturer's drawing.
What crane capacity do you need for a 500-tonne press?
The 500 tonnes is the press's forming force, not its weight — a 500-tonne press is commonly 40 to 80 tonnes of deadweight depending on type. The crane is sized to the heaviest single piece once the crown, ram and bolster are separated, plus a margin for the rigging and the radius. That often falls in the 100-tonne to 250-tonne mobile crane class, but if a single casting cannot be split, or the standing forces a long radius, we may size up or run the lift in tandem with two cranes under one signed plan. The survey gives the firm answer once the piece weights and the access are known.
Do you bleed and refill the hydraulic system?
Yes, on hydraulic presses and moulding machines. The system is bled down and the accumulators discharged before the press is disassembled and moved, which keeps it safe to handle and prevents oil loss in transit. At destination the system is refilled to the correct level and purged of trapped air, then the press is dry-cycled so we can confirm it runs smoothly before it sees a die. Where the press is under OEM warranty, we co-ordinate the bleed and refill with the manufacturer's engineer.
How are dies and tooling handled?
Heavy dies and bolster plates are lifted with rated below-the-hook gear, crated for the road leg and indexed to the press they belong to. Quick-change tooling and change-parts are boxed and labelled against their parent machine. The point of the indexing is simple: a die paired to the wrong press at the new site costs a day of confusion, so each one is tagged before it leaves and checked back against its machine at recommissioning.
How is the press re-levelled and the tonnage re-calibrated?
Once the press is set on its grouted foundation, the frame is re-levelled and squared with precision levels, and the ram-to-bed parallelism is brought back to the datum we recorded before disassembly. The tonnage is then re-calibrated against the manufacturer's figures — checking that the press develops its rated force across the bolster and that the readout matches — before the machine is handed back. A press that is out of level or out of parallel will not hold tonnage evenly, so this step is not optional.
What is ground bearing pressure and why does it matter?
Ground bearing pressure is the load a press, or a crane outrigger, puts down per unit of area — the weight divided by the contact patch. Because a press carries its mass on a small footprint, that pressure can be high enough to exceed what a standard slab or a yard surface is rated to carry, even when the total weight looks modest. We calculate it for the press at its rest points and final position, and for the crane outriggers during the lift, then spread the load with crane mats, spreader plates or timber packing where the figure demands it.
Can you handle forging hammers and their foundations?
Yes. Forging hammers and drop presses sit on an isolated inertia block that absorbs the blow, and that foundation is part of the move rather than an afterthought. We disconnect and lift the hammer, handle the anvil mass with rated gear, and co-ordinate the new inertia block and isolation with the foundation contractor so the machine is set on something built for the shock loading rather than simply bolted to the floor.
What about customs if the press is being imported or exported?
For an import we confirm the Dubai Customs HS classification first — presses and forming machinery sit under HS Chapter 84 — because misclassification is the commonest cause of a clearance hold. Free Zone exits and entries through JAFZA, DAFZA, Dubai Industrial City and others need zone gate-pass documentation alongside the customs declaration, and we file it before the work date is locked. Where the press is leaving the country in pieces, the crated dies and disassembled sections are documented to match the declaration.
Explore the rest of our machinery moving work
Industrial press moving is one strand of our wider machinery moving service, and the engineering detail behind every lift is set out on the methodology page. If your press is leaving the country, our corridor guides cover exporting machinery and industrial plant to the United Kingdom and to India.
Ready to relocate an industrial press?
Send us the press list, the destination, and the deadline. One of our team will come back to you with a survey window and a methodology brief within a working day.
Questions people ask about this service
Anything not covered here? A specialist is happy to talk it through.
Contact usHow do I get a quote for this service?
Use the step-by-step quote form — it takes about a minute — or call us directly. Every quote is free, itemised and with no obligation.
Is my shipment insured?
Transit insurance is available on every service. Your coordinator will explain the cover options when quoting so you can choose what suits the shipment.
How far ahead should I book?
Two to four weeks is comfortable for most jobs, but we regularly handle urgent work. The sooner you reach out, the more flexibility you have on dates.
Do you handle the paperwork and customs?
Yes — where a service involves customs or documentation, we prepare and submit it on your behalf and keep you updated at each stage.
Will I have one point of contact?
Always. A dedicated coordinator owns your job from first quote to completion — no call centre, no being passed around.