Machinery and plant removal.

The metal in an old machine is usually straightforward: cast iron, steel, a copper-wound motor, maybe some brass and stainless. What is not straightforward is getting it out of a building without damaging a floor, a doorway or somebody's back.

What we remove

• Machine tools. Lathes, mills, presses, saws, guillotines, folders. Cast iron and steel, heavy, and worth collecting.
• Production line gear. Conveyors, hoppers, mixers, packing machinery, frames and guarding.
• Tanks and vessels. Steel and stainless tanks, pressure vessels, silos. Stainless tanks are the pick of the list.
• Compressors and plant. Industrial compressors, pumps, generators, chillers.
• Electrical plant. Switchboards, drives, transformers, motor control centres. Copper content makes these better than they look.
• Structural and racking. Mezzanines, pallet racking, platforms, walkways.

The questions that decide the job

1. What is it, roughly how heavy, and is it bolted to the floor or a frame?
2. What is between it and the street? Doorways, corners, steps, a mezzanine, a roller door height.
3. Is there a crane, forklift or hoist on site, or does lifting gear have to come in?
4. Does anything have to be disconnected first, and by whom? Electrical and gas disconnection is licensed work and has to happen before we move it.
5. Is there a date it has to be out by, usually a lease end or a new machine arriving?

What it pays

Indicative rates, the same ones on the home page. Metal markets move every week, so ring 0435 805 124 for the exact figure before you load up.

On a machine the weight is mostly cast iron and steel, so the rate sits at the bottom of the table. What lifts the value is the motor, the switchgear and any stainless or brass, which is why it gets weighed by grade rather than as one lump.

How it runs

1. Photos of the machine and the full route out to the street, plus the deadline.
2. We tell you what the metal is worth, what the removal involves and whether it is a paid job or a cost.
3. You arrange licensed disconnection. We arrange access, lifting and the vehicle.
4. Removed in one visit where possible, in stages on a bigger line.
5. Weighed by grade, paid to the business, weights in writing.

One thing worth saying plainly: not every machine removal is a payday. A very heavy machine in an awkward building can cost more to extract than the metal returns. When that is the case we will tell you what the gap is instead of quoting a number we then walk back on the day.