How Mobile Column Lifts Solve a Modular Building Problem

Off-site construction comes with huge benefits — and modular buildings are no exception.

But for all the improvements in efficiency and quality, there’s a big problem with modular construction:

How do you get the finished product from the factory to the site?

Here’s how our mobile column lifts are making it possible:

 

How are modular homes delivered?

Modular homes are constructed off-site in specialised factories — giving developers a high-precision manufactured unit that’s protected from the elements while it’s being constructed.

These completed units are then loaded onto specialised vehicles, and transported to the final construction site to be fitted into place and joined with other modules.

That’s the simple version. But in reality, it’s a huge challenge:

Each section of a modular building can weigh up to 3,000kg or more — and can easily reach dimensions of as much as 12m x 3m.

That’s a serious load to transport across the country. But it’s also a big problem for the factory itself:

Before they can be shipped, these modular buildings need to be loaded onto the back of a specialised truck — without damage, and without putting their workers at risk.

Traditionally, construction companies would use cranes at the factory site to lift the buildings into position. But it’s a painstaking process that takes considerable time — as well as the huge costs of the crane itself.

That’s why more and more construction companies are switching to a simpler method: one that’s faster and more cost-effective than traditional cranes.

 

How does a mobile column lift help?

Vehicle workshops have been using mobile column lifts for decades to safely lift heavy-duty vehicles.

But with a simple adaptation to the standard column lift, construction companies can now use a set of mobile lifts to raise entire modular buildings in one simple motion — giving them a higher throughput at a lower cost.

With a rubber-top infill plate attached to the standard lifting forks of a mobile column lift, you can use a set of columns to raise all kinds of heavy objects with a flat bottom — like the modular units used in off-site construction.

And the result?

Instead of the complex positioning and risks of using a crane, factories can now raise their modules in place, and reverse a flatbed truck directly under the modular building.

 

How much can they lift?

With a specially fitted infill plate, our T8 mobile column lifts have a lifting capacity of up to 5,000kg per column — and can be configured in sets of 4, 6, or 8 columns.

That means construction companies can now have a safe and fast lifting method for raising modular buildings of up to 40,000kg with the largest set of columns — which is more than enough to handle the vast majority of units under construction.

 

But is it any better than a crane?

We’ve touched on the safety aspect — as well as the ease of use.

And while those things are important, we’re also seeing factories who have made big improvements to their throughput and their costs:

After switching from cranes to our Totalkare T8DC Mobile Column Lift, a recent modular buildings customer was able to reduce their factory overheads and boost their output — which led to them investing in even more of our lifts to scale those savings across their operation.

 

Ready to ditch the crane?

Moving modular buildings can be a huge challenge for factories of every size.

But with the modern tech behind column lifts, you can swap the complexities and costs of crane-work for something simple, safe — and more cost-effective.

Take a look at our full Mobile Column Lift range and our modular building adaptor to find out more — or start a chat with one of our experts to see exactly how we can help.