(414) 279-5510 Call Forklift Towing · 24/7
A dead lift blocking your only dock in Greater Milwaukee, a relocation between sites, a unit tipped off a loading dock, or a reach stacker that needs a lowboy and a permit — MKE Towing & Recovery hauls forklifts and material-handling equipment on rollback and lowboy trailers, fully insured. Running or dead, indoors or curbside. ~38-min typical response on Greater Milwaukee downtime calls, flat price quoted before we roll.
Forks, telehandlers & MHE★ 4.3 · 373 reviews Flat price quoted first Licensed & Insured
Flat price quoted before a truck rolls — we show the factors, never fabricate a number. COI on request.
MKE Towing & Recovery — open 24/7. Need a forklift towed or moved in Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County? MKE Towing & Recovery hauls forklifts, telehandlers, and material-handling equipment — running or dead, indoors or curbside — on rollback and lowboy trailers, fully insured. Greater Milwaukee-area dispatch, ~38-minute typical response on downtime calls, scheduled moves any time, and a flat price quoted before we roll. Call (414) 279-5510.
Instant quote — free, no phone call needed
No phone call needed to see the number — the calculator prices your job with the same engine our dispatchers use and hands you a quote reference (Q-XXXXXXXX) in about 60 seconds. Heavy jobs that need specialty rigging or a recovery plan get a dispatcher's confirmation call before we roll.
A dead forklift behind your only dock backs up freight by the hour. Tell dispatch the unit, the weight, the fuel type, and whether it rolls — a real Greater Milwaukee dispatcher answers live and we bring the right trailer the first time.
Across Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County
Before the truck rolls across Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County, dispatch already knows the corridors we run, the industrial areas we serve, and how fast a rig reaches you.
The Marquette Interchange (I-94/I-43/I-794) takes the worst of it, with the Zoo Interchange (I-94/US-45) and the Mitchell Interchange (I-94/I-43/I-894 by the airport) close behind — locals navigate by freeway names: the North-South Freeway (I-43/I-94), the East-West Freeway, the Zoo Freeway (US-45/I-894), the Fond du Lac Freeway (WIS-145), the Lake Freeway (I-794) and the Airport Freeway. All of them stack up 7–9 AM and 4–6 PM, and the Hoan Bridge racks up more than its share of breakdowns. Off the freeways, the long arterials grind — North 76th Street, Capitol Drive, Silver Spring Drive, Fond du Lac Avenue, South 27th Street — and event nights surge around Fiserv Forum's Deer District, American Family Field and the Summerfest grounds at Henry Maier Festival Park.
Dispatch runs out of our South Side Milwaukee yard, covering Milwaukee & Waukesha counties. You get a live ETA, not a guess.
Across Greater Milwaukee, forklift calls come from the warehouses, docks, and distribution floors around Menomonee Valley, 30th Street Industrial Corridor, and Harbor District & Jones Island (Port Milwaukee) — dead lifts blocking a dock, units relocating between sites, and rental returns. We winch them out of tight bays and run them on to the dealer, the shop, or the next yard. Whether it sits near Milwaukee Art Museum or over by Downtown, Historic Third Ward, and Deer District, we bring the trailer to it and strap it to rated points.
Winter ice & roughly 39.5 inches of snow a year (Nov–Mar) — bridges and overpasses freeze first
Port Milwaukee (Jones Island) handles heavy and project cargo nearby.
Wisconsin's legal limits on the interstate run 8'6" wide, 13'6" high, and 80,000 lb gross — anything over needs a WisDOT oversize/overweight permit, and we pull it.
Wisconsin's spring thaw brings posted weight restrictions (“frost laws”) on local roads from roughly March into April — we know which routes are posted and plan the legal way in.
Lake Michigan sets the terms: it moderates Milwaukee's humid continental weather, but the lakefront still takes lake-effect snow and dense fog, and temperatures by the water can swing sharply from inland readings. The city averages about 39.5 inches of snow a year, so winters come in cold and snowy; summers, warm and humid.
Sound familiar?
The only forklift quit behind your dock and freight is backing up. We winch it out and haul it to your shop or the dealer — downtime priority.
A new purchase, a sale, an auction win, or a rental return. We load, secure, and deliver your unit across Greater Milwaukee or across the metro — scheduled, insured.
A unit on its side or dropped off a loading dock. We upright it with rated rigging, then load it — without adding damage.
Behind a 9-ft door, down a narrow aisle, dead where it sits. We winch it out, then load on the bed outside — the right rigging the first time.
A telehandler, reach stacker, or container handler too heavy or tall for a standard bed. Lowboy or step-deck, oversize permit handled.
New or used units from the dealership to the buyer, or fleet swaps between yards. Scheduled, insured, COI on request for your file.
Running or not, we load it
A running forklift is driven or winched up the tilt-bed under control, forks lowered, then chained at the rated lift points — never up a steep ramp that would high-center it.
Call dispatch — (414) 279-5510A dead or seized lift comes up a tilt-bed on a rated winch line, or onto a flatbed. Solid tires drag and flat-spot, so a forklift is carried, not towed.
Call dispatch — (414) 279-5510A tipped or off-dock unit is uprighted with rated rigging on a plan, inspected, then loaded — without adding damage.
Call dispatch — (414) 279-5510Do you handle mine? Almost certainly.
Class I–V warehouse forklifts, from 3,000-lb electric walkies to 15,000+ lb pneumatics — most ride a rollback, heavy pneumatics step up to a lowboy.
They ride tall and long — boom lowered and pinned, hauled on a lowboy or step-deck, with an oversize permit if the load goes over legal.
Port-class top picks and empty handlers run heavy and oversize — almost always a lowboy or multi-axle with an oversize permit and a routed haul.
Flat solid tires, blown hydraulics, a seized transmission, no neutral — it still loads. Rated winch line up a tilt-bed, forks down, chained at rated points. No machine is too dead to move.
What forklift transport covers
A forklift can't be flat-towed — no free-wheel neutral, no car-style tow points, and solid tires that drag instead of roll. So we winch and secure to rated points, every time.
A picker, not a promise — the final trailer and any permit are confirmed from the exact weight, height, and access on the call, so we come right the first time.
Secured, not dragged
Forks lowered to the deck and chained with grade-70 at the unit’s rated lift points — sized to the real weight, never a strap and a guess.
The mast is lowered and the counterweight strapped for the road, with loaded height checked against door headers and bridge clearances on the route.
The traction battery is protected or the LPG tank secured before the unit moves — the way a forklift has to travel.
Solid and cushion tires drag and flat-spot, so the lift rides on the deck — winched on, never dragged behind a truck.
What it costs & why
A Greater Milwaukee forklift haul is a flat price quoted before we roll — a 5,000-lb electric that rolls onto a rollback is the low end; a 30,000-lb reach stacker that needs a lowboy and a permit is the high end. We show the factors and the flat price holds.
The flat price covers the dispatch and the haul, quoted before a truck leaves. Recovery, indoor extraction, and any oversize permit are itemized and confirmed first — no lowball-then-add-on.
See my exact pricePriced in weight bands — a 5,000-lb electric and a 30,000-lb reach stacker are different hauls, and a machine over the online range gets a dispatcher’s custom price, never a fake number.
A unit that rolls onto the bed loads fast; a dead or seized one billed by the winch and recovery work it takes.
A curbside pickup is straightforward; an indoor pull down a narrow Greater Milwaukee aisle or off a dock adds time and gear.
A telehandler or reach stacker over legal gets the WisDOT permit and routing — a real cost, quoted up front so the flat price holds.
Our anti-damage process
Tell dispatch the unit, weight, fuel type, and whether it rolls. We confirm the trailer, rigging, and any permit before a truck leaves Greater Milwaukee.
We lower the forks and mast, handle the battery or LPG, and clear the access — a door, an aisle, a dock — before anything moves.
Running units load under power where safe; dead or seized units come up a tilt-bed on a rated winch line. We never drag a forklift.
Forks down, chained at the unit’s rated lift points, mast and counterweight strapped for the road — sized to the real weight.
To your yard, the dealer, the auction, or the shop — with clean paperwork and a COI for your file.
Why contractors call MKE
A real ETA from the closest unit — downtime priority on a dead-lift call, not a canned promise.
Walkie to reach stacker, we right-size the deck to the machine — never a guess and a strap.
Years of equipment moves across Milwaukee and Waukesha. Licensed & Insured — USDOT# 4272551.
Certificate of insurance on request for the yard’s file, with consolidated billing on dealer and fleet accounts.
Forklift Towing across Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County
Fast enough that most Greater Milwaukee callers are surprised: around 38 minutes typical, 30 on a clear run, up to 45 in weather or rush hour. If the move can wait, we schedule it for the day you want. The dispatcher at (414) 279-5510 quotes the real ETA before anything rolls.
Forklift Towing in Greater Milwaukee is a flat price quoted before we roll — it moves with the weight and class, whether it rolls or has to be winched, distance and site access, and any oversize permit. The calculator on this page walks the same sizing questions our dispatcher asks and shows the exact number in about 60 seconds — or call (414) 279-5510 and hear the same price.
Any lawful route that fits the load: I-94, I-43, and I-41/US-41 do the heavy lifting around Greater Milwaukee, and Port Milwaukee (Jones Island) moves project cargo. Loads past legal width, height, or weight move on a WisDOT oversize/overweight permit with a surveyed route, and the widest or heaviest add pilot-car escorts — our paperwork, not yours. Call (414) 279-5510 with pickup and drop-off.
Yes — that's a routine call. A dead battery, blown hydraulics, a seized transmission, flat solid tires, or no neutral, we pull it up a tilt-bed on a rated winch line, forks down, chained at the rated lift points. We never drag a forklift.
It has no free-wheel neutral, no car-style tow points, and solid or cushion tires that drag and flat-spot instead of rolling. Flat-towing wrecks the drivetrain, so we winch it onto the deck and secure the mast and counterweight.
Yes — we winch units out of tight bays with narrow doors and close aisles, and recover units off a loading dock. Give us the door width, dock height, and weight so we come right the first time.
Yes — telehandlers, reach stackers, and container handlers ride a lowboy or step-deck, and we pull the WisDOT oversize/overweight permit and route the haul legally before it moves.
Answers reviewed July 2026 — pricing model, hours and ETAs are checked quarterly.
Jump back to the calculator — free, no phone call, and your quote reference (Q-XXXXXXXX) holds your place with dispatch.
Forklift Towing across Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County
Need something else?
Drive-on or winch-loaded, every frame size — metro-wide.
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Learn moreEquipment loaded, secured, and set down right.
Learn moreOne call reaches a live dispatcher — rollback or lowboy, indoor extraction to oversize permit hauls, a ~38-min typical response on Greater Milwaukee downtime calls, and a flat price quoted before we roll.