(414) 279-5510 Call Forklift Towing · St. Francis, Milwaukee County
A dead lift blocking your only dock in St. Francis, 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. ~20-min typical response on St. Francis 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.
Need a forklift towed or moved in St. Francis? MKE Towing & Recovery hauls forklifts, telehandlers, and material-handling equipment — running or dead, indoors or curbside — on rollback and lowboy trailers, fully insured. St. Francis-area dispatch, ~20-minute typical response on downtime calls, scheduled moves any time, and a flat price quoted before we roll. Call (414) 279-5510.
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 St. Francis dispatcher answers live and we bring the right trailer the first time.
Local to St. Francis
You're not calling a national call center — you're calling a crew that knows the corridors we run, the industrial areas we serve, and how fast a rig reaches you.
Where the John R. Plewa Memorial Lake Parkway (WIS-794) drops below grade through St. Francis, breakdowns are frequent — and that same stretch is the main commuter artery, linking the Hoan Bridge and downtown to Mitchell Airport just south, heaviest from 7–9 AM and again from 4–6 PM. WIS-32 (Kinnickinnic Avenue, East Howard Avenue and South Lake Drive) and Layton Avenue (CTH-Y) handle the local movement, feeding toward Milwaukee and Cudahy. The city's major surface crossings — East Howard Avenue at Kinnickinnic, Lake Drive and Packard, and East Layton at Pennsylvania and Whitnall — are largely uncontrolled, so watch for right-of-way fender-benders.
Coverage spans both counties, and St. Francis is a 5-mile run from our yard — the dispatcher reads you the live ETA.
Across St. Francis, forklift calls come from the warehouses, docks, and distribution floors around Lake Parkway / Kinnickinnic Avenue commercial-industrial strip — 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, coming in on WIS-32 (Kinnickinnic Ave / E Howard Ave / Lake Drive). Coverage runs St. Francis Seminary / Seminary Woods, Lakefront (Lake Drive), and Kinnickinnic Avenue corridor and everywhere in between — a live St. Francis dispatcher gives you a real ETA and a flat price first.
Winter ice & lake-effect snow (Nov–Mar) — Lake Drive and the bluff freeze first
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.
The bluff below St. Francis Seminary is where the lake makes itself felt: dense fog and lake-effect snow settle there and along the lakefront, and shoreline roads can hold cold and ice longer than streets a few blocks inland. Sitting directly on Lake Michigan, the city runs a humid continental pattern — snowy, cold winters; humid, warm summers.
Serving St. Francis ZIP codes: 53235
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 St. Francis 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, so nothing shifts on a WIS-32 (Kinnickinnic Ave / E Howard Ave / Lake Drive) on-ramp.
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 St. Francis 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.
Get your St. Francis priceBallpark it now — live estimate
A 5,000-lb electric and a 30,000-lb reach stacker are different hauls — trailer and rigging are sized to the real weight.
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 St. Francis 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.
Getting help in St. Francis
Tell dispatch the unit, weight, fuel type, and whether it rolls. We confirm the trailer, rigging, and any permit before a truck leaves St. Francis.
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 St. Francis warehouses 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 in St. Francis
Same-day in most cases, and typically 25–40 minutes to your site — St. Francis is only ~5 road miles from our South Side yard, and the Kinnickinnic Avenue industrial strip and the retail docks are a quick run. Call (414) 279-5510 24/7.
Equipment moves start at $150 for units up to 10,000 lbs and $250 for 10–15,000 lbs, quoted before we roll. Distance and loading method set the final figure, which you hear on the call. Call (414) 279-5510.
Yes — a lift that won't run gets winched onto a rollback from the dock apron, rigged to its rated points. The Kinnickinnic Avenue industrial strip and the Pick 'n Save and Layton Mart receiving docks are familiar ground, and we plan the truck's angle before it arrives so the dock stays blocked no longer than it has to be. Call (414) 279-5510.
Class I–V counterbalance lifts from 3,000-lb electric walkies to 15,000-lb pneumatics, plus reach trucks and order pickers. Most ride a rollback; heavy pneumatics step up to a lowboy. Tell dispatch the model and the capacity-plate reading and the right trailer comes. Call (414) 279-5510.
Yes — recurring moves between St. Francis's industrial sites and the wider metro can run on an account with clean per-move billing and a COI on request. Rental returns and auction pickups are welcome too. Call (414) 279-5510 to set it up.
Nearby
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Learn moreOne call reaches a live dispatcher — rollback or lowboy, indoor extraction to oversize permit hauls, a ~20-min typical response on St. Francis downtime calls, and a flat price quoted before we roll.