(414) 279-5510 Call Heavy Equipment Hauling · St. Francis, Milwaukee County
A loader sunk to the axles in mud, a dozer that has to be on the next St. Francis site by Monday, a forklift that won't start, or a dealer machine due for delivery — MKE Towing & Recovery hauls and recovers excavators, dozers, loaders, forklifts, skid steers & more on lowboy, RGN, Landoll & double-drop trailers, fully insured. Drive-on if it runs, winch-on if it doesn't, recovered with a wrecker or rotator if it's down. Oversize permits handled, ~20-min typical response on downtime calls, flat price quoted before we roll.
Excavators, dozers, loaders & more★ 4.3 · 373 reviews Flat price quoted first Licensed & Insured
Flat price quoted before we roll — we show the factors, never fabricate a number. COI on request.
Need a machine moved, recovered, or delivered in St. Francis? MKE Towing & Recovery hauls excavators, dozers, loaders, forklifts, skid steers & more — drive-on if it runs, winch-on if it's disabled, recovered with a wrecker or rotator if it's stuck, sunk, or overturned — on lowboy, RGN, Landoll & double-drop trailers, fully insured. We pull your oversize permits and confirm a flat price before we roll. Call (414) 279-5510.
An idle crew and a downed machine both cost money by the hour. Tell dispatch the make, model, weight, where it is, and whether it drives or has to be winched — a real St. Francis dispatcher answers live and we bring the right rig the first time.
Local to St. Francis
Here's how we run heavy equipment transport in St. Francis, Milwaukee County — 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.
Dispatch runs out of our South Side Milwaukee yard, about 5 miles out, covering Milwaukee & Waukesha counties. You get a live ETA, not a guess.
Most St. Francis equipment calls start around St. Francis Seminary / Seminary Woods, Lakefront (Lake Drive), and Kinnickinnic Avenue corridor: machines bogged in soft fill, units relocating between sites, and dealer deliveries. Our trucks come through the WIS-32 (Kinnickinnic Ave / E Howard Ave / Lake Drive) ramps, and we recover and haul them, pulling any WisDOT oversize permit before the load moves. From St. Francis Seminary (Saint Francis de Sales Seminary) out to St. Francis Seminary / Seminary Woods, Lakefront (Lake Drive), and Kinnickinnic Avenue corridor, one St. Francis call covers the equipment move — insured, flat-priced, any hour.
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?
A loader buried to the axles, a dozer in a trench, a machine off a creek bank. We winch it out first — a wrecker or rotator on the heavy ones — then load.
A dozer or excavator due on the next St. Francis-area site by Monday so the crew isn’t idle. Lowboy or RGN, secure, permit, deliver metro-wide — scheduled and insured.
Won't start, hydraulics down, a track thrown, no drive. We winch it onto a Landoll or lowboy to the shop or dealer — never towed dead on its tracks or wheels.
A new, used, or rented machine dropped or picked up with the clock running. On-time, oversize permit pulled, COI on request for the yard’s file.
A machine on its side or rolled in a trench. We upright it with a wrecker or rotator and rated rigging on a plan, then load — without adding damage.
Bought at auction or online, or coming off lease. We pick up, permit, secure, and deliver — mini to superload, every brand.
Running or not, we load it
A running machine drives up the ramp or over the RGN neck under control, attachments lowered, then chained at the factory tie-down points.
Call dispatch — (414) 279-5510A dead machine comes up a rated winch line onto a Landoll or lowboy. We never tow heavy equipment on its own tracks or wheels — it’s carried, not towed.
Call dispatch — (414) 279-5510Sunk, bogged, or overturned, we winch it out or right it with a wrecker or rotator and rated rigging on a plan, inspect, then load and secure.
Call dispatch — (414) 279-5510Do you handle mine? Almost certainly.
Tracked machines from minis to mass-excavation class — boom and blade down, tracks walked on slow, lowboy or RGN sized to the weight.
Wheel loaders, backhoes, and graders — driven on or winched, bucket and attachments lowered, chained at factory tie-down points.
Forklifts, telehandlers, skid steers, and compact track loaders ride a rollback, Landoll, or equipment trailer — running or dead.
Cranes, aerial lifts, paving and ag equipment, and superloads move on a multi-axle lowboy with a permit, route survey, and escorts.
What heavy equipment transport covers
Heavy equipment is carried, not towed — never dragged on its tracks or wheels. We drive-on or winch-on to rated points, recover first when it's down, and right-size the trailer to the machine.
A picker, not a promise — the final trailer and permit are confirmed from the exact weight, attachments, height, and route on the call.
Secured, not dragged
Blade, boom, bucket, or forks lowered and the load kept low, then grade-70 chain at the factory tie-down points — rated to the real weight.
House swing and track travel locks are set so nothing rotates or creeps on a WIS-32 (Kinnickinnic Ave / E Howard Ave / Lake Drive) haul.
Tracks and tires are walked on slow over a steel deck, the undercarriage protected — carried, not towed.
Oversize, overweight, and superload permits, route surveys, and escorts are arranged before the move — our paperwork, not yours.
What it costs & why
A St. Francis equipment haul is a flat price quoted before we roll — a compact machine that drives on for a local move is the low end; a large machine mud-recovered and moved as a permitted superload is the high end. We show the factors and the flat price holds.
The flat price covers the dispatch and haul, quoted before a truck leaves. Recovery, permits, escorts, and any disassembly are itemized and confirmed up front — no lowball-then-add-on.
Get your St. Francis priceBallpark it now — live estimate
A compact loader and a 40-ton dozer are different hauls — trailer, tractor, and rigging are sized to the real weight.
A machine that drives on loads fast; a dead or stuck one is billed by the winch and recovery work it takes.
Over legal gets the WisDOT permit, a route survey, and any pilot-car escorts — quoted up front.
A soft pad, a tight gate, or a long haul across Milwaukee County adds time and gear over a clean curbside load.
Getting help in St. Francis
Tell dispatch the make, model, weight class, and whether it drives. We confirm the lowboy or RGN, rigging, and any permit before a truck leaves St. Francis.
Sunk, bogged, or overturned machines are winched out or righted with a wrecker or rotator and rated rigging before anything goes on the deck.
Runners drive up the ramp or over the RGN neck; dead units come up on a rated winch line onto a Landoll. Never towed on tracks or wheels.
Attachments lowered, travel and swing locks set, grade-70 chain at the factory tie-down points, sized to the real weight.
To the next site, yard, dealer, or shop — with clean paperwork and a COI for your file.
Why St. Francis crews call MKE
A real ETA from the closest unit on a downtime or recovery call — not a canned promise.
Rollback to multi-axle lowboy, with a wrecker and rotator for recovery — the right rig the first time.
Years of equipment moves across Milwaukee and Waukesha. Licensed & Insured — USDOT# 4272551.
We pull the WisDOT oversize/overweight and superload permits, survey the route, and arrange escorts.
Heavy Equipment Hauling in St. Francis
Same-day for most moves, staged from our South Side yard ~5 miles away. St. Francis's work sites — the Kinnickinnic Avenue industrial strip, lakefront-park projects and municipal work — are all a short run, so deliveries and site moves land on schedule. Call (414) 279-5510 24/7.
Transport starts at $150 for units to 10,000 lbs and $250 for 10–15,000 lbs; anything over 10,000 lbs gets a crane and special-gear assessment up front, and bigger loads are quoted by weight, distance and permits before we roll. Call (414) 279-5510 for a scoped price.
Dozers, wheel loaders, backhoes, telehandlers, compactors, chippers and attachments — winched, driven or craned onto a rollback, Landoll or lowboy and chained to rated points. Industrial-strip machinery, municipal projects and park site moves: all routine. Call (414) 279-5510.
Yes. Over-legal loads move on a WisDOT oversize/overweight permit with a surveyed route, keeping heavy iron on Kinnickinnic Avenue and the Lake Parkway and off the residential grid. Escorts arranged where required; the paperwork is on us. Call (414) 279-5510.
Yes — a dead machine at the industrial strip, a municipal yard or a job site gets rigged to rated points, winched or craned aboard, and hauled to your yard or the dealer. Tell dispatch the machine, weight class and access so the right trailer comes. Call (414) 279-5510.
Nearby
Need something else?
One call reaches a live dispatcher — lowboy, RGN, Landoll, or double-drop, wrecker and rotator recovery, oversize permits handled, a ~20-min typical response on St. Francis downtime calls, and a flat price quoted before we roll.