HIAB Hire in North Wales and the UK

A lorry mounted crane that collects, carries and places your load itself. No forklift, no separate crane to hire, no labour needed on site. ALLMI-trained operators, live tracking, family run since 1989.

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4.9 (16)

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Quick HIAB Enquiry

Tell us what needs lifting and we will get back to you fast.

01244 539300
37+ Years Family Run Business
Wales & UK Wide Coverage
Fully Licensed & Insured
Live Vehicle Tracking

What Is a HIAB and When Do You Need One?

A HIAB, also known as a crane lorry, is a lorry with its own crane, so the same vehicle that collects your load also lifts it into place at the other end. No loading bay, no forklift, and no separate crane to book. For heavy or awkward goods going to sites where access is tight or there is nothing on hand to unload you, HIAB hire is usually the quickest and cheapest way to get the job done. Searching for HIAB hire near you? We run our crane lorries out of our Deeside yard daily.

We have run HIAB lorries across North Wales and the UK since 1989. The cranes are remote-control operated for precise, controlled placement, our lifting gear is LOLER tested, and every operator is ALLMI-trained and CPC-qualified. Whether you have your own lift plan or need a contract lift arranged, you deal directly with the family that runs the business, so you get a straight answer, a fixed price, and an operator who has done this for decades.

RN Roberts HIAB lorry loading railway wheelsets alongside the tracks, working with a mobile crane

What Our HIAB Lorries Lift

Our HIAB lorries handle a wide range of crane lifts across North Wales and the UK. If a load needs collecting, carrying and placing without any equipment on site, this is the service.

Plant and Machinery

Excavators, telehandlers, compressors and site kit lifted, transported and set down exactly where you need it, with nothing required on site to unload.

Site Cabins and Containers

Welfare units, storage containers and modular buildings delivered and positioned the same day, including onto sites with restricted access.

Building Materials

Bricks, blocks, timber, steel and bagged goods lifted over walls, fences and obstacles to reach the spot a standard delivery cannot.

Generators and Plant Rooms

Heavy static equipment placed onto plinths, roofs or compounds with precision. A HIAB is often the only practical way to position loads like these.

Kiosks and Street Furniture

Electrical kiosks, hoardings, bollards and infrastructure units for utility and council contracts, lifted into position and signed off first time. We do this work regularly and understand the access that comes with it.

Awkward and One-Off Lifts

If it needs craning on or off a vehicle, send the weight and dimensions and we will tell you whether we can do it and exactly what it will cost.

How HIAB Hire Works

From the first call to the load in place, here is how a job runs.

Tell Us About the Lift

Call or send an enquiry with what is moving, the weight if you know it, the dates, and both addresses. Photos of the load and the site access help us send the right vehicle.

We Price It and Book It In

You get one clear price for the whole job: collection, transport and placement, with no hidden extras. Once you are happy, it is booked and confirmed.

We Load, Carry and Place

Your ALLMI-trained operator lifts the load on, transports it, and sets it down exactly where you need it. No forklift, no crane and no labour needed at your end.

HIAB, Crane Hire, or Forklift?

Not sure which one your job actually needs? Here is the short version.

Crane Hire

Crane hire makes sense when the load is already on site and only needs lifting up and over, with no transport involved, or when the weight is beyond what any lorry-mounted crane can take.

Forklift

A forklift is enough when you already have one on site, the ground is firm and level, and the load is light enough to take straight off the bed.

For most plant, cabin, container and material moves across North Wales, a HIAB is the cheaper and simpler choice, because it removes the second machine and the second crew entirely.

What Can Our HIAB Lift?

A crane lifts less the further it has to reach, so the right setup depends on both the weight and how far the load sits from the lorry. Ours lifts up to 9,850kg at 5.95 metres and still places a useful load right out at over 18 metres, which covers the vast majority of plant, cabin and material lifts across the region. Send us the weight, the dimensions and what is in the way, and we will confirm the lift before you book.

RN Roberts HIAB crane lifting a steel beam

9,850kg

Max lift, close in at 5.95m

RN Roberts HIAB crane lifting a cabin at reach

2,715kg

At 18.55m full reach

RN Roberts HIAB placing a large site cabin

Remote

Radio-controlled placement

RN Roberts HIAB crane hook on a generator

LOLER

Tested, certs on request

HIAB Hire Across North Wales and Beyond

Our HIAB fleet covers North Wales, Chester, Cheshire and the wider UK from our base in Sandycroft on Deeside. Wherever the lift is, if we can reach it by road we can get to it, with most of the North West within easy range.

We also deliver nationwide, and many customers travel to us.

Deeside & the local area

  • Sandycroft
  • Deeside
  • Flintshire
  • Chester
  • Wrexham
  • Mold
  • Buckley
  • Connah's Quay
  • Queensferry
  • Hawarden
  • Saltney
  • Broughton
  • Ellesmere Port

North Wales & the North West

  • Cheshire
  • Wirral
  • Liverpool
  • Warrington
  • Runcorn
  • Widnes
  • Rhyl
  • Colwyn Bay
  • Llandudno
  • Bangor
  • Denbighshire

Further afield

  • Manchester
  • Stoke-on-Trent
  • Crewe
  • Preston
  • Oswestry
  • Whitchurch
  • Nationwide
Map of the United Kingdom showing the areas RN Roberts and Sons covers, spanning Wales, England, Scotland and Northern Ireland
Google Reviews
4.9 (16)

What Our Customers Say

Excellent service, nothing was too much trouble. Highly recommended 👌

Used RN Roberts to transport plant machinery from our site in Wrexham to a job in Manchester. Excellent communication throughout, arrived on time and everything handled with care. Would absolutely use again.

Third time hiring a low loader from them. Every time the trailer is immaculate, the price is fair and they're easy to deal with. Family business feel. You're not just a number.

Needed an abnormal load moved at short notice. Llion sorted it out same day, permits and all. Genuinely impressive service from a professional outfit.

Reliable, professional and honest. Been using RN Roberts for general haulage for our construction business for years. Never let us down once.

Hired a curtainside trailer for three weeks. Good condition, competitive price, and it was collected and dropped off without any fuss. Exactly what you want from a hire company.

Our HIAB Vehicles and Lift Capacities

Our HIABs are run by ALLMI-trained, CPC-qualified and ADR-certified operators, and fitted with live tracking. All lifting equipment is LOLER tested with certificates available on request, and we are fully insured, with goods in transit and public liability cover held.

  • 32,000kg GVW
  • Payload up to 11,500kg
  • 9,850kg at 5.95 metres
  • 2,715kg at 18.55 metres

Our crane mounted lorry for single-vehicle work. Collects, carries and places the load with no equipment needed at either end. It lifts up to 9,850kg at 5.95 metres, with capacity easing off as the crane extends to full reach. The vehicle has a gross weight of 32,000kg and carries up to 11,500kg, though the payload depends on the crane fitted: a bigger crane weighs more, so the larger the crane, the less the vehicle can carry. All our HIAB cranes are remote-control operated, allowing the operator to position themselves for the safest and clearest view of every lift. Suited to most cabins, plant, containers and building materials.

  • Rigid plus drawbar trailer
  • Extended load space
  • Multiple drops per run
  • Full crane offload

The rigid HIAB with drawbar trailer adds a second deck behind the crane vehicle, giving extended load space for larger or multiple loads on a single run. The crane offloads at the destination as normal, so no equipment is needed on site at the delivery end. Suited to jobs where the load volume exceeds a single rigid deck or where multiple drops are needed on one run. All the same ALLMI-trained operators, live tracking and LOLER-tested lifting gear as the standard rigid HIAB.

  • 13.6m overall
  • 9m loading deck
  • Stepframe deck
  • Also available for hire

The HIAB stepframe trailer is a 13.6 metre trailer with a 9 metre loading deck, towed separately and used where the load requires more deck space than the rigid vehicle provides. The lower stepframe deck keeps tall loads within height restrictions. Suited to larger plant, site cabins and structural loads that need crane placement at the destination. Also available for hire on its own. See our HIAB Stepframe Trailer Hire page for details.

RN Roberts HIAB flatbed lorry in the depot yard RN Roberts HIAB lorry lifting a welfare cabin on site RN Roberts HIAB lorry lifting a large portable cabin

HIAB Hire FAQs

Can't find what you're looking for? Give us a call, we're happy to help.

01244 539300

Request a HIAB Hire Quote

01244 539300

Tell us what needs lifting, where it is going, and when. We will come back with a straight price and no hidden costs.

Opening Hours Monday to Friday: 08:00 to 18:00 Vehicles operate 24/7

HIAB Hire Enquiry