A Honda plant in East Liberty, Ohio, needed a new, 25-ton chiller installed on the second floor of the facility.
Moving the chiller to the plant was straightforward. Bay Crane, a specialized rigging and transportation company, brought the chiller to the plant on a lowboy trailer, then moved it to the entry of the plant using a crane.
The difficult part was getting the chiller inside the facility.
In this case, the plant needed to stay up and running to avoid significant downtime costs, meaning any approach that caused a production disruption wasn’t an option.
Clearance in the facility was unforgiving. The chiller was 11 feet, 9.5 inches tall. An existing louver opening on the building’s second floor was available for the move. That opening measured just 12 feet, 2 inches, leaving just 2.5 inches of clearance.
In this case study, we’ll describe the process used by operators at the site to safely move this 55,000-pound piece of equipment to its final location on the second floor of the plant—with minimal operation disruptions.
The Team
Capital City Group, a Bay Crane Company, led the project to move the chiller. Bay Crane provides specialized rigging and transportation solutions across facilities in the northeastern United States, including crane capacity up to 1,500 tons. Capital City Group operators have also been using Hydra-Slide skidding equipment for over ten years.
For this job, the team decided to use their LP350 skidding system, which has a working height of just 1.5 inches, well within the 2.5 inches of clearance available for this project.
The Move
Rather than modify the building, Bay Crane’s rigging crew built a free-standing platform to match the elevation of the second-floor louver. They set up the LP350 skidding tracks across the platform, through the louver opening, and into the facility, creating a continuous path from outside to inside.
The team used a crane to lift the chiller onto the system’s skid shoes. Operators secured the chiller, then used the skidding system to move the chiller through the opening in short, controlled strokes. Using this method, the team safely moved the chiller to its final position on the plant floor.
At all times, the load remained grounded and controlled, keeping it level and stable as it moved through the narrow opening. This approach moved the chiller to its final position with minimal disruption to normal plant operations.
As Jack Heckman of Bay Crane Midwest described it: “The skidding system was the most economical and least intrusive option for this project. If we had not been able to utilize the skidding system, we would have had to either make the opening larger or remove the roof of the building. Steel roof joists and sheet metal would have needed to be removed, refabricated, and reinstalled, creating more costs and more downtime for the customer.”
Why Skidding Was the Right Choice for This Job
If operators had chosen to enlarge the louver opening or remove part of the roof, they would have added significant cost and downtime to this project.
The skidding approach eliminated both problems:
- The LP350’s working height is just 1.5 inches. The chiller was able to clear the opening with an inch of clearance to spare.
- The load moved horizontally on tracks rather than being suspended by a crane. No overhead clearance was needed.
This is a common pattern with skidding projects at live plants and facilities. The goal is to move the equipment where it needs to go while keeping the plant running.
Having a low-profile skidding system in the toolkit gives a rigging crew options that simply do not exist with a crane alone.
The Equipment
The LP350 is one of three low-profile skidding systems offered by Hydra-Slide. The LP30 is designed for loads between one and 350 tons and has an operating height of just over one inch. The XLP150 and XLP30 have even lower working heights and are appropriate for lighter-weight moves. Each system is hand-portable, easy to set up, and built to move heavy loads safely, even when clearance is tight and precision matters.
Bay Crane uses Hydra-Slide equipment in a variety of situations. As Jack Heckman told us: “Within our entire company, we use Hydra-Slide equipment on a daily basis. It’s at the forefront of our arsenal and really sets us apart from our competitors.”
4 Lessons Learned From This Move
Here are some lessons learned from this move:
1. Tight clearance is not a dead end.
In this situation, 2.5 inches of clearance gave us the ability to make controlled and precise movements.
2. Skidding systems protect plant uptime.
Enlarging the louver opening or removing the roof would have meant extended downtime at a live production facility. The skidding approach kept disruption to a minimum.
3. Cranes and skidding systems work together.
The crane handled the outdoor moves. The skidding system handled the final placement into the facility. Using the right tool for each part of the job is what made this plan work.
4. More tools mean more options.
Bay Crane’s ability to solve this problem came from having both crane expertise and a skidding system in their toolkit.
If you need to move heavy equipment through a tight or confined space, reach out to the Hydra-Slide Team. We’d be happy to discuss whether our systems might be a good choice for your needs.
