In technical terms, jacking load shoes are load-compensating skid shoes designed to work with a hydraulic skidding system. They increase the system’s load capacity, versatility, and control over how the load is supported.
In practical terms, they may be the best idea in heavy load moving you’ve never heard of.
Instead of simply supporting a load as it slides, hydraulic jacking load shoes actively manage that load. They help rigging crews keep massive, fragile, or awkwardly distributed loads level, stable, and fully under control.
How Jacking Load Shoes Work With Hydraulic Skidding Systems
In a typical jack-and-slide operation, the load rests directly on steel skid shoes, often with a layer of timber or rubber to spread the weight and prevent point loading. For many jobs, that’s enough.
But some moves are a lot less forgiving, such as:
- Extremely heavy or long loads
- Fragile or sensitive equipment
- Uneven weight distribution
- Tight clearance or strict tilt limits
Each jacking load shoe has a heavy-duty hydraulic cylinder built inside the shoe. So instead of being passive supports, so the lift points can be individually raised and lowered with precise control. This unlocks several capabilities:
- The load’s horizontal level can be fine-tuned
- The load can be raised or lowered as needed to navigate clearance restrictions.
- The load can be precisely distributed across all support points, and prevented from wobbling
(Photo) 200 feet underground, a 670-ton tunnel-boring machine (TBM) is being assembled directly onto a set of four Hydra-Slide JLS250 Jacking Load Shoes. The HT500 skidding system is ready to slide the TBM into its final position as soon as assembly is complete.
Credit: PSC Crane & Rigging, Piqua, OH
The Importance of Load Distribution
In simplified engineering terms, a load resting on four points is statically indeterminate, meaning you can’t know exactly how much weight is sitting on each point just from simple calculations.
As the load moves, it’s probable that it will wobble to some extent, causing one or more points to become completely unloaded, and potentially causing one or more points to become overloaded.
As an analogy, think of a four-legged table, perhaps at a restaurant- sometimes you’ll come across one that’s relatively stable, but more often than not it’s wobbly until you wedge some napkins under one leg. It’s a bit of a silly analogy, but quite accurate! Now imagine if you could remotely raise or lower each leg of the table independently– it would be much easier to balance. That’s what hydraulic jacking load shoes do for a heavy load.
Most systems connect the cylinders in three hydraulic circuits, effectively turning a four-point support into a three-point suspension. And a three-legged table, by design, doesn’t wobble, even on a rough surface.
On top of that, pressure gauges on each shoe show how much load each point is carrying, allowing rigging crews to:
- See how the load is distributed
- Locate the load’s true center of gravity
- Adjust cylinders until the load is supported exactly as intended
Now, the load is always fully supported, stable, and far less likely to surprise you mid-move.
For additional background information, you can find our full rundown on hydraulic skidding systems here.
Jacking Load Shoes vs. Standard Skid Shoes
To make the difference clearer, here’s a quick comparison:
When Jacking Load Shoes Really Earn Their Keep
If you’re already using hydraulic skidding systems, adding load-compensating jacking load shoes is one of the most effective ways to:
- Increase system versatility
- Improve safety margins
- Expand the types of loads and environments you can handle confidently
You can move a lot of loads without jacking load shoes. But for certain projects, they go from “nice to have” to “essential”, especially when your work involves:
- Extremely heavy loads where even small misloads can exceed capacity
- Tall or narrow loads with a higher center of gravity and tilt sensitivity
- Fragile equipment, such as vessels, reactors, or machinery with strict deflection limits
- Loads with uneven or unknown weight distribution
- Long travel distances where maintaining support over time is critical
- Sites with uneven foundations or changing support conditions
In these situations, hydraulic jacking load shoes let crews actively control what’s happening under the load, such as level, distribution, and support, instead of merely reacting to it.
Jacking Shoes in Application – Sliding a 670-Ton TBM Underground
In one project, a 670-ton tunnel boring machine (TBM) was assembled underground and skidded into position using a heavy track skidding system to handle horizontal movement and jacking load shoes beneath the TBM to support, level, and distribute the load.
Working more than 200 feet below ground, crews needed:
- Tight control over the TBM’s center of gravity
- Reliable support over the entire skid path
- The ability to make small, precise adjustments without reblocking
The jacking load shoes turned a highly complex move in a constrained space into a controlled, predictable operation; precisely what you want when there’s hundreds of tons of steel overhead.
Get Expert Guidance on Jacking Load Shoes and Heavy Load Movement
Every load, site, and project has its own quirks. The right choice of jacking load shoes and skidding equipment can make the difference between a “white-knuckle” operation and a clean, repeatable process.
Our engineers work directly with customers to:
- Review your load, support conditions, and site constraints
- Recommend whether jacking load shoes are appropriate
- Configure the right combination of skidding system + jacking load shoes
- Help you plan safe, efficient jack-and-slide operations
