Custom Machine Bases & Skid Frames
A machine, pump set, or packaged module has to sit true on the floor and get there in one lift. K-Display makes machine bases and skid frames with anchor patterns, foot plates, lifting lugs, and forklift pockets, delivered as bare weldments, coated, or with feet and studs installed.
Where the base meets the floor and the lifting gear
A machine base is the interface between the equipment above and the floor below. Machine pads take the equipment, the foot and anchor pattern fixes the base to the floor, leveling provisions set its height, and lifting lugs and forklift pockets move it into place.
The machine pads are the datums. They have to sit coplanar across the base, and the anchor and foot pattern has to hold its position to them, so the weld sequence, any pad machining, and the masking are planned around those faces.
Top pads carry the equipment, fork pockets provide handling access, and the projecting plates attach the base to the floor. These are separate interfaces whose positions must agree on the base drawing.
Bases and skids we build
- Machine bases with floor interfaces
- Welded tube, channel, and plate bases with machine pads, plates for leveling feet, and anchor holes on the pattern from your equipment drawing.
- Skid frames
- Perimeter skids for pumps, compressors, and packaged modules, with forklift pockets, drip pans or drain stubs, and tie-down points.
- Pedestals and raised bases
- Column and pedestal bases that carry equipment at a working height, on a floor flange or anchor pattern, with the top plate and gussets that take the equipment.
- Lifting and handling features
- Lifting lugs, eye plates, and forklift pockets welded into the base where the lift requires them.
What decides whether the base sits true
- Floor interface
- The foot or anchor pattern and the leveling method decide whether the base lands on its bolts and sits level. Weld nuts, tapped bosses, and tapped plate need different material under the thread, so we locate the plates and holes from the pattern and size them for the foot or mount that threads in.
- Lifting and moving
- Lugs and pockets carry the full weight of the base, so plate thickness, hole size, weld size, and lug orientation to the sling all matter. We weld lugs and pockets with full joint access, size pockets to the fork, and examine those welds when the job calls for it.
- Weld shrinkage on long runs
- Shrinkage bows and twists long frames, more so when welds are large, continuous, or on one side only. We fixture the frame, balance welds across the section, use intermittent welds where the joint allows, and set the sequence so the pads move least.
- Coplanar pads and machining stock
- Pads that must be coplanar across the base are the faces welding disturbs most. We plan the sequence around them, leave stock where a pad is finished after welding, and machine or grind the pads flat. Where the tolerance calls for it, we stress relieve the weldment first.
- Pads, threads, and washdown
- Powder coat covers every face it reaches, so pads, tapped holes, studs, and anchor holes are masked first. On a washdown base we seal tube ends, weld continuously, and place drain holes. A sealed section gets a vent hole so pretreatment and the cure oven reach the inside.
Weld first, finish the pads, then coat
Pad stock, weld sequence, and masking are decided together before the first weld, because the same shop welds the frame, finishes the pads, coats it, and installs the feet.
Review the base against the machine and the floor
Check the machine mounting pattern, anchor pattern, and lifting provisions against the equipment drawing and anchor layout, and settle pad stock and weld sequence before any tube is cut.
Cut, fixture, and weld
Cut tube, channel, and plate, fixture the frame, and weld in a sequence chosen to limit movement at the pads and datum faces.
Finish the pads, mask, and coat
Machine or grind pads that are finished after welding, check pad flatness and the anchor pattern, mask pads, threads, and anchor holes, and powder coat. Feet and studs go on before coating with their threads masked, or after it, whichever the thread needs.
Keep the mounting face in view
Reference the machine-pad pattern and the floor supports to the same base datums. Identify the faces that need finishing after welding and the areas that must remain bare, so leveling provisions and coating do not obscure the required mounting geometry.
The upper pad provides the machine’s mounting face; the foot below adjusts the base at the floor. Keeping coating off the specified pad face preserves the interface finished after welding.
What the base drawing has to show
The released drawing is the best start. A model with the machine footprint and the floor pattern is enough to begin.
- Assembly drawing with weld symbols
- Tube and plate sizes, material grade, joint details, governing weld code, datum and flat faces, and any weld examination or documentation required.
- Machine, floor, and handling interfaces
- Machine mounting hole pattern and fastener size, anchor or foot pattern with hole or slot sizes, leveling foot part numbers, grouted, shimmed, or anchored mounting, and lug and pocket details with fork dimensions and sling arrangement.
- Finish and environment
- Coating specification and color, faces and threads to mask, washdown or outdoor exposure, hygiene design, and rust preventive on bare pads.
- Size, quantities, and delivery
- Overall length, width, height, and weight, quantity, delivery date, and bare, coated, or feet-and-studs-installed.