CRADLES
Tailored Solutions That Start With You
Provide additional support and protection for delicate or irregularly shaped items with our custom cradles and saddles. When standard packaging cannot adequately secure a product — whether due to weight, shape, or fragility — custom cradles and saddles fill the gap, holding your shipment in place from the moment it leaves your facility until it arrives at its destination.
Cradles: Contour to the shape of your product, offering a secure and stable fit during transport. By matching the exact profile of what you are shipping, cradles eliminate movement, distribute weight evenly, and protect against the shocks and vibrations of transit.
Saddles: Designed to support cylindrical or long objects, preventing rolling and damage. Saddles are essential for shipping items like rolls, drums, pipes, shafts, and large cylindrical components that would otherwise shift or roll during handling.
For nearly four decades, Built-Rite Box & Crate has helped manufacturers throughout Northeast and Central Ohio safely transport their most challenging products. If your product cannot ride safely on a flat surface, we will engineer a cradle or saddle that solves the problem.
Applications and Industries Served
Custom cradles and saddles are used wherever standard packaging falls short. Common applications include:
- Industrial rolls and coils — steel, paper, film, and textile rolls
- Cylindrical components — drums, tanks, pipes, large bearings, and pressure vessels
- Motors and generators — heavy, oddly-shaped equipment that needs precise support points
- Engine and transmission components — automotive, marine, and aerospace parts
- Irregularly shaped castings and forgings — products with curves, flanges, or projections that prevent flat-surface shipping
- Large machined parts — shafts, gears, and assemblies requiring custom support
We work with manufacturers across automotive, aerospace, industrial machinery, energy, and heavy equipment industries — anywhere that products need more than a flat pallet to ship safely.
Custom Built to Your Specifications
Every cradle and saddle we manufacture is engineered specifically for the product it will carry. Using our advanced Creo Design System, we create detailed 3D models that capture your product's exact contours, weight distribution, and support requirements. You review the design before production begins, ensuring a perfect fit on the first build.
Cradles and saddles are often integrated directly into larger packaging solutions. Pair them with our custom crates for fully enclosed protection, with skids and pallets for streamlined handling, or with blocking and dunnage for additional in-transit security. For international shipments, all cradle and saddle materials can be heat-treated to meet ISPM-15 export requirements.
Why Ohio Manufacturers Choose Built-Rite
With 48,000 square feet of manufacturing space in Wooster, Ohio, and a team of 60 skilled craftspeople, Built-Rite has the capacity to handle one-off custom cradles and high-volume production orders alike. Our fleet services deliver finished products directly to your facility throughout Northeast and Central Ohio — including Wooster, Akron, Canton, Cleveland, Columbus, Mansfield, and surrounding areas.
When your shipment requires more than off-the-shelf packaging, Built-Rite has the engineering expertise and manufacturing capacity to deliver a solution that fits perfectly the first time.
Other Services
