Engine shipping

Posted: Mon Mar 17, 2008 4:37 am

Any suggestions or experience shipping complete engines? I don't want to get hosed by a seller, how much is a good price for freight about 1000 miles?

Posted: Mon Mar 17, 2008 7:03 am

Old news here. If you'd like to air freight the motor try Forward Air.

http://forwardair.com/index.htm

They do terminal to terminal for not a bad price. I've used them twice in the past with good results. The major part of the battle is building your own crate to ensure the motor is not damaged in transit. Both my shippers/vendors do o.k. in that regard,..but I paid them for there efforts and materials to build the crates.
You may need to drive the motor to the nearest Forward Air terminal, normally located near the major airports. See the link for details. You may also be able to use a local truck freight outfit,..I have never gone that route myself.

Tony

Posted: Mon Mar 17, 2008 3:07 pm

My R motor was shipped from Ft. Wayne, to Apache Junction ran about $350.00

Posted: Mon Mar 17, 2008 3:36 pm

most sellers won't do much to help and it really needs to be secured on something. Use google search as well for engine shipping - some companies have palettes and will securely strap an engine down for shipping also, or 'rent' prefab crates, but it will take at least a little effort on the sellers part. Also, you can occasionally ship via traditional shipping (UPS) with a good crate job but they have a weight limit and these engines can easily exceed that.

Posted: Mon Mar 17, 2008 5:27 pm

Here is a copy/paste of info posted sometime back on the topic of motor shipping and includes weight info. Read on:

paste starts:

First motor shipped via Forward Air (air freight) Tulsa OK, to Detroit MI. 268lbs including crate. Cost $68.00usd. Motor included oil cooler and starter, no carbs, a 900cc F mill.

Second motor shipment via Forward Air is in progress as I type. Should be in Detroit on Monday the 24th, coming from Phoenix AZ. Weight including crate 290lbs as listed, cost $115.00usd. 1100F mill, no carbs, no oil cooler, with starter and some electronics'.

On average you may like to guest-timate the motor weight at 250lbs plus what ever your crate might weigh. Forward Air also have something called a fuel surcharge. I believe this number moves around based on current "on the day" cost of fuel. This may be part of the increase in cost between the two shipments along with the higher weight and distance of travel. The details remain to be seen on this.

It seems that the best set up if using F.A. to ship a motor is:
a) Strap the motor down to a pallet type base for ease of fork truck movement. First motor was fit to a 27"W x 42"L pallet section (which was way over sized in the L dimension). Second motor sits on a 36"X 36" pallet (which should give ample room for fitment. But of course I've not seen this one as yet).

b) Ensure the motor is fully enclosed. F.A. will not ship shrink wrapped motors. A box is required.

c) Be sure to inspect your item at the depot before you sign for the it. I'm not sure what path you would follow if there was damage, but the freight handler for the first motor made sure I opened the crate before I signed for the goods.

d) Be sure to get a copy of the bill of lading (it's the paper you sign when you receive the goods shipped). This will have all the details of the shipment on it, including weight, cost, shipper etc. Why? Because some shippers make...er, (cough, hack, cough) ERRORS, or so it seems. First motor shipment had a shipping charge error of ...er (cough, hack , cough, snivel) of 65.00 bucks. I recovered this ERROR from the shipper in short order. A nice surprise I must say finding out that shipping was cheaper by $60.00 then I had at first thought. I wonder if they think the receiver will not see this bill of lading? Look for it no matter who you ship with.

HTH.

Tony

paste ends:

Posted: Mon Mar 17, 2008 5:33 pm

I shipped my 1100F and 1100R engines on a pallet that I stole from the shipping dock at a local walmart. I strapped the engines down to the pallet with tie downs, and built a shell around them in 2x4s and thin plywood. Shipped 2 engines from residential to residentail (doubles the prices vs business to business) and it was $400. that included paying extra to have the pick up and deliviery truck have a pallet jack and a pallet loader thing to lift the pallet off the truck.
I just did a search on google and found American Freight Company www.freightcenter.com they were pretty helpful over the phone and they do online quotes with a calculator for size and weight.

The driver who picked up my pallet said:
"next time you ship something, tell the operator that it is a business to business shipment (this reduces the cost by about 50%) and ask for the driver to call you on his way to the pick up spot. when you speak with the driver, tell him it is a residential address, throw him a 20 spot and no one will ever know you just saved yourself $200"