What is the best way to ship a boat motor

pabloescobedo96

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I purchased a 78 johnson 35 hp short shaft engine on ebay. I am responsible for picking up the engine as he offered local pickup only. I am trying to use uship.com which he recommended, but I'm getting quotes of 200-250 dollars. When I look on ebay at simular auctions that offer shipping, the charge is 100-150 dollars. The motor is in Denver Indiana and is coming to me in Topeka KS. Thats 624 miles. I listed it on u ship as frieght and on a pallet so maybe I'm not doing something correct. Can ups or fed ex really not ship over 100 pounds? thats what the guy told me. Just some advice how I could go about this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
 

tmcalavy

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Re: What is the best way to ship a boat motor

If you really want it in one piece, bite the bullet and go get it...only about $70 for gas if you figure $2.75 per gallon. UPS and FedEx will charge you more than the Uship rate for more than 70 pounds, but they won't treat it nicely. Even strapped to a pallet, it can be handled roughly and abused...trying to collect on a claim is a bigger pain than making the road trip...been there, got the T-shirt.
 

JimS123

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Re: What is the best way to ship a boat motor

I have handled dozens of motors and have had my share of problems along the way. The ONLY way to ship a motor that heavy is to build a wooden crate and attach the motor's clamp handles to a crossbar before the top of the crate is sealed off. That's the ONLY way you'll receive it undamaged.

An alternate is to strap it to a pallet and shrinkwrap it.

Either way will require freight shipment, plus you have to have someone at the shipping end to handle it for you.

If it were me I'd take 2 days off and drive to pick it up. Overall, it'll be cheaper anyway. UPS and others have literally destroyed several motors for me and they don't honor insurance claims.
 

tashasdaddy

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Re: What is the best way to ship a boat motor

your mistake, if the seller will not palletize, you will have to pay for someone to do it. UPS FREIGHT will ship it.

i buy and sell motors and palletize them. have no problems with shipping. i use Freight Center.com for shipping.
 

pabloescobedo96

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Re: What is the best way to ship a boat motor

couldn't you just put it in a big box with some padding? I know this guy isnt going to do that. And I guess maybe it would cost the same. I dont really have the time or energy to go get it. So I'll have it shipped. Im just trying to find the most cost effective way.

Why am I getting quotes at 200-250 when most ebay auctions offer 100-150 shipping?
 

JimS123

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Re: What is the best way to ship a boat motor

couldn't you just put it in a big box with some padding? I know this guy isnt going to do that. And I guess maybe it would cost the same. I dont really have the time or energy to go get it. So I'll have it shipped. Im just trying to find the most cost effective way.

Why am I getting quotes at 200-250 when most ebay auctions offer 100-150 shipping?

For a 5 hp motor a cardboard box and padding is a 50/50 proposition. For UPS that constitutes improper packing and it is their goal in life to destroy their deliveries, especially if they are too heavy to carry (in their opinion).

For a 35, I guarantee when you get it there will be parts protruding from the cardboard and what's left in side will have parts broken off.

Ebay prices quoted usually mean that the seller will package it and deliver it to the shipping point. Your prices are higher becaue it includes pickup and packaging.

I never buy a motor "pickup only" unless its local. That just means that the seller has no interest in seeing that it will be shipped properly.

I'm not trying to be negative....its just that I've been there...done that and have not been happy.
 

pabloescobedo96

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Re: What is the best way to ship a boat motor

your mistake, if the seller will not palletize, you will have to pay for someone to do it. UPS FREIGHT will ship it.

i buy and sell motors and palletize them. have no problems with shipping. i use Freight Center.com for shipping.

I realized it was pickup only, when I purchased it. I'm ok with that. I got the motor I wanted. I went to freightcenter.com and it gave me a ups freight cost of $165.00 that sounds pretty good compared to what I've seen so far.

So can can I just call ups and send someone to pick it up? I know that is a question for ups but since im already on the subject im sure someone knows the answer. And what is the best way to palletize. straps or platic wrap or both or what?
 

Gary H NC

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Re: What is the best way to ship a boat motor

You will need the seller to put it on a pallet and secure and wrap it very well.
UPS will not package it when they pick it up.
 

oceansbreeze

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Re: What is the best way to ship a boat motor

Why am I getting quotes at 200-250 when most ebay auctions offer 100-150 shipping?


most likely because in the auctions offering shipping, the seller is packing it, or palleting it prior to shipping.... and ship regularly (may even get shippign discounts because they ship 2-3 skids a day)

In your case, you're paying somebody to go there, act on your behalf, lift it, load it, secure it, strap it, shrink it, then ship it... you're asking them to do a lot of extras that teh seller won't do... The actual cost of the shipping is probably only $100-$150.... it's the extra service you're paying for, nobody is gonna do it for free
 

pabloescobedo96

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Re: What is the best way to ship a boat motor

You will need the seller to put it on a pallet and secure and wrap it very well.
UPS will not package it when they pick it up.

He said he would put it on a pallet he didnt say anything about strapping or anything though.
 

Bob_VT

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Re: What is the best way to ship a boat motor

Make sure it is INSURED for replacement value!!
 

tmcalavy

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Re: What is the best way to ship a boat motor

Devil's advocate again...even insured for replacement value, if they tear it up, they decide whether they will pay the claim. I've always had to eat the cost of the damage caused by the freight tossers...must be kin to the ape in the old Samsonite commercials. I did, however, once ship three motors from Tejas to New Yawk and across the big water to Malta. Went and bought several sheets of polystyrene insulation in big sheets at the big box store. Laid each motor on a sheet and drew a rectangle around it, then centered the motor on the rectangle and anchored with zip ties and wire through the styrene. Then I used the rest of the styrene, cut in various shapes to build a box tightly around the motor. Then I taped the box ridiculously so it was sealed, then took cardboard wardrobe boxes, cut them open and wrapped a cardboard layer around the styrene box, followed by more tape and straps. The largest was a 57 OMC Fastwin, the smallest was a late 40's Evinrude Sportsman. Shipped them to the buyer's overseas freight agent in NY, they went in a shipping container and went to Malta. All arrived intact...I had to ship the powerhead of the Fastwin in a separate box. If you get to Malta, check out the Classic Car Museum there and see if they sustained any dents....probably not cause I sweated alot to get them there in one piece. Unless the guy who sold you that motor is likewise inclined, I'd do a winter road trip and pick it up.
 

EddiePetty

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Re: What is the best way to ship a boat motor

....in addition to boats, I restore antique tractors and farm machinery. A lot of us use the hauling services of like-minded folks, especially in the central U.S..
Try the link below and see if you fit in.



FWIW....Ed in 'ol Virginny
 

JimS123

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Re: What is the best way to ship a boat motor

Make sure it is INSURED for replacement value!!

UPS is now self insured...they have no insurance carrier. If a package is damaged their std. answer was that it was not properly packaged and they deny the claim.
 

jeeperman

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Re: What is the best way to ship a boat motor

It is only 630 miles.
Two people could do that in 24 hour road trip. Know someone unemployed with a mini pickup or mini van? Hire them to go get it.
Or even someone that would do it on a weekend.
Fuel, expenses plus something would equal your $250 quotes.
But you could rest easy that it wont be at the mercy of UPS, FED EX.
 

jeeperman

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Re: What is the best way to ship a boat motor

If you really want it in one piece, bite the bullet and go get it...only about $70 for gas if you figure $2.75 per gallon.
$70 in gas?
What type of vehicle are u figuring on to go get it?
It is 630 miles on way.
 

tmcalavy

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Re: What is the best way to ship a boat motor

That's the one-way figure, at 25 mpg...hiway driving, speed limit.
 

scutly

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Re: What is the best way to ship a boat motor

For a 5 hp motor a cardboard box and padding is a 50/50 proposition. For UPS that constitutes improper packing and it is their goal in life to destroy their deliveries, especially if they are too heavy to carry (in their opinion). I guarantee when you get it there will be parts protruding from the cardboard and what's left in side will have parts broken off.

as a 20 year veteran teamster and employee of United Parcel Service i would have to agree 100% stay away from shipping anything with UPS. but i have to disagree that its the intention or fault of employees for the majority of damage. the facility where i work has a old and outdated belt/slide/sort system that is WAY to small for our package volume. stuff just gets crushed and mangled running it through the system. the weight limit for UPS is 150 lbs for packages. UPS FREIGHT (grey tractors not brown) is more of a trucking company and suited for delivering pallets. its like a newer sister company and i don't know a whole lot about them.
 

eli_lilly

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Dec 22, 2005
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Re: What is the best way to ship a boat motor

This type of freight would be moved by an "LTL carrier". UPS purchased Overnite a few years back, Fedex purchased Viking, so both now do LTL, but the operations are different and separate from the package service that we all know. UPS Freight is also fairly expensive compared to other carriers. You need to find a third-party freight broker and you should be seeing rates as described below. This is really true for anyone moving an outboard, I did the rating at 400 pound but that's still hitting minimum charges, even at 600 pounds the base rate only goes up by 10 bucks.

If you pick up the freight at the destination terminal it will substantially reduce your shipping expense. You are probably paying an additional $50-$75 for delivery liftgate and that amount again for residential delivery. Your base transportation rate should be around $100-$150 , liftgate and residential delivery will add anywhere between $50-$150 on that. The numbers depend on the broker's markup, I work for a shipping company and I just pulled up rates for one of our third-party brokers (the rate we would extend to them) and it'd cost $161.47 including res del and liftgate or $107.97 without. Shipping is dirt cheap, our cost on that freight move is $43.72, add another $25 for liftgate and $25 for pallet jack. $44 bucks brought a motor from Michigan to my front door in South Florida (the carrier waived the accessorial charges). No sales pitch here, we don't do individual moves, but at least you have some behind-the-scenes numbers to work from.

Your outboard is "class 85" for the purposes of rate calculation. It should be fine strapped securely to a pallet. Palletized freight is not typically stacked so its not nearly as damage-prone as packages.

Hope this helps,
-E
 
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