Big Table Saw Shipping - Help!

[Bob Wise]

I'm trying to work out a deal to buy a Oliver 270. It's 800 miles away.
I'll spend $600 in gas/food/lodging if I drive out there, never mind the
two days of time. It's 1400lbs, but fits on a 48x48 pallet.

Have gotten a couple of quotes to move it, one of them $2100, one of them $2700!
The last one was on uship.

Yikes and yikes. Shouldn't this be $500-$600? Any tricks/tips/advice?

Is it the residential pickup that's the problem? Seems like a pallet jack and a lift gate
would make the pickup no big deal.

-Bob

[Andrew Kertesz]

Is that 800 miles one way or round trip? You would be pushing it to do 800 miles in a day unless you have 2 drivers. Does the seller have a forklift to load it if you pick it up? 1400 pounds will go in a pick-up if you can load and unload. Then you still have to get it in place when you get home with it.

[Grant Wilkinson]

You may want to check with house movers. We moved a big band saw using a house mover that was going from to the same city with a part load. We added the bandsaw for a very good price.

[Loren Woirhaye]

Ask on owww.org. Some of those guys are long haul truckers I think and they help each other move machines around.

[Mark Bolton]

Call frieght quote dot com and get a rate. Your best rates will be if the shipper has fork truck and is a commercial address as well as finding a local business in your area with the same to offload it to a truck/trailer for you. I'd say you should be able to get that shipped for 300-500 with those criteria and the correct freight class (85 is what we use)

[rip kempthorne]

Look into Fastenal. They back fill their trucks with a company I think is called third party shippers. I got a really cheap quote once but the deal fell through.
.

[Rich Riddle]

Well I agree with going to owwm to look for assistance. The area you specifically want is called the "ruckerer's rodeo." A rucker is someone willing to pick up a tool and drive it somewhere. Grant you every rucker might not be able to get it all the way to you. Ruckers are usually woodworking tool enthusiasts. When I drive back and forth between the Cincinnati area and the Washington, DC area, many times someone's tool sits in the back of the truck. Many don't charge much of a fee at all for the service.

If you can find someone who can get it closer to you, then you can try to get the services of a "potter." A potter allows your tool to stay in his garage/shed/barn, etc. until you can get another rucker to get it closer or get it yourself. It's actually quite a fun and cordial experience. Meet lots of interesting woodworkers that way.

[Mark Bolton]

Sorry, missed the residential pickup/delivery and lift gate. Thats going to be a killer. At least in my experience most freight companies simply dont want to fool with lift gate any longer unless its contracted to a large shipper. Most of the LTL carriers in my area contract out lift gate service to a second carrier which means the second carrier is likely going to get the same as the LTL so if your LTL shipper is going to get 500, so are the pick up shipper and drop off shipper, and then some.

If thats the only option I would ask the seller if they would be willing (either for a fee or for the sale) to take the saw to the shippers dock and you do the same when you pick it up. When I have done dock drop offs or pickups it is often 75$ or so less. Depending on how far each of you are from a terminal and what your hauling the saw on (trailer) it may work.

[Jak Kelly]

It may be possible to arrange for a pick-up at the local freight hub, this could save you a lot in the expense. But all of this is also considering that you can handle the equipment yourself? If that is not the case then the quoted price may not be too far out of line.
If they have a commercial dock, then arrange for you to pick-up at the local freight hub, this will become a lot cheaper!

[David Kumm]

Find a friend with a commercial dock and a forklift. Cheaper even than a freight terminal which is your second choice. Lift gate residential is usually a deal breaker at that weight. Dave

[Bob Wise]

At my end (Seattle) I can go pick it up at a freight terminal with my pickup. I've got a system for getting it off the truck at my house.
At the shipping end a fork truck seems like the right answer (versus lift gate).

The seller has some health issues and can't help very much. Asking him to deliver to a freight terminal isn't going to fly.

I'm assuming fork truck means one of those trucks that has the fork lift riding piggyback on the truck itself. Do I have this right?

[Mark Bolton]

No, to me either fork truck at shippers end either means he takes it to a facility with a fork lift who will load it for him or he has a fork truck. A moffet (what you see on the tail of lumber trucks) is something I have never seen used in LTL shipping.

[Mark Wooden]

If I were you, I'd make it a road trip and go get it; take a friend/wife/older child maybe. Leave at 3 am, spend the night at Motel 6 close to the destination, load first thing next day and drive home. I went from CT to Macon GA and back for my Oliver 399 planer that way. Had a few "bumps in the road" ( word of advice here- Check your spare tire!) but all in all glad I did it.
I'ts one thing to ask someone to move something like a drill press or Unisaw, but an Oliver 270 is a whole other beast (have one)

[Kevin Wolfe]

If that's the only quotes you got from uship, I would say try again. They are real high. I've had a handle of riding mowers and a compact tractor that weighed 1200 lbs shipped from Wisconsin to PA for a quarter of that.

[george newbury]

1400 pounds?
800 miles one way?
Doesn't sound bad, sounds like the planer I put in the back of my F350 and hauled from Alexandria, Va to Fulton, Ms.

Definitely check with owwm, for instance I'll probably be hauling an empty 12K trailer from Fulton, Ms to Alexandria, Va in a few months. I should probably post as a potential rucker. /edit -when I know I'm going :)

And after further thought -

At my end (Seattle) I can go pick it up at a freight terminal with my pickup. I've got a system for getting it off the truck at my house.
At the shipping end a fork truck seems like the right answer (versus lift gate).

The seller has some health issues and can't help very much. Asking him to deliver to a freight terminal isn't going to fly.

I'm assuming fork truck means one of those trucks that has the fork lift riding piggyback on the truck itself. Do I have this right?
You've got a truck and it's probably going to cost you at LEAST $0.50 per mile for fuel, wear and tear, etc. on the truck. Not to mention 2 days time. Take into consideration can the Oliver be disassembled?

When I moved my PM 66 I took off the table and extensions and flipped it over on a pallet for stability. I moved it all with a hand truck and a pallet jack. It was simple compared to the planer which is one solid chunk of metal. I would think with some sort of ramps and a hand truck a partilly disassembled Oliver would be easy to move.

[Ethan Melad]

granted, $2100 is a lot, but I paid 500 for a rigger to load, travel about 90 miles, and unload my American #1 jointer. got the jointer for a good price, so it was worth it.