Semi OT: cost effective shipping of lathes?

[john jesseph]

Hi all, first time barging in on the turning forum. I bought a used Jet 1642 recently, and the seller sprung a 57 inch bed extension on me when I came to pick it up. He tacked on a bit to the original price, and I really didn’t want it, but I couldn’t say no. So I have a buyer, and he wants it shipped. It’s basically half a lathe: one cast iron leg and a bed. About 195 pounds. I am not super interested in investing time or effort into it, but I’d like to get it into the hands of someone who could use it. Any wisdom is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[John K Jordan]

Hi all, first time barging in on the turning forum. I bought a used Jet 1642 recently, and the seller sprung a 57 inch bed extension on me when I came to pick it up. He tacked on a bit to the original price, and I really didn’t want it, but I couldn’t say no. So I have a buyer, and he wants it shipped. It’s basically half a lathe: one cast iron leg and a bed. About 195 pounds. I am not super interested in investing time or effort into it, but I’d like to get it into the hands of someone who could use it. Any wisdom is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I had a heavy cast iron item sent by freight, probably weighed more than that. The guy built an extra long pallet, very strong, and fastened the heavy parts to the top of the pallet with steel hanger strap (the kind with holes down the length) and deck screws. He put the small parts like bolts in a cardboard box. Wrapped everything with plastic stretch film wrap. The trucking company used a pallet jack to bring it to the back of the truck and I took it off the truck with forks on the tractor. If you need a lift gate on either end of the journey you have to tell them ahead of time and perhaps pay a fee.

JKJ

[Ricc Havens]

I have no personal experience with this site but check out Uship.com They ship cars and other large items. My understanding is that you can create an ad stating size, weight origin and destination. Then LTL truckers (less than load) can bid. From what I understand is more bids the cheaper the rate. My ex brother in law used it a times times to ship motorcycles he bought online. They used to have a cable tv show called "shipping wars" that showed the truckers using it. Some of the LTL drivers had regular semi trucks and others had 1-ton dually trucks with a open flatbed and they would put two or three different shipments on the same truck.

[tom lucas]

A few years ago I was buying a sieve for my pound. It is about 2/3 the size of a washing machine. The sieve was shrink wrapped to a pallet. It isn't all that heavy, about 60 lbs maybe. But I had a really hard time finding shipping that was affordable. Then I discovered Grey Hound. They shipped it for $60. The next closest price was $300. Might want to check them out.

[john jesseph]

Thanks all for the replies so far! Greyhound occurred to me, but I didn’t follow up. I’ll try to look into that.