Thread: Freighting a Hercus

I would find a pine pallet, (the type they throw out) cut it down and completely enclose the lathe with say 40 x 20mm pine frame and 3mm ply over it. This should make it arrive safely and is the way the 12 x 36 lathes are shipped.
Sometimes ply is expensive, so you could use that cheap ply wall paneling turned backward.
I would say $50 should cover the crate cost and $50 for your time, it is not much really compared to having something broken. If you can pick up a few pallets you could just use that timber for the frame and only have to buy the ply.The local hardware may have some cover sheets of damaged ply their for cheap.

Dave

.Rc. Can i assume that the 260 for sale on fleabay at the moment up at rocky is your's? i am watching the lathe VERY closely and have been getting quotes from freight companies as we speak. I would be prepared to pay you for your time to build a crate as per Dave j's suggestion however I would suggest using a cutdown hardwood pallet as the last two items freighted to me have been on pine pallets that have arrived broken. the best place to source a hardwood pallet is the local steel supply as they recieve thier 1200 x 2400 sheet steel on them. If i am successful at winning the ebay auction do you have facilities for loading the crated lathe at your end or would you require a tailgate loader truck? also did you have a buy it now price in mind? cheers!

Richard the 260 I bought from Hong Kong was extremely well packed. Basically bubble wrap around the machine, followed by film wrap. It was on a custom pallet cleated into position. The box itself was basically a frame and panel construction, I think 3 frame members down the long side IIRC. There were cross braces inside the crate, 2 quite close to the lathe itself running length wise, another 2 running across the lathe. I was VERY impressed with the way it was packed and it was clear these guys had done it many times before.

Pete

Yes, that is the one on ebay at the moment.... I have both hardwood and heavy pine pallets on hand plus a large amount of scrap hardwood timber.. I have decided to make up a large oversize base with them, rather then enclose the entire machine... I have some pallet wrap on hand to wrap it all up with..

If you win I can take it to a freight depot in Rockhampton, which is easiest for me as I then do not have to wait around for a truck to arrive and freight companies are not too keen on coming out where I live as I am out of the way so to speak... Loading is not a problem here....

No buy it now price, just see what the auction will bring... I have no idea of it's value, saw one on ebay in the past go for $2000 and one yesterday in Melbourne go for $1600.... Although there is a lot more buyers in Melbourne so prices would tend to be higher there, although I have had two people contact me for freight quotes to Melbourne... Which surprised me as Melbourne is the home of used machine tools.. Freight from here to there would be quite expensive as I have freighted stuff from there to here quite a few times...

I know what you're talking about freight prices. my first mill i bought from Adelaide (hercus model o) $650 depot to depot plus another $250 for truck hire for me to get it home. i've since realized i got ripped off on that one though as i've had things freighted since then a lot cheaper, oh well, such is life.

Originally Posted by .RC.

Yes, that is the one on ebay at the moment.... I have both hardwood and heavy pine pallets on hand plus a large amount of scrap hardwood timber.. I have decided to make up a large oversize base with them, rather then enclose the entire machine... I have some pallet wrap on hand to wrap it all up with..

When I shipped my own machines, I completely enclosed them in 12mm ply crates on pallet type bases. If I was going to do it again, I'd do the same thing. I'd pay the price for it to be done if I was buying something as there's a much better chance it'll arrive intact and with all the bits still present. The freight company broke the TS spindle lock lever on my Monarch CY I bought via Ebay, fortunately the broken bit was in the chip pan. One day I'll have to braze it back together.

PDW

Originally Posted by boilermaker8

I know what you're talking about freight prices. my first mill i bought from Adelaide (hercus model o) $650 depot to depot plus another $250 for truck hire for me to get it home. i've since realized i got ripped off on that one though as i've had things freighted since then a lot cheaper, oh well, such is life.

Just to give you an idea of trucking costs. My mate does Newcastle to Brisbane all the time in a semi and that costs $1200 all up (driver included) for a fully loaded tri axle drop deck curtain side trailer with dual floors Newcastle to Brisbane and the same on return (if you can get a load back).
.
So when you look at what they charge us for freight they are ripping us. We are only taking up 1 pallet space of the trailer. From memory the average 44ft trailer you get 22 pallets on and the drop deck dual floor you get around 40, but are hight and weight limited.

If they got $650 for every pallet on a standard 44ft x 22 pallet trailer that means they would of got $14,300 for that trip, no way would a trucking company get that sort of money with all the competition out their. Fair enough the freight company organising it all would have to cover costs of people working their, but not that much extra on every load.

RC
It sounds like you have a plan, just put the extra cost of the pallet on top of the freight companies quote.I am sure most people would be happy to pay it for the machine to arrive in one piece, as it is a lot of money, not like some cheap $50 item you buy from ebay.

Dave

Originally Posted by Dave J

RC
It sounds like you have a plan, just put the extra cost of the pallet on top of the freight companies quote.I am sure most people would be happy to pay it for the machine to arrive in one piece, as it is a lot of money, not like some cheap $50 item you buy from ebay.

Dave

Yes I have a plan for the pallet if required.... No real plan on who to ring about a quote for these fellas in Melbourne...I would prefer they got their own quotes as they know what they want and need at their end and I don't... All I would get is a depot to depot quote...

Richard was it you a while back who sent some machines around by rail? I seem to recall it was relatively inexpensive.

Pete

Pete that was SAG180..

agree advice to freight carefully. My Hercus was carefully packaged and bolted down to pallet. But sender did not remove motor. On truck journey from Adelaide, bumps caused the two bolts holding H frame to back of lathe bed, to shear off whereby whole motor, H frame, counter shaft etc slumped down suspending the apparatus by belt from yoke which then broke on the next bump...I was very upset on receiving goods as yoke was cast etc..but got it pretty nicely welded in the end

Must have been a hell of a bump, those bolts are 1/2" ones from memory... Or 3/8 at the minimum...

Thanks for the tip...

Yes, must have been big bump. Bolts sheared off clean - had to reverse the stumps out with LH drill bit

Originally Posted by Pete F

Richard was it you a while back who sent some machines around by rail? I seem to recall it was relatively inexpensive.

Pete

I thought rail freight was a thing of the past , like those little rail cars I saw as a kid that ran from Seymour to Mansfield . Vic rail used to have its own quaint parcel vans .... not sure about the heavy stuff . Worth asking at your local station but they may laugh at you MIKE