Back in September, Greg Diffen in the UK posted here that he was looking for someone to pick up an engine in Connecticut and ship it to him in England. Always up for an adventure, my wife Jane and I drove to central CT, and we picked up the engine, transmission, and driveshaft from a 1933 Studebaker 4-door sedan that was being streetrodded. I was able to use the engine hoist to get it into my small 4x8 utility trailer and unload it onto my garage floor. This is a 220 cubic inch version of the "Commander 6". The 1933 version has a bunch of one-year-only parts which is why Greg needs it for one of his cars.
Then the serious fun began. International shipping rules are written to prevent bug-infested wood from traveling, so stamped plywood is a preferred material, no rough-sawn timber. I cut two pieces of 40x52x3/4" plywood, glued and screwed them together for a 1-1/2" pallet base and added 9 pads and skids on the bottom so a forklift could lift from sides or ends. Of course, the pallet turned out large enough that I couldn't get the engine hoist around or under it, so I added some 2x4 reinforcements to three of the garage roof trusses, spanned those with three 2x6's crossways, and used my come-along to get the engine off the floor and slide the pallet under it. I welded up some 2x2 angle iron for engine supports, more angle iron for the transmission, and clamped the driveshaft down with some plywood collars. A bunch of 3/8" carriage bolts secure everything to the pallet base. The box sides are 3/8" plywood, top is 1/2" plywood. I worried that a lot of weight might get stacked on the crate during shipment, so I glued more plywood together to get some hefty braces on the sides and top of the crate. I must have put about 200-300 screws in.
So now the crate, engine, etc. weighed about 900 lbs and I had no way to grab the crate and lift it high enough to get it on my trailer. I discovered that when I realized the garage door could not be opened when I had the come-along hanging from the rafters. While freight companies will come to a home and pick up, they get $100 just for the house call with a box truck and another $125-$150 for the lift-gate service. I called a landscaper that we have used, and he came with his Bobcat and forklift attachment. In 10 minutes, he had picked up the crate and loaded it onto my flatbed car hauler, and had the Bobcat back on his trailer.
Greg has a buddy in central Kansas that ships a container of Model T parts to England about twice a year, and he gives Greg a good price to add stuff to the container. So, I hauled the crate to the YRC Freight terminal in nearby Cumberland, RI. By delivering the crate to them, no "house call" fee, no lift gate fee. Amazingly, even though the 900 lb crate measures 53"x41"x37" high, they only charged $118 to send it to Kansas in 4-6 days. An important aspect of getting a good rate is that the crate is a big rectangular box and I checked off the shipping document line that, in principle, allows them to stack other freight on top. Auto parts in the range of 15-22 lbs/cubic foot fall into the relatively cheap "Class 70" for less-than-truckload shipping. We dropped the crate off Wednesday afternoon; and, by Thursday morning, it has already traveled to upstate New York and had been re-loaded on a another truck headed west. Eventually, the shop in Kansas will send the container to England and Greg will pick up the crate, maybe even in his 1955 Studebaker pickup. For now, it's on its way - the long way!
Then the serious fun began. International shipping rules are written to prevent bug-infested wood from traveling, so stamped plywood is a preferred material, no rough-sawn timber. I cut two pieces of 40x52x3/4" plywood, glued and screwed them together for a 1-1/2" pallet base and added 9 pads and skids on the bottom so a forklift could lift from sides or ends. Of course, the pallet turned out large enough that I couldn't get the engine hoist around or under it, so I added some 2x4 reinforcements to three of the garage roof trusses, spanned those with three 2x6's crossways, and used my come-along to get the engine off the floor and slide the pallet under it. I welded up some 2x2 angle iron for engine supports, more angle iron for the transmission, and clamped the driveshaft down with some plywood collars. A bunch of 3/8" carriage bolts secure everything to the pallet base. The box sides are 3/8" plywood, top is 1/2" plywood. I worried that a lot of weight might get stacked on the crate during shipment, so I glued more plywood together to get some hefty braces on the sides and top of the crate. I must have put about 200-300 screws in.
So now the crate, engine, etc. weighed about 900 lbs and I had no way to grab the crate and lift it high enough to get it on my trailer. I discovered that when I realized the garage door could not be opened when I had the come-along hanging from the rafters. While freight companies will come to a home and pick up, they get $100 just for the house call with a box truck and another $125-$150 for the lift-gate service. I called a landscaper that we have used, and he came with his Bobcat and forklift attachment. In 10 minutes, he had picked up the crate and loaded it onto my flatbed car hauler, and had the Bobcat back on his trailer.
Greg has a buddy in central Kansas that ships a container of Model T parts to England about twice a year, and he gives Greg a good price to add stuff to the container. So, I hauled the crate to the YRC Freight terminal in nearby Cumberland, RI. By delivering the crate to them, no "house call" fee, no lift gate fee. Amazingly, even though the 900 lb crate measures 53"x41"x37" high, they only charged $118 to send it to Kansas in 4-6 days. An important aspect of getting a good rate is that the crate is a big rectangular box and I checked off the shipping document line that, in principle, allows them to stack other freight on top. Auto parts in the range of 15-22 lbs/cubic foot fall into the relatively cheap "Class 70" for less-than-truckload shipping. We dropped the crate off Wednesday afternoon; and, by Thursday morning, it has already traveled to upstate New York and had been re-loaded on a another truck headed west. Eventually, the shop in Kansas will send the container to England and Greg will pick up the crate, maybe even in his 1955 Studebaker pickup. For now, it's on its way - the long way!
That is impressive, Gary. Well done! 
BP
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