has anyone ever shipped much equipment from overseas or the border ?

[BargeMonkey]

 Been looking lately and see alot of nice stuff either just over the border in Canada, or some of it is half way around the world. Wondering how many of you guys have had a machine dragged back, I see there are agents who handle the border paperwork, just wondering if you guys have encountered anything else.

[NH-Murph]

I recall recently reading a story of a member having some trouble and unforseen expenses in bringing a piece over from Europe.  We ship tooling internationally and have found it to be well worth the cost of hiring an experienced broker to handle the shipping.  Customs has held us up many times both here and in other countries, sometimes for weeks.  Much better to hire out the headaches than try to broker it yourself.  The pros know who's palms need how much grease to make things go smoothly. 

[Al_Smith]

I've shipped and received stuff from Australia,about 4-5 days .The PNW to Ohio in 3 days .Stuff to Ont. Canada,two hundred miles ,two weeks .The US of A has the best postal service in the world,the rest not so good at times .

As I type I'm awaiting a part for a Partner saw from Merry Olde England .I suspect about 10 days .

[BargeMonkey]

 I'm counting pennies but I found a low hr 325C-LC that's in the price range just over the border but I haven't dragged stuff home from Canada yet. Saw a decent 650G last night that was all set up for the woods how I want but was in NZ, saw a decent harvester / forwarder in Germany, you get the idea. Just wondering how much trouble guys have had, if it's worth the headache sometimes for the savings on price. I think I've got my fingers into another large  gravel pit so I've been looking around for more toys.  :D

[Skidder Kev]

Can't help you with how easy it is to get something from Canada but with the exchange rate right now i would figure it would be worth it for you.  I do agree if you do buy something get a broker to handle everything.

It was Lopet that had the problems with getting a skidder from europe.

[Stuart Caruk]

Shipping from Canada to the US is a cinch, especially if the item was originally made in the US as it's then considered US goods returning. You can use a broker, or if you bring it back, fill out the paperwork yourself. My Barco Log loader cost about $260 in brokerage fees to get it across the border. There are dozens of skidders that can be had for 30 cents on the dollar out of Canada, as well as loads of other equipment for very reasonable prices. Much of it in B.C. has just been parked and semi abandoned.

[BargeMonkey]

 The stuff out in B.C is cheap but I looked into a skidder 2yrs ago and they wanted like 9k to bring a 640D over, which then made the deal not worth it. I'm seeing more and more stuff just over the border near Montreal or a touch north, just wondered how much of a pain it's been for other guys. Was talking about a 160 Kobelco blade runner but I'm thinking of biting the bullet and going with a 325-330C Cat, we have 3 other excavators but I need something with a 2.5-3yrd pail to hot feed a screen plant, found a nice low hr one and that's why I'm asking the question.

[jd540b]

Never shipped anything back, but sold my old forwarder to a guy in Quebec.  Did it through a broker and was really easy.  They handled the trucking, all crossing paperwork. Etc.  felt it was worth the money having them handle it.

[snowstorm]

i bought a 500 keto in nb last winter. the broker made it easy. dont try it without one. since it was made in finland i needed a letter of origin. quadco was the importer and they wrote one for me. a truck may be a different story. you will end up paying 12% fet to the us feds

[s grinder]

Don't know much about forestry equipment,but a friend of mine bought a  PC300 excavator about 20yrs.ago from Saudi Arabia for a song,the problem was it was considered a Gray Market vehicle,had a tough time getting certain parts.Same with Euro cars,didn't meet EPA or safety standards,don't know about now

[landscraper]

I've bought a good bit of import equipment, but it was always stateside, never had to ship it.   

I did help in getting a Komatsu rock crusher shipped to Australia from the east coast 2 years ago.  It had to be sanitized, yes, sanitized, and a freight agent had to sign off on the sanitization before it got sent to the U.S. port.  They cleaned the whole machine to a meticulous level, then sprayed it down inside and out with some chemical.  I think the premise was to kill any bacteria or pathogen etc. that would be injurious to the Australian ecosystem.  I was told it was a Aus. governmental requirement and without it the crusher would not be unloaded at the port in Australia.  They apparently have a very strict quarantine process, can't say I blame them.  We got all kinds of non-native invasives plants, animals, insects, etc. in this country by being lax about what came in.  The whole process of prepping, cleaning, sanitizing, paperwork, agents, shipping freight, etc. cost $25,000.00.  80,000 lb machine. 

[grassfed]

I live right near the border and I have purchased big tractors and round balers and other farming machinery from Quebec and Ontario. The only thing I drove across was a 24 foot Cattle trailer that I drove back from Ontario. The other times I had the farm equipment dealer handle shipping and customs . I do know that you need to make sure that the equipment is very clean. I think that a 100hp 4wd tractor with a cab only cost a couple hundred or less for shipping/customs. If you buy from a private person you should talk to a customs brokers but most dealers in used machinery can set it up. I always told them that I wanted a price shipped and went from there. I don't recall doing anything other than driving the trailer across. The US side has always been easy to deal with for farmers hauling their own machinery.     

[BargeMonkey]

We deal with Emerald in Syracuse for our screeners and they ship stuff from all over the world it seems without issue. I see the car ships pull in down here and unload huge piles of equipment every week and take worn out stuff back, has to be money in it for for someone. Probably try something from Canada first, I see alot of low hr 4-5yr old excavators for 2/3 of what's selling down here, and you see alot of them up north with screens, couplers and thumbs almost standard.  ;D   

[Jhenderson]

2nd the European equipment problem. Most American equipment MFGs won't supply parts or any repair info on "Grey Market" machines. Those machines quickly become huge paper weights.