crating a engine for shipping

[rpmgroup]

Sold an engine and it is going to the other coast, so i build this crate to ship the engine and parts.




notch for strap




bolted to rear panel

[rpmgroup]

packing the loose parts



and ready for pick up.

[Grady Clay]

My 2¢

Baggage tag the engine inside the box (‘To’, ‘From’).

Strap the box (all three directions, 2-3 straps each).
Now put the nice box on a good-used pallet that is larger (both directions) than the box.
Bolt the box to the pallet.
Strap the box to the pallet (both directions, three straps each).

Remove the handles.
You don’t want it handled by hand (it will end up upside-down or rolled off the truck).
No one handles freight by hand anyway.

Make it easy to handle with a fork-lift or pallet jack.
Make sure there are no obstructions to the fork-lift tines.
Mark “Lift Here” where the fork-lift picks up.

Wrap the engine in plastic so when it is left on a dock in the rain AND the box leaks, the engine won’t get wet.

Take images of everything (including the guy who accepts the shipment).
Record all the numbers from the engine.
Email the pictures to the buyer.

Best,
Grady

Oh, yes. Mark "UP".

[rpmgroup]

Thanks Grady, your advise is worth more that 2 cents. I was looking for a pallet to strap it too, but didn't think to wrap it in plastic.

[JP911]

+1 on the use of a pallet.

[175K911]

When I sold my 3.2, I got my pallet from my local Home Depot. My next door neighbor is an Ops Mgr at my local store and brought 3 home for me to pick from, said they end up putting half their pallets into the dumpster.

I strapped my engine to the pallet, with 4 different tie-down straps, each one in two directions. Then wrapped the entire engine in industrial vinyl wrap. But I didn't crate the engine. Tom Butler has a trucking company that does nothing but ship engines and know how to handle them properly. Truck showed up at my place, driver had an electric hand truck to lift the pallet, put it in the truck and strapped it down. Don't recall the name of the trucking company but perhaps Tom can share the info.

[brcorp]

Looking to do the same. How did you ship? Carrier?? What was the cost? And how long did it take?

Thanks!!

[LakeCleElum]

bpcorp: PM me for info...Just did this....Pallet, tie downs....2 days from Laguna Beach (home Pu) to Seattle for $240......Prices ranged from $230 to $740.......

[Jack Olsen]

Two other ideas, based on my own experience:

1) Line the lower half of the box with a plastic vapor barrier. Shipments that leak oil (or any other hazardous fluid) will get both you and the shipping company in a lot of trouble.

2) Make the top of the box angled, or attach a length of 4x4 to it with DO NOT STACK in big letters. Otherwise, your sturdy engine box might end up with a 5,000-lb box set on top of it in the truck.

And as a mostly-unrelated-sidenote -- but because there are no threads where this clip makes sense -- here's a video of me using metal dowel rods to load a fully dressed engine into the old Jeep.

[rpmgroup]

Okay an update. found a pallet about the same size as the crate and attached it with steel strapping about 3 inches wide. Left the straps on, as that was how i moved it around and from my truck to the dock. Total weight 326 lbs. marked arrows pointed up on all sides and names with addresses on top and sides. Used Freight Quote to ship with Yellow freight/ Roadway. The engine shipped in the crate ships as freight code 70 whereas the engine strapped to a pallet ships as freight code 85. Code 85 costs more than Code 70. sheet of waffel board cost about 8 bucks, a couple of 2x2's and an old Harbor freight ratchet strap (used cut off ends for handles) about 11 dollars total for materials. $284.00 to ship from Socal to northern New York.