Part 4: Getting it Home
Next I headed to uShip.com where I had set up an account a few years ago, and had some items quoted, but nothing actually shipped. I listed my item, with a few stipulations, one being that the shipper had to be able to run a forklift so that when he arrived with my crane that he could run my forklift to unload it. After some high bids, a newer shipper responded with a decent bid. After some emails back and forth, we worked out the details, and came to an agreement on price that was good for both of us. One other factor to keep in mind… my forklift was rated for 3500 lbs (24″ out on the forks), and the knuckle-boom crane was weighed at 3500 lbs by the seller. Also, this thing is big, and I wasn’t too sure how easy this was going to be for the shipper to unload. Thinking ahead, I knew the outriggers probably weighed a decent amount, and so I asked the shipper to remove those. Finally, the day arrived that the shipper showed up with my crane! My mother lives at the location where my shop is, and is a huge help on the logistics for these deals! She’s the one to be there for arrival, and pay the shipper the balance of the shipping fee, cash! She’s also the one to take pictures of the newest arrival. Fortunately, she loves to take pictures, and doesn’t mind emailing them over to me.
The shipper carefully unloaded it piece by piece, with the main portion of the crane being very heavy, but my forklift was just barely able to handle it.
Next >>Part 5: Research and Planning….
