Shipping Engines

#1
i have a bunch of engines that im simply not going to do anything with , so i figured id sell them to someone who might need them. So my question is.. How do you ship them ? I know to make sure they are dry form oil and gas if there is a tank. But How do you guys crate them or box them ? Thanks for tips
 

buckeye

Well-Known Member
#2
Big thick plastic bag.
Make a thick motor mount out of cardboard.
Put her im a appropriate size box.
Fill with packing material.
I did remove the carb to protect it and wrapped in bubble wrap.
Seal up the box with lots of tape. Ups it away.
 
#4
Hey smoke.......i bought one from kk and it was wrapped in plastic then put in a very thick box with packing around it and pieces of wood panel that kept the box from collapsing in any way.....it cost about 35 from nj to nmexico......and not a problem except the mailman almost went postal cause it weighed about 30 lbs...it can be done....and actually i saved the box just in case....:smile::scooter:
 

45t

Well-Known Member
#5
Find a suitable size box that has enough space around it so the engine does not touch any side of the box. Take three pieces of card board that are the exact size of the inside bottom of the box. Put one piece down first inside the box to help strengthen the bottom of the box to support the engine weight. Stack the other two pieces on top of each other and reverse your engine mount bolts to mount the card board to the bottom of the engine. Tighten the bolts down enough to secure the cardboard but not to rip through it. Slide the engine in to the box so it is secure. There should be no slop and engine should be centrally located in the box. Take off any part that can get broken off (plastic tank, air filter, spark plug, etc.) wrap them up or place them in a zip lock bag (zip lock bags help a lil in masking a gas smell from the gas tank), cover any holes with masking tape (spark plug hole, carb air intake, exhaust hole, etc.). Use bubble paper or packing paper to pack in and around the engine and parts removed for shipping. Do not use foam peanuts the debris from the peanuts can get in the engine. Use the packing tape that has the fibers runnng through it, its stronger than the regular clear packing tape and will help secure and strengthen the box to accomodate the engines weight.

hope this helps
 

delray

Well-Known Member
#6
smokinsmo i deal with more then 100 ups package a day at work and the best way i have seen it done is to bolt the engine to a piece of plywood and make sure the plywood is the same size of the inside of the box(no movement) and then foam around the the engine using sealed type bags so the foam does not get on it. also bubble rap material works ok around it too,but just make sure it is tight and there is no movement...:thumbsup: arrows up on the outside of the box might just help little too.
 
#7
smokinsmo i deal with more then 100 ups package a day at work and the best way i have seen it done is to bolt the engine to a piece of plywood and make sure the plywood is the same size of the inside of the box(no movement) and then foam around the the engine using sealed type bags so the foam does not get on it. also bubble rap material works ok around it too,but just make sure it is tight and there is no movement...:thumbsup: arrows up on the outside of the box might just help little too.
:thumbsup:
 

Neck

Growing up is optional
#8
This is an 8 horse flathead Briggs packed in an 16x16x16 box.
It's bolted to a piece of 16x16x1/4 inch plywood on bottom, after everything that was unbolted off it was placed in the box and packed with newspaper around it, another piece of 16x16x1/4 plywood was bolted on top the studs on the headbolts.
It cost $75.00 to ship it to Indiana from California Via U.S.P.S., UPS Quoted $80.00.
 
#9
This is an 8 horse flathead Briggs packed in an 16x16x16 box.
It's bolted to a piece of 16x16x1/4 inch plywood on bottom, after everything that was unbolted off it was placed in the box and packed with newspaper around it, another piece of 16x16x1/4 plywood was bolted on top the studs on the headbolts.
It cost $75.00 to ship it to Indiana from California Via U.S.P.S., UPS Quoted $80.00.
+1....arrived alive, intact and done right, again Thanks neck:thumbsup:
 
#10
i get my cardboard from motorcycle dealers,its almost 2 times thicker than normal,the dealers are glad when they see i was ther,it saves them money,
of corse i do get permission,i dont steal it,and never throtrash in the dumpster, i get all the peanuts and plastic for free also,it comes from dept,
stores/lots of white foam packing materials, i use diff office suply stors,
ITS ALL IN HOW YOU ASK, i have never been turned down,its how i ask.
 
#11
I bought an engine and clutch from stangrcr1. He made me an incredible deal, but look how this thing arrived!



Inside after packing removed.



This was over the top, and the packing job paid me the highest respect. Thank you very much stang. :thumbsup:
 
#13
I shipped a Genuine Honda GX160 today in a old Predator box. Bet the buyer is gonna think I scammed him when he first sees it. I wonder if it's bad luck to ship a Honda in a Chinese box?
On a serious note in the past used old Poland Spring water bottles as filler. With caps on of course to hold the air. You can let air in and out to make it change size to fit in spots. If you think I'm messing take a 2 liter coke bottle and swing a hammer at it. New ones are lighter and I dont trust any more. Empty pellet fuel bags after I fill the stove up are good when crumpled up.
 
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#14
I shipped a Genuine Honda GX160 today in a old Predator box. Bet the buyer is gonna think I scammed him when he first sees it. I wonder if it's bad luck to ship a Honda in a Chinese box?
I shipped an HS40 in a Predator box, and got grief from the UPS Store Ladies. It's okay to ship an engine, but not one marked as actually being an engine. So I had to pay for another box to cover the Predator box.

Why did I have a Predator box? Because I put one of those pieces of shit in my grandkids' "fun kart" or whatever that dune buggy wannabe was called. :)
 
#15
I recently bought an HS40 and it too was shipped in a Predator box, but it came through USPS and it was fine, no grief from the counter people:shrug:

However, I had a West Bend shipped from CA and it was in a former chemical box with all sorts of ORM-D markings and such, it took over three weeks to get here. It ended up going super slow ground snail mail. When I bought a used pile of Saxonette parts awhile back it was in an old wine box, apparently there are certain shipping guidelines with those too. If you do recycle any box, it's a good idea to take a sharpie and black out the old lettering so as not to confuse/annoy your shipper:thumbsup:
 

markus

Well-Known Member
#16
I'm getting ready to ebay a few engines so I just went out to see what I had for packing materials. I have had good success shipping them with Home depot found stuff:



the box fits the "small block" stuff pretty good, you do have to pull the tank sometimes the carb but can still be wrapped and put in with the engine Just recently my home depot has offered the "Heavy duty" boxes in their small and medium sizes which is even better as they are marked shipping approved so if something was to happen and you insured it, they cant put the blame on you.




The insulation board is a good size to work with, I cut it down and basically line the entire box (top and bottom too). Most of the small engines will actually fit too tight and you sqish the sides in and the foam forms to the pull start and shaft. I can line about 3 boxes and have scraps to fill in with one package of the board which is about $10 and the boxes range between $1-2 each. When its all lined and taped up it would ALOT to crush it or make the engine be able to move inside the box. the spark plug will need to be removed as it would stick out the top, so I like to take old plugs and cut the top off them and poke a hole in the top foam panel for it to sit through, It makes another spot to lock the engine in place and keeps any debris from getting into the engine and the thread safe as well.

The medium works for some of the larger engines but you have to start making up a bit of room so it cant come loose when they drop it off the back of the truck :doah:
 
#17
I have used boxes before that have brand markings because they were the right size. Rather than have to find or buy another box to cover up the markings the usps hates, I wrap the box like a Christmas package with brown paper.

They sell brown rolled paper for big bucks at packing supply stores, but you can get a huge roll of floor underlayment paper at Home Depot. It's half the price and triple the quantity. It's basically thick unprinted grocery bag material, so it holds up.
 
#18
smokinsmo i deal with more then 100 ups package a day at work and the best way i have seen it done is to bolt the engine to a piece of plywood and make sure the plywood is the same size of the inside of the box(no movement) and then foam around the the engine using sealed type bags so the foam does not get on it. also bubble rap material works ok around it too,but just make sure it is tight and there is no movement...:thumbsup: arrows up on the outside of the box might just help little too.
Ditto.........And............shrink wrap the box:thumbsup:
 
#20
I think Scottesy just raised the bar on engine crates for shipping:

This is the original motor to my Rupp Dart Cycle so he didn't want anything to happen to it...

After I cut open the double thick cardboard box I found a seperate wooden crate indside:





After unscrewing the top board..found another set of boards holding it in:



Unscrewewed those...still couldn't get it out. Finally grabbed ahold of it and lifted the whole damn thing out:



The motor was bolted through the bottom plywood base using flush mounted bolts that wouldn't poke through the bottom of the box...:blink:






I got tired of fighting it and went in the house...today is day three but I think I will finally get to the motor.... :doah:

I'm thinking of turning the crate upside down and making an end table out of it or something....
 
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