Shipping a treadle machine
 

Im on the hunt for a specific type of singer treadle machine (singer +/_ 1900 with decorative woodwork) and when i see one no one wants to ship.
The reason is im in the EU and the model im looking for are some times in the UK or USA.
How do it tackle this problem.

You'll be hard pushed to find someone that is willing to ship an item like this. The risk of damage (not to mention the cost) is what stops this from happening. Good luck https://cdn.quiltingboard.com/images...es/thumbup.png

Hire an agent to purchase the machine/table and ship it over? This takes the shipping off of the seller and in effect you are handling it yourself. There have to be companies that can handle overseas shipping of something like this. Or...you could come over yourself and purchase/ship, but now we're talking some money.

How about a moving company. They can ship a single item or household. You may have to wait awhile for it to arrive this way but worth a shot.

Whew a head and the base? I can't imagine shipping one, and I've shipped some odd stuff. Cast iron brekes so easily if you hit it sideways. Good luck.

Thanks everybody for the help.]
I knew it was a long shot, but than again what is impossible these days.
Its so frustrating as last night after heavy communication i allmost had a deal with a fellow in the uk and on the last moment he sold it for less to a local pickup.
These early machines where being send out on a cart and wagon so if it has survived that than surely with todays shipping equipment it must be possible as the assembly is not so difficult so when dissambling there must be possiblilities i think.
I see so many fantastic machines on ebay.com that its like a kid on a diet walking next to a candy store. ...
The problem is with ebay is the pricing and than the shipping / handling costs which in most cases makes it not economical sadly.
I do understand that people want good money for it so maybe lady luck comes my way who know what time wil tell.

assembly and disassembly isn't bad, but I would not ship one without making a wooden crate around it because things get throw and stacked. A cardboard box would crush and cast iron would snap. Patience is a wonderful thing.

Our method to ship (after disassembly) was to wire the components to plywood, then surround them with dense foam so that they could not move or rub. Then it was wrapped up in double layer of cardboard and shipped. It went in two boxes and cost about $250 to ship from South Dakota to California. That $250 did not include any of the supplies to pack, not sure what that added up to as we had leftovers from building projects.

Cari, who used to post here, finally found a set of Brother irons. I don't know what it cost, but they arrived broken. Cast iron is brittle. Someone dropped my grandmother's iron skillet, and it crashed into many pieces.

A friend sells on Ebay and often sells overseas. He ships whatever it is to New Jersey and that person handles all of the details to go overseas. I'll find out who it is if you are still interested after MacyBaby detailed what it takes to ship in the US.

bk

Thansk everybody for the input which i appreciated.

After investigating further things would become as several of you allready explained the dificulties in having things shipped let alone overseas.

I order no to let go of my dream machine i was nearly night and day on the internet and found a really nice example that filled most of my checkboxes and is now filling my bed room.

I will post it seperately as there are some qn's.