shipping victrola by greyhound

[bingchen1]

Anyone have any experience with this? I am trying to ship an XVII from FL to So Cali and of course I can't find a shipping quote that cost less than the machine itself. I shipped with greyhound before and i know the max is 100lbs. So I'm thinking If i ask them to take the motor out and ship separately I can get the shipping to be under $200?

[bingchen1]

Or ups? I got a quote from them for $300. I don't really understand their reasoning, but if i lay it down on it's side then it can be shipped. since it's Length + 2x Width + 2x Height. But I trust greyhound alot more since I shipped many old antiques with them before.

[marcapra]

I don't know if the Victrola XVII would weigh under 100 lbs. if you took the motor out. It would have to have a very light weight box or just bubble wrap around it. A wooden crate would weigh over 50 lbs so you couldn't use it. I've heard that Greyhound is better than UPS, USPS, or FedEx because they handle it more gently. I know from experience that you would never choose a mass shipper like FedEx to ship a fragile piece of furniture. It will arrive in pieces because they will literally throw your crate out of large semi trucks several times before it arrives. I wouldn't ship anything more fragile that a box of toilet paper with them!

[bingchen1]

Thank you,after reading more on the subject I figure ups and fedex are out. But if it's still over 100 lbs without the motor I might have to ask them to take out cover,backboard..or even the horn and doors. Any one know how much a XVII or XVII weigh without the motor? Or anyone have experience shipping an empty cabinet?

[marcapra]

When you say "them", who are them? Are you paying to have it crated? Greyhound doesn't pack items to my knowledge. I had a very rare 1930 Edison radio console, R-6, shipped to me via Fedex. I told the seller to remove the power supply and speaker and ship separately. Mistake no. 1 - Don't let an amateur pack something fragile no. 2 - Don't ship with UPS, FEDEX, USPS. They removed the power supply and put it in a box with no cushioning. I asked why didn't you cushion it? She said there was no room in the box for cushioning, but it would be OK since it was tight and didn't move around. Both the cabinet and the power supply arrived smashed. And Fedex refused to pay the insurance on it because they said it was not packed properly. To survive being thrown out of semi trailers at every big city, it would have to have yards of popcorn surrounding it. Another was to go if it weighs more than 100 lbs, is Uship.com. Truckers bid for the job there and sometimes you can get a good deal. and sometimes if you are off the beaten path, no truckers bid.

[marcapra]

I looked up the Victrola XVI in the Victor Data Book and it said it weighed 133 lbs. So if your motor board with the motor, tonearm, etc. weigh over, say, 45 lbs. 133 - 45 = 87 lbs. That would give you only 13 lbs for the packing materials. So a wooden crate is out. About all you could do is use lots of bubble wrap, blanket, and cardboard. Or you could go the traditional way and have it crated on a pallet and shipped freight, but it's very expensive.

[bingchen1]

thank you for looking up the weight! I know wooden crate is out of the question. But I shipped 300 years old chairs with greyhound before and never really had a problem. I just bubble wrapped it and filled it with alot of packing peanuts. They are usually pretty gentle about it.

[Jerry B.]

We have an obligation to take care of this stuff. Send it with a Florida collector to Union. Have a California collector take it back to California. If that isn't possible, I'll take it back to Oregon and then to the California show in August. It will get there a year from now but it will be handled carefully. Good luck with lots of bubble wrap and cardboard. Jerry

[Jerry B.]

I would say I had a good experience sending a 1963 Schwinn Jaguar by Greyhound. I spent a good six hours partially disassembling the bike and wrapping the various assemblies in bubble wrap and plastic and packing in a used bike carton from the local bike shop. I had the advantage that once loaded the bike would remain on the same bus from Corvallis, OR to Los Angeles, CA. The bike carton was unwieldily but manageable by two people easily. I wonder how many times a carton would be unloaded and loaded between Florida and California. Jerry

[startgroove]

I too have a cabinet in Florida which I want delivered to the West Coast (Coos Bay area). If it helps in splitting the shipping costs, perhaps we could do this together. Of course I don't know what your home base is, and it may depend on a common delivery point for optimum cost. Let me know if this could work for you. Cheers, Russie