Exporting tractors to France

[Raul-02]

-in the U.S., for example, tow trucks aren't supposed to pick up cars with no or expired registration.

That would be a State specific issue not a USA issue. I've had unregistered cars and trucks towed.

 

[elslarsen]

Never heard of that.
MY BIL owns a repair shop.
He has a tow company that he sets up to pick up inop cars to bring to his shop. This could be a daily driver that just broke down or could be somebody's project that has sat for 10 years.

I was told by a tow company in CA that cars had to have current tags to be voluntarily towed. If expired, you could go to the DMV and get some sort of certificate allowing towing before the registration was updated. Maybe just a California thing, or the tow company was nervous about towing such cars? So, just personal experience on my part and not in effect elsewhere (or maybe even in CA as a general rule).

 

[CADplans]

A Canadian brought the 584 IH with him when the company moved him to Virginia.
5 to 8 years later, he decided to retire, and found the cost to move the 584 to be 2X the current value.
HE was the one that would pay the move fee after retirement, not some company.

(He retired in 1995 or 1996)

Basically, if he sold it, he would be pocketing the selling price, and the shipping cost, which at that time totaled $15K.

So, he offered it to me, that evening he had the money in his hand, I drove it home.

In 1996, shipping to Canada from Virginia was going to be $1 per pound,, $10,000.

I would imagine shipping to France to be a little more per pound, than a simple truck ride north,,,,,,,,,,

 

[elslarsen]

In 1996, shipping to Canada from Virginia was going to be $1 per pound,, $10,000.

I would imagine shipping to France to be a little more per pound, than a simple truck ride north,,,,,,,,,,

The only reason it would be feasible to move the tractors is because I'd have room in a 40-ft shipping container that will be used anyway to ship household stuff. Just pack the household goods first, in the back of the container, then put the tractor or tractors in last, so that customs has easy access for inspection. Otherwise--if shipping the tractors separately--as someone pointed out above, it's probably more expensive to get them to a U.S. port than the overseas shipping (although I'm only a few hundred miles from the closest port, Long Beach).

 

[ptsg]

As other fellow European members said, without CE markings and some other required documentation from the manufacturer, plus the fact that it's not an approved model in the EU, that tractor will be imported pretty much as scrap. It will pretty much impossible to get a title and license plate. This cuts the value of the tractor waaay down. That's probably a €5k to €7k tractor in Europe with a title and license plate.

It makes it like the older grey market tractors, like Kubota B6000, B7000, etc. People imported containers full of them and now they are everywhere with little to no value. In my country, if you get caught driving on the road with one of those tractors without title/license plate and insurance, it gets impounded and you get a €600 fine.

Being that it pretty much won't leave your place, that's not a big a deal, but you won't be able to go on the road at all. You may still be able to get insurance just with the serial/chassis number.

As far towing it to a shop, that may be a bit hard as there is no documentation of the tractor at all to prove that it's yours or if it was stolen. Maybe a local will be able take some risk and help you move the tractor on his flatbed truck or trailer if it's not too far. And then you have the parts issue and maybe dealer issues as they may refuse to work on a tractor that it's not sold in Europe, but this is more related to good will or lack of, of the dealer.

The only other importing experience I have, is that I get hit hard with import duties and taxes every time I buy something outside the EU.

 

[IndyJay]

I was told by a tow company in CA that cars had to have current tags to be voluntarily towed. If expired, you could go to the DMV and get some sort of certificate allowing towing before the registration was updated. Maybe just a California thing, or the tow company was nervous about towing such cars? So, just personal experience on my part and not in effect elsewhere (or maybe even in CA as a general rule).

Towing a vehicle without registration is known in the State of California to cause cancer.
Consider yourself warned!

 

[Helogabals]

Thank you Helogabals for posting from the EU.

But, if they later need service that requires hauling to a mechanic and I need to use a transporter, that might be a problem--in the U.S., for example, tow trucks aren't supposed to pick up cars with no or expired registration.

Welcome

what you have wrote about US tow trucks to me seems a bit creepy. The whole idea about flatbeds is to transport junk not fit for road traffic

Here in eastern EU nobody will give a what is on flatbed.
And service guys will not judge from where your tractor is. Instead they would be happy about your dollar. Actually I am quite sure here would be cheaper to call mechanic to your place, not to ship tractor around.
Summing up - if your destination would be this part of EU, your plan would roll.
France might be "interesting"

 

[elslarsen]

Welcome

what you have wrote about US tow trucks to me seems a bit creepy. The whole idea about flatbeds is to transport junk not fit for road traffic

Here in eastern EU nobody will give a what is on flatbed.
And service guys will not judge from where your tractor is. Instead they would be happy about your dollar. Actually I am quite sure here would be cheaper to call mechanic to your place, not to ship tractor around.
Summing up - if your destination would be this part of EU, your plan would roll.
France might be "interesting"

Yeah, from looking at the website of the French agency that deals with registering vehicles, it appears France pays more attention and enforces more regulations.

It's beginning to look as though the only thing that makes sense for the Kubota is to sell it in the U.S. for close to what I paid, rather than have it lose most of its value and be at risk of incurring fines and consignment to the scrap heap over in France. The Case, though, might be worth taking if I can transport it to my property and use it without interference--even if I run into problems with French authorities, the loss wouldn't be so much. I will check with French Customs however before proceeding--if they automatically send it for inspection and registration, it might not even get out of the port.

Also, as TimberFarm and IndyJay pointed out, actually in some if not most U.S. states tow companies will pick up vehicles with expired registration--I was citing experience in California only, and even in California it varies.

 

[Helogabals]

US is federal state. Not exactly homogeneous, but still, at least you speak the same language, have the same currency.

Meantime EU is gang of (very) different tribes. But rule is - there can't be any obstacles for random citizens to use junk which is legal in any other EU state. And here starts funny part

I don't know about tractors, but for vintage cars, there is very liberal regulations in few countries, like Lithuania. Or for motorcycles in Belgium. So there is an option - if person really wants to have his transport, he can "legalize" or lets say - "cross EU border" in one state and then use his metal free in any other EU member state.
If you are north FR, where BE-NE-LUX are, there should be a lot of holes for your tractor. But that should be studied.
Sad thing for you is that GB is no more in EU. There were flying trough customs very creepy stories

If I were you I would look how can I sell Kubota and what they want for one in FR. If the gap is big, I would just bring existing one and just use it. Chance that someone will ask you anything is near 0. If you dont drive on roads.

 

[Raul-02]

I was told by a tow company in CA that cars had to have current tags to be voluntarily towed. If expired, you could go to the DMV and get some sort of certificate allowing towing before the registration was updated. Maybe just a California thing, or the tow company was nervous about towing such cars? So, just personal experience on my part and not in effect elsewhere (or maybe even in CA as a general rule).

that sounds like cali

 

[Raul-02]

but still, at least you speak the same language

Mmmm Not really. France has an official language. The USA does not. Efforts at establishing one are always met with cries of racism.

So because we don't have an official language there is no authority, no place you can go for a definitive answer to whether a word means one thing or another, how to pronounce it, how to use it, or if it even exists.
And because of that our language suffers all manner of depredations. It used to be that the lexicographers who put the dictionaries together had a smidgeon of decency. They looked to scholarly usage before attacking the language and just pronouncing changes.
Those days are as dead as the dodo.
Now the Lexicographers are constantly slumming for changes in linguistics. And because they are looking to the illiterate uneducated hoi polloi of the gutter the dictionaries are destroying the language.
Examples include
** Professional. It means to have professed oneself to a higher calling. The clergy and the priesthood are really the only professions. But today people abuse it for everything from how one dresses to conduct you name it.
** Devolve is another. It means to transfer the authority to do a thing from one bureau to another but the hoi polloi think it sounds like De-Evolve so they have forgotten the perfectly good word degenerate and substitute devolve. Because they are stupid.
** Use and Utilize are another lexicographic catastrophe. Utilize means to put something to a use for which it was not intended. But because it has more syllables the ignorant think it makes them sound smarter.

 

[elslarsen]

US is federal state. Not exactly homogeneous, but still, at least you speak the same language, have the same currency.

Meantime EU is gang of (very) different tribes. But rule is - there can't be any obstacles for random citizens to use junk which is legal in any other EU state. And here starts funny part

I don't know about tractors, but for vintage cars, there is very liberal regulations in few countries, like Lithuania. Or for motorcycles in Belgium. So there is an option - if person really wants to have his transport, he can "legalize" or lets say - "cross EU border" in one state and then use his metal free in any other EU member state.
If you are north FR, where BE-NE-LUX are, there should be a lot of holes for your tractor. But that should be studied.
Sad thing for you is that GB is no more in EU. There were flying trough customs very creepy stories

If I were you I would look how can I sell Kubota and what they want for one in FR. If the gap is big, I would just bring existing one and just use it. Chance that someone will ask you anything is near 0. If you dont drive on roads.

Yeah, in France my tractors would not go on roads. The Case is over 30 years old so I hope it might qualify for vintage status, although in France looks like vehicles need to be at least 40 years old.

Part of the reason I wanted to bring the Kubota is that I have accumulated a lot of attachments which work great for my purposes (maintaining a small farm with horses). Selling in the US would recover most of the tractor's value but not the attachments. Plus, then you have to go out and find everything all over again in Europe, probably for a lot more money and who knows how long of a waiting period.

If anyone knows of any good agents who help with importing vehicles into EU/France, please PM me.

 

[Nikkorott]

Sell your tractors in the states. That's your budget for buying replacements over there. Europe has more options on tractors than stateside anyway. I think that you'll be surprised. I suggest shipping any of your attachments though.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[ptsg]

Shipping the attachments is definitely a good idea. At least for the 3 pt ones. The loader ones, if going with the new tractor route, that may not work as the loader will most likely have the Euro quick attach.

Attachments like land planes and box grades are not available in Europe last time I checked. Grapple for the loader is another one that's not very common, if available at all.

 

[Nikkorott]

One other thing to add to your decision making. The dollar is strengthening. It looks like the Euro will go to parity with the buck. Your used tractor dollars should go pretty far.

 

[elslarsen]

So USA made 3-point hitch attachments will work on European tractors? I started some online research to try to figure this out but didn't find an answer yet.

Fortunately, most of the Kubota's attachments are rear--arena harrow, box grader, chain harrow, and rototiller (last the only one with PTO). Wow, I'd feel a lot better about selling the Kubota in the USA if I could take those. The only front attachments are a bucket, which buyers would expect to be on the loader anyway, and Artillian forks.

The move will be late summer or fall so I hope the dollar stays strong through that time.

 

[Bavarian]

Thank you Helogabals for posting from the EU.

The French gov't website dealing with registering vehicles of all types states that tractors are supposed to be registered and have insurance. To register a vehicle brought in from outside the EU, you need an inspection carried out by an inspection station, which would check emissions compliance etc. I'm not sure whether that applies also to small tractors for personal use (non-ag enterprise). I will contact this agency for more information.

https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/recherche?keyword=tracteurs

Also should call French Customs and find out what they do when non-EU tractors come in as part of personal belongings. If Customs would let them in, they could go straight to my property where they would stay. But, if they later need service that requires hauling to a mechanic and I need to use a transporter, that might be a problem--in the U.S., for example, tow trucks aren't supposed to pick up cars with no or expired registration.

What makes sense to me is probably to sell the Kubota over here--it still has low hours and is in excellent shape, so I should recoup most of the purchase cost. The Case OTOH has just had a lot of work done and might not be so easy to sell (?). Runs great so if I can't sell it for close to what I have in it by now, it might make sense to ship it and at least then have a small tractor to use right away while looking for something bigger to replace the Kubota, especially if I would be on a waiting list for a while.

Yeah, just not moving would be easier.

I did not read all the posts.
I'm originally from Germany. That's how it was there before I moved. I'm not sure about France but might be close. Every vehicle that's used on public roads needs to be insured and licensed regarding it's classification. With one exception that was mostly used on tractors: a speed limiter set at 6 km/h. You could operate those without bi-annual inspection and license plate.

 

[Nikkorott]

So USA made 3-point hitch attachments will work on European tractors? I started some online research to try to figure this out but didn't find an answer yet.

Fortunately, most of the Kubota's attachments are rear--arena harrow, box grader, chain harrow, and rototiller (last the only one with PTO). Wow, I'd feel a lot better about selling the Kubota in the USA if I could take those. The only front attachments are a bucket, which buyers would expect to be on the loader anyway, and Artillian forks.

The move will be late summer or fall so I hope the dollar stays strong through that time.

Yep, US attachments will work on European tractors. I have an Ferrari tractor (Italian) that I love. It works with my US attachments. I also have a John Deere tractor that works with my European attachments.

One thing about European attachments though. My Ferrari is old and it has a 2 speed pto (540/1000). When you get ready to buy more attachments make sure the rpm rating is the same as for whatever tractor that you end up with. The 3 point connection categories will be familiar to you.

Congrats on the new adventure!

 

[Helogabals]

So USA made 3-point hitch attachments will work on European tractors? I started some online research to try to figure this out but didn't find an answer yet.

100 % sure !
Just keep in mind CAT 1/2/3.
At least that (3p) is not spoiled with different standards.

I have not done market research, but "from helicopter" to me it seems that in EU is very popular different agri- implements, for hay farming etc
In US you have way more dirt moving implements, not so popular here. For example thing like "box blade" is rather exotic here.

But another issue came to my mind. You are so concerned about tractor. But how about you ? I am not 100 % sure, but most likely you have to have tractor driver's license
Here in Latvia it is a must. So I think, most likely that is a must all over EU

OK, for small tractors category exam is a joke, there are mostly safety questions, but still it has to be done.
Again - while you are inside your property - nobody will give a about your licenses and tractor's certificates

 

[Helogabals]

Mmmm Not really. France has an official language. The USA does not. Efforts at establishing one are always met with cries of racism.

So because we don't have an official language there is no authority, no place you can go for a definitive answer to whether a word means one thing or another, how to pronounce it, how to use it, or if it even exists.
And because of that our language suffers all manner of depredations. It used to be that the lexicographers who put the dictionaries together had a smidgeon of decency. They looked to scholarly usage before attacking the language and just pronouncing changes.
Those days are as dead as the dodo.
Now the Lexicographers are constantly slumming for changes in linguistics. And because they are looking to the illiterate uneducated hoi polloi of the gutter the dictionaries are destroying the language.
Examples include
** Professional. It means to have professed oneself to a higher calling. The clergy and the priesthood are really the only professions. But today people abuse it for everything from how one dresses to conduct you name it.
** Devolve is another. It means to transfer the authority to do a thing from one bureau to another but the hoi polloi think it sounds like De-Evolve so they have forgotten the perfectly good word degenerate and substitute devolve. Because they are stupid.
** Use and Utilize are another lexicographic catastrophe. Utilize means to put something to a use for which it was not intended. But because it has more syllables the ignorant think it makes them sound smarter.

You really surprised me

Here linguists are ranting about our young generation using English slang.

I never could imagine your lingusits could find their basis of rant. But now you are telling that your linguists are not happy either


I am not so young anymore, but I am guilty either. In professional field. Mostly because there are new technologies coming in, which are not named in our language.
But when our kidZ are saying "ice" instead of "gelato", because they think, it's cool...