Approx Cost to Have Tractor Moved

[CurlyDave]

I have a JD 110 TLB located in Grants Pass, Oregon and am thinking about getting it trailered to the SF Bay Area in CA.

I am building a garage and driveway in CA and my choices are rent a small backhoe/skid steer in CA, or have the one I own moved to CA and then back to OR, after I am finished.

The 110 is a little larger than I need, but if the price were right for the transportation, I could easily learn to live with that.

The distance is about 450 miles, and the factory says it weighs about 8000 lbs, although I will bet that it is really more like 8500.

I am not asking for bids, and I don't even know when I would need it moved, but would like an educated guess on a ball-park price (to see how hard I want to look at rental equipment) and some idea of how hard it is to line up transportation.

 

[Dusty]

I had a tractor of that size moved about 10 years ago. It was $75 per hour for the move, from the time that he left his shop till the time he dropped it off and returned to his shop. Mine had to be winched onto the trailer, and it was a 18 wheeler set up that they used. A 20 mile move cost me 3 1/2 hours when I was done. This is a farmer that moves equipment for other farmers around the state. He knew what he was doing and was easy to work with. If the machine was running, it probably would have knocked an hour off the cost.
With the people that I know today, I could probably get it done for a case of beer and fuel.
Dusty

 

[hutch4472]

Hey Dave, Nice machine you got there, I planned to buy a 110 but wound up with a Kubota L35 when my home building plans changed and I could no longer justify the price of a new 110.........Anyhow.......just to give you an idea from my experience.........I bought my Kubota from an equipment yard in Ohio (it was an Ebay thing). I originally thought I would just haul my flatbed GN trailer back there and pick it up......then after I realized (I am geographically retarded) just how far EAST Ohio is from CA, I started looking for a shipper........long story longer (sorry).........I wound up going with Ship American (freight Brokers). Cost me $1950 for the 2400 mile trip with my 6000lb ish L35. They used a flatbed at a LTL (less than truckload rate). A flatbed was the most common trailer type for LTL loads. It seemed drop deck rates were higher (more specialized I guess?). Anyway, so for the flatbed trailer to work I needed a loading dock for pickup and delivery. Also a roll back truck (AAA?) makes a nice portable loading dock. Anyhow that was my tractor moving experience, hope it answered a question or two. Is renting a trailer an option maybe? Hutch

 

[CurlyDave]

Is renting a trailer an option maybe?

I hadn't thought of that, but I can look into it. The big problem is that my pickup is too small to tow the weight of the backhoe plus trailer.

Having to rent a truck and a trailer sounds pricey, but it might work out.

Ship American sounds like a reasonable idea also.

 

[billbill1]

I have heard of $1.50 per loaded mile, I don't know if the rate drops the farther you travel or not. Got any dealers nearby that might be coming back that way empty? They would probably give you a good rate.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

I have a JD 110 TLB located in Grants Pass, Oregon and am thinking about getting it trailered to the SF Bay Area in CA.

I am building a garage and driveway in CA and my choices are rent a small backhoe/skid steer in CA, or have the one I own moved to CA and then back to OR, after I am finished.

The 110 is a little larger than I need, but if the price were right for the transportation, I could easily learn to live with that.

The distance is about 450 miles, and the factory says it weighs about 8000 lbs, although I will bet that it is really more like 8500.

I am not asking for bids, and I don't even know when I would need it moved, but would like an educated guess on a ball-park price (to see how hard I want to look at rental equipment) and some idea of how hard it is to line up transportation.

Before the fuel prices went nuts, it wasn't hard to find hotshot haulers that would move a tractor for around $1.25 a loaded mile. About 3 years ago, the going rate had climbed to around $1.50. In the past few months, I've heard of some prices well over $2.00 per loaded mile.

Anyone (with a lick of sense anyhow) that hauls that far and through that many states will most likely be doing it "legal". (Not a given though) With insurance, DOT regs, fuel cost, vehicle cost, motels/food/misc. expenses, $2.00 won't get anyone rich. And you DON'T want to send your tractor out on the road with an ILLEGAL hauler.

Unless you have a BUNCH of hours worth of use in store for that back hoe, I don't hardly see how it's possible to move it from "A" to "B" and back at a price even CLOSE to renting in your immediate area.

 

[CurlyDave]

And you DON'T want to send your tractor out on the road with an ILLEGAL hauler.

That is a good point.

OTOH, because of the fact that I will sometimes take the tractor over to one of my neighbor's places for a little while (no commercial work) my insurance agent has convinced me to cover it under a "personal articles" policy rather than coounting on the coverage that comes with my homeowner's policy.

I would hope that this would cover anything that might happen while towing.

How do the rental contracts work?

I was assuming so much per week, and while the total hours wouldn't be that high, the time I need it might stretch over several months.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

I would say unless you truly can get it moved for fuel costs, that it is going to be cheaper and a lot easier to just rent. Of course it makes a big difference how long you need it for each time, 1-2 days, a week. Can you drive the tractor too & from the rental yard, or do you have to pay for pick-up & delivery each time? Can you get by without it in Oregon, or then you have to do without there? I believe that the current hourly rate for a low bed is $100-$125 per hour. 900 miles twice at 60 mph = $3000-$3750. No deals, just paying to get it moved when you want it moved.

Just more stuff to think about.

 

[hutch4472]

Dave sorry I made a mistake (wow 1st time, can you believe it finally happened?) Its "Ship North America" that I used to ship my tractor. Google their web site, I think they have an online cost estimater that is based on the items weight, length, width, and heigth.

I am sure you could get it shipped for WAY less than $3000. Im would WAG about $800-$1500 one way.

Hutch

 

[MtnViewRanch]

hutch4427, my estimate is for a company to haul the tractor to Calif, drive back to Oregon. Go back to Calif to pick-up tractor and bring it back to Oregon. 1800 miles total, 2 trips. This is to call a low bed service and have the tractor moved when you want it moved, not when they happen to be going that way. ( meaning it could be 2,3, or more weeks if you want a deal with either a partial load charge or we are going that way anyway charge)

When, I bought a tractor back on the east coast, It took almost a month before it was picked up on one of those partial load, going that way deals. Yes it is about 40% the cost, but it doesn't work if you need something someplace at a certain time.