Help please! I run a non profit and need to ship a farm tractor to Sierra Leone

[Emily Wierenga]

Hello there,
I am a 36-year-old woman with a passion for the poor who knows barely anything about tractors and who runs an international non profit. We are needing to ship a 1995 Kubota tractor from the San Francisco, CA Port to Freetown, SL to help a pastor there feed his people. Do you know of any companies I could talk to about shipping a tractor? To learn more about us, please go here: Home - The Lulu Tree. Thank you for your time. Sincerely, Emily Wierenga.

 

[pmsmechanic]

I've been involved with shipping equipment and parts etc to Haiti to drill water wells.

The most economical way to Haiti anyways is to buy a used container and fill it with goods that can be used there. Then just ship the whole container. I'm assuming then you have raised money to buy a tractor and have purchased it and are planning on shipping it to SL. Sometimes it's just easier to send money and have the locals there buy a tractor in SL.

Also a word of caution. You are talking about a 22 year old tractor. While Kubota is a good brand every manufacturers tractors etc still need parts. Make sure parts are readily available in SL before you ship a tractor there that will be useless if you can't readily purchase parts. This is the voice of experience hence the suggestion to purchase a tractor in SL.

I wish you well in your endeavors.

 

[MossRoad]

I think you could buy a 22 year old used tractor in Sierra Leone cheaper than you could ship one there from the opposite coast of the U.S.

 

[Dadnatron]

I agree with Moss. Just because you have one doesn't mean getting it there is the best course of action.

 

[MossRoad]

I'd sell it for maximum cash here in the U.S., send the money to the contact in Sierra Leon, and have him purchase what's available locally. Plus, it will take months to get there by boat, customs, bribery, etc...