Shipping a woodstove???

[Shari]

Does anyone have any experience shipping a woodstove? I found one on Craig's List that is just perfect for us - but - it is in Michigan and we are in Wisconsin. Somewhere, sometime, someone mentioned a shipping company for purchases like this but I can't find the thread.........

Shari

 

[fossil]

You could check this place out. I was looking into using this service to arrange shipping some stuff when we moved from Virginia, but I never needed to, so I have no personal experience with it:

http://www.uship.com/

 

[Cearbhaill]

Cheaper just to rent a truck.

 

[BrotherBart]

That is what friends and relatives with pickup trucks were put on this planet for.

 

[Shari]

BB,

I have found that friends and family with pickup trucks are good for about 2 hours. I'm talking 10 hrs. round trip straight driving. Good idea though.

Shari

 

[mellow]

Shipping a woodstove almost always void's any savings you will get, especially if you use a freight company and have to palatalize and crate the woodstove.

 

[Dix]

BB,

I have found that friends and family with pickup trucks are good for about 2 hours. I'm talking 10 hrs. round trip straight driving. Good idea though.

Shari

Can you borrow a truck, Shari?

 

[kenny chaos]

We recently scored a 2008 dodge grand caravan for a trip to Chicago and back. We got it at Enterprise and they had a special weekend rate of $20/day. That woulda hauled a woodstove and done it in class.
Maybe they'll hold it for ya till you can work something out?
Or, maybe be patient and wait for something closer to home? I remember when e-bay first started. A guy I know bought a horse in Kentucky and was way too proud of himself for having to go and get it. It was nothing that special and he was not even a horse person. He paid $700 for a $500 dollar horse and paid that much again to get it hauled home. He just did it because he could I guess.
Good luck- I know you've been looking hard- hope it works out

 

[drizler]

If you can swing a rental and not get your nickers knocked off go for it. Just be very very certain of any and all mileage and distance whatever that can drive the price sky high. Rentals tend to be a rip off now days in the US so just watch out for it. The best way is simply to borrow someones and go if you can swing it. Can you possibly fit it into the trunk of your car with the lid open? That is another angle. If it was something that was all boxed up and commercially ready to go it might be workable to have someone take it to a terminal and ship it but since its a private deal it will be a serious PITA or an exercise in how deep is your wallet? For me I would have to want it pretty bad to go to all the hassle. If you do decide to go the shipping route just make sure you get it all nailed down real solidly who does what and how much . As for the do it yourself method I would imagine any pickup or van even a minivan would do. In fact a minivan would be a lot easier to load and deal with and the rental places are full of em as they are popular. I wouldn't worry about the weight as I see them all the time with well over a ton in them. I used to see the same flock of Haitians every weekend crossing the US Canada border heading to NYC. They usually had 5 or 6 large people and never less than a ton of rice in 50 lb bags. Stupid but they survive to this day. A stove shouldn't even make one squat.

 

[Nic36]

I would be careful about using a shipping company for an item being sold Craigslist. The seller is probably honest, but I assume you want to pay the seller without driving to Wisconsin and have it shipped freight to your home. That could get very tricky. It would be different if it were on eBay with Paypal protection (to some degree). Unless you are willing to drive there to look at it, pick it up and pay for it, I would pass.

I was in the same situation as you, looking for a good used stove. I found some really nice ones for sale on Craigslist, but they were always too far off. The stove I eventually bought was shipped freight, but I bought from chimneysweeponline and they handled all that with my purchase.

If you are not scared someone here will buy the stove you are looking at, post a link and let the pros crtitique it to tell you whether it would be worth any hassle or not.

 

[Cearbhaill]

I have found that friends and family with pickup trucks are good for about 2 hours. I'm talking 10 hrs. round trip straight driving. Good idea though.

You could pay an unemployed (or needy) friend well and still come out ahead.
You would be real surprised what some people will do to feed their family when times are tough.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Does anyone have any experience shipping a woodstove? I found one on Craig's List that is just perfect for us - but - it is in Michigan and we are in Wisconsin. Somewhere, sometime, someone mentioned a shipping company for purchases like this but I can't find the thread.........

Shari

Shari, what stove is it? How heavy or what is the size? Where in MI?

 

[jtb51b]

I drove to Kentucky to get my Buck, 600 miles round trip in a dodge ram 2500 CTD. Didn't cost me much on fuel and I saved a TON over new... I was very pleased..

Jason

 

[Shari]

Sorry not to get back sooner to my own posting. I am the "Original Christmas Procrastinator" and have so much to do yet.....

I have a small SUV and the stove would probably fit in it. The problem is hubby can't come with me because he has to stay within 1 hour of his hospital; I won't drive that far by myself; etc. We are hosting Christmas Eve for all of hubby's family so maybe I can find a traveling companion in the group. I have made a $$ offer to the owner of the stove and he is thinking about it. While he is thinking I am still looking for something I like closer to home. Maybe I will yet be lucky closer to home. The cost of the stove is probably in the $1,800-$2,200 ball park (I priced it early this Fall.) It is about 3 seasons old and we are talking around 1/2 price for it.

Shari

 

[atvdave]

A friend with a truck, throw in some cash for time (maybe $50), pay for gas, get him a case of beer for a thank you gift, and you got a stove. If they won't do it for that... You need new friends.