Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion Fun with crating pumps, top mount bracing...

Thought I'd share some pictures of the last pump we shipped out, how we braced the top this time in the crate. Bent a circle with bar stock, welded in four "legs" that reached the crate sides, and placed the bent circle within the globe holder, used large bolts to mount it to the pump. Seemed to work pretty well. We used to use metal strapping to do the same thing but think this is better.

(You can barely see too that the globe is mounted on the bottom of the crate and we have the hose and nozzle sandwiched in plywood on the side of the crate. Also purposely making the footprint of the crate big to prevent tipping!)

looks like a great way to ship it... would be curious to know some of the fees associated with it as well.

material costs for crate?
freight costs to where it is going?
freight provider?

I just shipped a Wayne 500 and struggled with whether or not to secure it at the top to prevent toppling inside the crate. I ended up doing nothing at the top because I was afraid that the vibration might cause damage if anything was against it. Never thought of a brace from the globe mount because this particular pump did not have a globe mount on it, just the block off plate. I reinforced the floor of the pallet the crate was built around with 2x4 runners and used big lag screws to secure the pump to the pallet at the base in the intended anchor bolt holes. I just wrapped the pump in plastic wrap to keep it all together and protected the windows and ad glass with foam. The pallet was 40x40 and wasn't really to tippy after the box was all finished. I used 2x3's and osb to build the crate. It got there in perfect shape so guess it all worked this time. I used R&L Carriers and it cost $250 to ship from MO to Pittsburg, PA. We ship freight daily and have a good broker so I may have had an advantage on the rate. Think I had about $50 in materials. I've got some pictures of the process on my shop computer but not handy.....GB

Gary, Bryce,

I think our material costs for the crate were about $75. We use brokers, Freightquote, UShip, to find our shipper. Costs are usually between $200 to $450 to ship around the US, the cost isn't necessarily distance related, sometimes I think we just happen to be on a favorable route and costs are cheaper that way. Shipped to Hawaii a few times for like $1100. Was a huge visible that we shipped laid down flat, got there fine. We've only had damage once and it was R&L unfortunately, we've used R&L the most though, Roadrunner few times, all kinds of carriers.

Gary, we mount the bottom like you describe, essentially make a pallet out of 2x6 to fit the box. We make our own pallets because the cheap wood on most pallets is kind of problematic. We bolt the pump to the pallet too. I think it's important to make the crate so the freighter can use pallet jacks, forklift to move around without tipping. I don't wrap in plastic without first putting cloth around it, I've seen paint get etched by the plastic especially when the paint is on the fresh side! Happened to me on a car once.

I know what you mean about mounting the top or not, sometimes the tops aren't real solid maybe your better off not sometimes.

Good job, only one way to do things right. Learned long time ago...an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure.

We have shipped restored and unrestored pumps similar to this method for years. We have never had any damage. https://oldgaspumpguys.com/Shipping.html

We have shipped restored pumps to, Guatemala City, Guatemala; Geneva, Switzerland, Bangkok, Thailand; Milan, Italy; and all over the 48.
I would be careful attaching bracing to a "pot metal" top like a Bennett 76 or a Tokheim 36B.
Either way, the more you protect the pump the better off you are.
Paul I see your dad has passed on many of his wide range of talents. You are lucky to have such a great teacher.

Great ideas.

Few more pictures by request for recent shipments... shows top mounting of oil pump and gas pump. Both the pumps were mounted at the bottom with long bolts to the bottom platform.