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[RMoore]

Anyone who has shipped a multitrack - how far did you go with protective packing & what worked for you?

I've got an MM1200 stored on a pallet with a provisional 'crate' around it of thin plywood and cardboard over the top. Thing is it is impossible to move without a hydraulic pallet lifter so I am thinking of unwrapping the mummy, having it be on wheels & utilize some other protection...It'd be terrible if any part of the tape transport would get damaged / bent.. looking like it will travel in a shipping container by truck-sea-rail.

[Dave_EK]

Personally... I would put it on a beefed up pallet made of 4 x 4's and double layers of 3/4" ply, and surround it with a crate of at least 1/2" plywood on a 2 x 4 frame.  The easier you make it to move, the easier it WILL move.  Plastic wrap the machine itself with containers of silica gel inside and next to the head block.  Leave at LEAST 6" inside the crate to the machine and fill the void with bags of expanding foam.  Yes, it will be a total pig to move, but it will get there in one piece.

[C.Cash]

Dave_EK wrote on Thu, 11 November 2010 09:25

Personally... I would put it on a beefed up pallet made of 4 x 4's and double layers of 3/4" ply, and surround it with a crate of at least 1/2" plywood on a 2 x 4 frame.  The easier you make it to move, the easier it WILL move.  Plastic wrap the machine itself with containers of silica gel inside and next to the head block.  Leave at LEAST 6" inside the crate to the machine and fill the void with bags of expanding foam.  Yes, it will be a total pig to move, but it will get there in one piece.

+1 on that.

I have seen lots of shipping damage due to inadequate packing.
Its lots cheaper to spend the money on the packing and shipping than it would be to replace.

[kats]

I trucked a Studer 827 500 miles in the back of a U-Haul trailer once, with a packing blanket and tie downs.

Damn thing held it's alignment (super close anyhow) when I fired it up

[Les Ismore]

As far as the foam goes, just remember Ryan, that this machine weighs almost 500 lbs. I don't know if packing foam will keep from getting compressed under that much weight if anything goes awry.

[Dave_EK]

The two part polyurethane expanding foam will provide a pretty durable boundary between the container and the machine.

http://www.sprayfoam.com/spps/ahpg.cfm?spgid=18

[Bill Mueller]

RMoore wrote on Thu, 11 November 2010 09:53

Anyone who has shipped a multitrack - how far did you go with protective packing & what worked for you? I've got an MM1200 stored on a pallet with a provisional 'crate' around it of thin plywood and cardboard over the top. Thing is it is impossible to move without a hydraulic pallet lifter so I am thinking of unwrapping the mummy, having it be on wheels & utilize some other protection...It'd be terrible if any part of the tape transport would get damaged / bent.. looking like it will travel in a shipping container by truck-sea-rail.

Ryan,

This might not be what you want to hear, but hire a professional electronics portage company who delivers portal to portal (Important! No local shippers to drop it off the back of a lift gate!) to crate and ship the unit. Make sure that it is insured for twice what you think it's worth. Also, make sure you have an absolutely accurate (including cables, connectors, replacement cards, screws, tools, etc, etc,) commercial invoice or carnet BEFORE trying to get through any customs inspection anywhere.

Bill

[jetbase]

If it's travelling in a shipping container with other people's freight then you definitely need to protect it. Imagine if somebody else roughly packs bags of cement on a pallet in that container & then you get rough seas. If yours is the only freight in that container then you have more control over how everything is packed & loaded/unloaded. I agree with Dave, it's better to make in harder to move. When you need it to be easy to move again you just unpack it.

[Les Ismore]

Another thought Ryan, maybe sell it over there and pick up another one here? Might be a lot easier and cheaper in the long run. Unless your machine is all rebuilt and in perfect shape, you can pick up used machines fairly inexpensively these days (in varying degrees of condition of course).

[rphilbeck]

Can't you remove any fragile components and ship separate?

[RMoore]

Thanks for the feedback guys - appreciate it,
Definite food for thought.

@ Pete - Interesting one, I hadn't thought of that angle. Its not like MM1200's are rarer than hen's teeth.

@ Bill - good point about carnets/waybills/manifests etc. I did a lot of touring in Europe in the good old days before the Schengen agreement kicked in with many border controls lifted. I can certainly remember many heightened stress moments with paperwork/gear & border crossings including stuff like having to dig out equipment to correlate with serial numbers some overzealous official picks at random from the carnet.

@ Dave - the foam looks great, probably overkill and $ for my needs but I really like the concept of the 2 component custom mold stuff.