Importing a trailer

[Ash]

Has anybody any experience in importing a trailer? My wife is horse mad, yes, a crazy old horse lady. Nearly as bad a crazy cat people. Anyway... she is looking for a different trailer and there are stacks in the US. Obviously they are very big and take up the better part of a shipping container, if they even fit, but any info I see on RORO is pretty average. Any experience or advice from anyone?

Something like this would be awesome, this one is 9kUS and is fully aluminium. Anything like that here is 40k plus.

[GLENN 70]

Ash ,roll on roll off is the best way to get one here. The biggest problem with large trailers from the USA is they are too wide from wheel to wheel for aust .

[Ash]

The biggest problem with large trailers from the USA is they are too wide from wheel to wheel for aust .

By this do you mean in regards to transporting across the big Pacific pond or for rego here in Aus?

[GLENN 70]

To wide across the axle for aust rego . That's the 1st thing you have to look at .

[Ash]

Alrightly, I'll look into the requirements for that. Cheers heads up. I've built and registered a few trailers now and this has not come up but none of them were questionable in size, they were obviously not too big by looking at them. I'll do a bit of homework into NSW regulations.

[Pinto Pete]

You is whipped Max.......Horses,..pfft.

[Ash]

 

Tell me about it!   

[Ash]

They do make good footrests while you are talking on the phone though. My wife took this photo this arvo.

[Mattstang]

That`s only half a horse Ash 

[Ash]

Really it is full size. I'm just super huge... 

[stormin]

You had better check the width real good. USA trailers are generally 2in wider than what is allowed here. You may also find the wiring may have to be modified. Also check the weight. We had a lot of trouble with a sprintcar trailer that was imported in and the good buy turned into a nightmare.
Stormin

[Ash]

Thanks, Stormin. I'll ask the guy who has been doing the blueslips on my trailers the next time I see him about what the max width is.

How did you ship you car trailer across, was it RORO?

Cheers

[stormin]

Wasn't for me .I think it was brought in by a local importer who's now retired. This was about 2 years ago.
Don't know for sure but if trailer has a side door it will probably be on the wrong side.
Stormin

[big al]

You are spot on with all that Norm!

[GLENN 70]

That's true about side doors ,also the lights and trailer cuplinks have to be changed . Don't know about the doors if it only a horse trailer ,but I suppose they will think you might stop on the road and enter the trailer . Sometimes the brakes have to be up graded also . The list may  on and on depending on the trailer .

[Ash]

All that stuff is fine guys, all those parts are cheap chips these days. Rolls of 7 core, LED lights, plugs and etc can be fitted out for under $100.

If you look on the example I put in the first post, you can see there are two doors on the left side which from what I can see is common.

[skip70]

I have also seen at least one US trailer company offer trailers built to Australian design rules or Aussie spec. Might be worth a look into. + 2 on Norms advice for used trailers.

[boss69hogg]

Doors on the left side as shown would be a bonus Ash. My understanding is that any entry door on a trailer should be on the left side so that access is done from the footpath side and not road side (that's why US caravans have to be converted.)

[Ash]

Found a dealer in Aus importing these exact trailers and they go for the 60k mark. Nice little mark up 

This means they should be no problem to rego here. If only the wife could make up her mind what she wants, it's changed at least a dozen times in the last 24 hours 

[69candy]

Keep us in the loop buddy. Thinking about a base station toy hauler type thing

[Ash]

I've had a look through a couple of those Jayco Base Stations, they are a nice set-up! Massive dollars here in Aus though.

[Ash]

Keep us in the loop buddy. Thinking about a base station toy hauler type thing

I got a quote for RORO on that trailer that I put the picture up of. They quote just under $5500 for delivery to Port Kembla, just south of Sydney, from Florida. This is a copy and paste which didn't work out the best sorry.


Vero Beach FL 32960 United States
   
Date: 08-24-2014
Type   Cargo   Details
Others   2005 EXISS ES300 3 HORSE ALUMINUM TRAILER   L: 27'0" x H: 7'6" x W: 7'0"
V: 1418.0 cu.ft
W: 5000.0 lbs

Ship From: Jacksonville
Ship To: Port Kembla
PRICE QUOTE
Item   Description   
Shipping   Method: RoRo   $ 5,195.00
Trucking   Method:    $ .00
Additional Trucking   Method:    $ .00
Other      $ .00
Other (2)      $ .00
AES       $ 40.00
Customs    US Customs Clearance   $ .00
DHL/FedEx   For returning Certificate of Title and Bill of Lading documents   $ 60.00
Insurance   Is provided at an additional charge. Please refer to the 'Notes'* section below for further details   $ .00
   If Payment is by Check or Cash     $ 5,295.00
   If Payment is by Wire Transfer     $ 5,330.00
   Any other form of Payment     $ 5,453.85

The wife has changed her mind so many times, I've really lost track of where she is up to, it's all going in one ear and out the other now. She looked at some smaller new ones this afternoon but she wasn't impressed. Who knows what we'll end up doing. I thought this shipping price was pretty reasonable given the size of the thing.

[stormin]

You could probably slip a mustang,a Harley and enough spares to rebuild both inside of it and save on their freight. Or sell them to cover your costs.
Stormin

[ants]

Did a little bit of research into 5th wheelers a few months ago.
That one in the picture on the face of it looks ok, at 7ft wide it comes in under NSW maximun width
2.4 or 2.5m (can't remember of the top of my head). Length and height are ok.
The main things to be aware of

Lighting - easy to bring up to ADR.

Weight - at nearly 2,300kg + horses + feed + saddles + all the grog you'll need to drink while      watching the missus doing something thats boring you shitless you have to make sure that the GTM
of your tow vehicle is high enough to be legal.

Axles & Brakes - some 5th wheelers have braking systems and axle & spring setups don't meet ADR's and need a full upgrade.

Hitch - basically the same as axles and brakes, some don't meet ADR. Then there's the problem getting it from Port Kembla if you haven't got the right hitch on the tow vehicle.

Engineer - imported 5th wheel caravans need an engineers report so I would assume the same for a horse float, so if I were you I would be trying te get ALL the specs of any trailer your considering and talking to an engineer before purchasing.

I'm no expert on these things but what I've written above is what I found out when researching 5th wheel caravans.

[Ash]

all the grog you'll need to drink while      watching the missus doing something thats boring you shitless

  How did you know? 

I'm currently looking around for anther F-truck. This would be the tow vehicle. But ....... If she could make up her mind, it would help a great deal. I just nod now and say "yep". I know the plan will change again in a couple of hours time. 

The new horse arrives on Wednesday, will see how that goes and which decision she decides to go with.

But thanks for you input Ants, very helpful