This is one of the questions I get asked a lot from farmers that are looking to purchase a harvester from Europe. Buying a harvester overseas is one thing but getting the chunky piece of metal over here and back up and running is a whole other beast. Sea to Sky Hop Solutions has done it many times and we are happy to share how it’s done.
There are two ways to ship a Wolf hop harvester across the oceans.
The first option is commonly done and involves some mechanical effort. This option only works for machines like the Wolf WHE 140 / 170 or WHE 220 / 280.
After the machines are inspected, repaired and thoroughly cleaned the machine will be disassembled. The harvester gets ‘split’ in half at a horizontal angular line. The main frame will be cut and some components must be disassembled and removed in order to fulfill this step. After the cut, the machine is very unstable and its structure has been disturbed which means great care has to be taken when handled while loading and offloading. This effort is taken because the machine now fits into a 40’ HC sea container with all it’s components. Container shipping for a load of this scale is the cheapest way to get a harvester across the pond. Even considering the cost for reassembly at its final location will outweigh the cost for the type of transport that is described next.
The second option for machines larger than a WHE 280 (e.i. WHE 300, WHE 400 and larger) is flat rack shipping. Flat racks are based on the dimensions of a normal sea container but will have no roof and only some side walls or even none. This method of shipping requires 1 or 2 flat rack sea containers and a 20’ sea container for parts and detached components. In this case the machines also need to be disassembled like their smaller siblings but due to the “bolt-together” design of the newer Wolf harvester models the structure is more stable when disassembled. These flat racks are loaded on top of a container ship after the enclosed containers are loaded. As the machine halves are out in the elements on the open ocean plastic wrapping is used to package the harvester to prevent damage from rust.
Sea to Sky Hop Solutions offers free organization of the transport with the purchase of a harvester from door to door and only the costs directly related to the transportation of the machines will be charged to the client.
Please get in touch via contact form or send us an email if you are looking for a harvester.
We hope this was informative to all readers and please don’t hesitate to comment below with questions, ideas, feedback and maybe even your own transport story.
