Machinery Dismantling for Export: Fit a Container or Flat Rack

Why machines are dismantled before export

Ocean freight is priced by the space a machine takes, and a closed container is almost always the least expensive space on a ship. A 40' high cube has a door 2.34 m wide and 2.59 m tall (92 by 102 inches) and an interior about 12 m long. A machine that clears that door rides inside a sealed steel box, out of the weather and away from salt spray, and it can share the box with its own parts. A machine that does not clear it goes on a flat rack, by RoRo or as breakbulk, which costs more and leaves it exposed.

Dismantling is how a machine that is a little too tall, too long or too wide is brought inside those limits. Taking off a bucket, a hoe, a cab guard or a set of mirrors often decides between a container and a flat rack. For machines that will never fit a door, such as a 20-ton excavator at nearly 3 m over the tracks, removing the boom, stick and counterweight brings the height and length down so the machine blocks fewer slots on a flat rack, or comes within the RoRo deck height.

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What we remove, by machine

• Excavators: bucket, stick and boom, counterweight, and on mini excavators the canopy or cab guard when the transport height is over the door.
• Backhoe loaders and compact equipment: the backhoe, the loader bucket, stabilizer pads, cab guards and quick couplers, so the main frame clears a 40' high cube.
• Wheel loaders and dozers: bucket or blade, ripper, ROPS canopy, exhaust stack and beacon, to lower the height on a flat rack or RoRo deck.
• Tractors and combines: dual wheels, front weights, mirrors, the exhaust stack and loader arms on tractors; the header, unloading auger extension and grain tank extensions on combines.
• Cranes, telehandlers and lifts: forks, carriage, jib sections, platform baskets and outrigger pads.

How we decide whether dismantling pays

We start from the machine's transport dimensions, ideally from the manufacturer's specification sheet and then from a tape measure at our yard, because worn tires, an aftermarket cab or a different bucket change the numbers. The figures that matter are the widest point, which has to clear the 2.34 m door with room to drive or winch it in, the height on its tracks or tires against the 2.59 m door, and the length against the 12 m floor with the removed parts beside it.

Weight is the second check. A 40' high cube carries roughly 26 t of cargo, so a heavy machine plus its counterweight can reach the limit before the space runs out, and the load has to be spread so no single point overloads the floor. Then we compare the freight on each method with the work of taking parts off and the buyer's cost of putting them back on. When the difference is small, we leave the machine whole.

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How the job runs

1. 1

   Survey

   We measure the machine, photograph it from every side and record the serial or PIN plate, hour meter and any existing damage before a bolt is touched.

2. 2

   Plan

   We confirm with you which parts come off and how the machine and parts will be laid out in the container or on the rack.

3. 3

   Remove and tag

   Each part is match-marked to its mounting point, tagged with a number and photographed in place and removed. Pins, bolts and shims are bagged and wired to the part they came from.

4. 4

   Cap the hydraulics

   Every hydraulic line and port that is opened gets a cap or plug, so no oil leaks into the container and no dirt gets into the system.

5. 5

   Clean

   Removing a boom or panel exposes soil that a wash cannot reach on an assembled machine, so the washdown comes after the dismantling when the destination inspects for biosecurity.

6. 6

   Load and secure

   The machine goes in first, on timber under the tracks or tires, and is chained at its tie-down points. Heavy parts are blocked and braced on the floor; small parts go in a crate or on a pallet.

7. 7

   Document

   You and your consignee get the photo record, the tagged parts list and a loading photo before the doors are sealed.

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Fuel, batteries and dangerous goods

A machine with an engine, fuel and a battery is treated as dangerous goods for sea transport under the IMDG Code unless it meets the code's conditions, and every carrier adds its own limits for fuel level and battery connection. During dismantling we disconnect and secure the batteries, check that the fuel is down to the carrier's limit, and look for leaks from the engine, final drives and hydraulic system, because a container that arrives with oil on the floor can be refused or cleaned at the receiver's cost.

Where the carrier asks for a dangerous goods declaration for the machine, we prepare it with the booking. Spare batteries, aerosol cans and fuel containers left in the cab are taken out, since they are dangerous goods in their own right.

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Paperwork for a dismantled machine

A machine shipped in pieces is still one machine. Under General Interpretative Rule 2(a) of the Harmonized System, an article presented unassembled or disassembled is classified as the complete article, so the commercial invoice and packing list describe a single excavator or tractor with its removed components listed under it, not a pile of loose parts. That keeps the destination's tariff classification and any age or emissions check tied to the machine itself.

Self-propelled machines also go through CBP's title and 72-hour export check, which matches the PIN plate against the invoice. We keep the plate on the main frame and visible, and if a destination needs a certificate of origin or a phytosanitary certificate it describes the machine the same way.

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Reassembly at destination

Reassembly is done by your mechanic, dealer or rental yard at destination. We make that job predictable: each part carries its tag number, its hardware is wired to it, and the photo record shows it in place before removal, so the person putting it back does not have to guess which pin goes where or how a hose was routed.

• Plan for a crane or a second machine at destination to lift a boom, counterweight or blade back into place.
• Have the hydraulic oil topped up and the system bled after hoses are reconnected.
• Check the manufacturer's torque values for counterweight and boom bolts; we record which bolts were removed, not new torque settings.

When we do not dismantle

Some machines ship best as they are. A wheel loader or dozer that rolls aboard a RoRo ship on its own tires or tracks rarely gains anything from losing its bucket. A machine that is wider than the door because of its undercarriage stays wider whatever comes off the top, so it goes on a flat rack with the attachments lashed beside it. And on a new or nearly new machine some buyers prefer to avoid opening the hydraulics at all. In each case we tell you why, and which method the heavy equipment shipping quote uses.

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