Engine Shipping Next Week. Any Concerns With Crating?

[ADK-Flyer]

I ended up finding a deal on new never run 912is engine that was installed on a kit not a kitfox that now will not be completed and is being parted out essentially. It is going to be shipped out next week and the original crate is being used to ship it but the way it's been mounted in the crate looks different then how I've seen them before. Does anyone see any issues with it being mounted with the flange pointing up for shipping? I cant imagine it would make much difference but I figured I'd ask. Also for anyone who has purchased a Rotax engine does the bracket for the oil tank come with the engine or is it part of the firewall forward kit I didn't see the bracket on the tank in the pictures of the accessories before they went in the crate. I've attached pictures of the engine on the original kit and pictures of everything during crating. It's shipping from British Columbia to NY and I was told the cost is going to be just shy of $800.00 for freight with full value insurance. I have no experience shipping freight so I'm not sure if that's typical or not. Thanks

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[Dave S]

Jared,

A couple comments.

1) The photo of the engine in the box does not show how it is attached to the box; however, I can't see any way to secure it in that position unless the ring mount was attached to the engine so I will make the assumption that the ring mount is attached to the engine and that is bolted to the box via the isolator holes in the ring mount. The ring mount would need to be securely bolted to the bottom of the box.

Normally Rotax ships the engines in the position with the prop flange forward; and, utilizes two "L" shaped steel angles bolted to each side with the bottom mounting holes of the crankcase.

To find out for sure how the engune is secured, a call to the person who sold it to you might be in order.


2) Oil tank mount is part of the Kitfox FF kit (brackets on the firewall part of the engine mount)

3) if you get your shipping that distance for $800 - I would say that is a really good price.

[ADK-Flyer]

Dave S, I do believe that the ring mount is on it and they did mention that the nice thing about the crate is that it has nuts built in to bolt the engine down. Originally they were going to have to have a crate built but after cleaning up their warehouse they came across the original crate. I'm assuming that they didn't have the L brackets anymore. I'm buying the engine from a Kit manufacturer so they do a bunch of shipping so I'd assume they got it figured out. As long as it isn't an issue with it being vertical I guess I shouldn't worry. There is insurance but I'd rather not use it lol.

[Dave S]

Jared,

I think you are good to go

Be good to hear of your continued progress on your build.

[ADK-Flyer]

I meant to update that the engine arrived undamaged but forgot. It was an extremely stressful process which turned into a major ordeal but it's here and somehow not damaged. I was going to post a more comprehensive account of the story but wasn't sure if anyone would be interested.
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[alexM]

Looks like the seller came through. What was stressful about it?

[ADK-Flyer]

Looks like the seller came through. What was stressful about it?

It turned out to be a bit stressful for multiple reasons. First thing was the engine didn't arrive on the day it was supposed to and I had help waiting with me to move it from the street to the house and I got no call. After contacting the shipper it turns out the engine got transferred to a 3rd party shipper because the original company doesn't ship to my area as I live in a rural part of the Adirondack mountains of Upstate NY. I then had to for a second time arrange for my help to be there to get the crate from the road. The engine ended up sitting in Albany for another week before coming. Well when it arrives I say to the driver I just gotta take a peek as I was told by the original shipper I should pop the lid on the crate to check for damages because we have full value insurance on it. Well the driver said absolutely not they are a 3rd party shipper and don't allow that and he wouldn't even take it off the truck if I didn't sign. I was irritated but I just said no problem let me just call the original shipper to make sure any damages will be covered if I sign before checking. After talking with them I was told no problem just write damaged crate on the form before signing and you'll be set. Well if I wasn't already irritated I definitely was when I saw the crate because it had a hole in the side of it from a forklift fork going into it and the whole crate was broken free almost entirely from it's base. At this point I was less than impressed but I just wanted to assess the damage so we got the crate out of the street so I could unpack it. To my surprise there was no damage and everything looked fine except for a few missing items.

The missing items is an irritation that actually started before the engine shipped. I was sent pictures of the engine when it was being crated and I noticed I didn't see the ECU in the pictures with the other accessories. I asked about it and they told me they were sure it was in there but said they would open the crate back up to check. I eventually received an email with a picture of a hand holding up the fuse box with a single word ECU. I immediately said that's not the ECU and reminded them if the ECU wasn't there this wasn't going to work for me as from what I have seen they sell for $12,000 to replace. Being that I had already paid and it was being picked up by the shipper that day all sorts of things started running through my head. I was told not to worry and was assured that they are almost certain it's in there, but if it's not that just means it's still in the plane at the avionics shop that removed the items and they will ship it to me at their expense. I felt somewhat better as this is a large kit manufacturer I'm dealing with who's brokering the deal and I couldn't see why they would try to do me wrong. Well when it arrived I was missing 2 things the ECU which as I said goes for $12,000 and the X3, HICA and HICB connectors for the airframe side of the harness which that kit is another $500.00. When I purchased this engine it was listed as new never run as shipped from Rotax so my understanding and the way it was advertised was everything that comes with the engine when purchased from Rotax. The engine had been partially installed but never completed. It took another 2 weeks and a lot of emails back and forth before I even saw a picture of the connectors and ECU because apparently it wasn't a top priority to the avionics shop to remove those items from the kit. So I basically have the engine which looks great and most items at my house and at that point I wasn't even sure if I would get the ECU which would be devastating financially to have to replace. In the second week of waiting I asked for an update and was told that they have asked the shop to remove the parts for shipping but it still hasn't happened and said it's on them now which I didn't agree with as I didn't buy it from them. I Asked for a deadline of last Friday to get these things removed and I was told ok. Friday came and I got a picture of the ECU and connectors in a box getting ready to be shipped and I was told they would pay the fedex cost of $160 but I had to pay the duties to cross the Canadian border and the insurance which totalled $303.00. I said it would have been nice if they were in the crate originally because it wouldn't have cost me any additional money. They ultimately agreed but went on to say that they were brokering the deal and didn't know very much about Rotax engines and that they didn't even know they came with the ECU but they couldn't eat the whole cost of shipping. I just said screw it paid the money and the ECU and connectors are finally with Fedex and on their way to me and should be here in a couple days.

In the end did I save a bunch of money? Yes. Was it worth it? Probably, but man was it painful. I got the engine I wanted to put in my kit which is great but I gained some gray hair in the last month or so. Now I just have to wait for Fedex to deliver the parts so it will be done.

[bbs428]

What an ordeal! I would have been upset as well.
Great looking engine! It seems to have all worked out now and you can get to building your airplane!

When I shipped my engine to Hal Stockman for the zipper install, the return shipper (same one) tried to overcharge me by $500.00 by saying it weighed more, and the dimension of the crate was different (bigger). Luck would be on my side as Hal stepped in and showed the offending party the weight and size of the crate before he shipped it back to me which was the same size and a bit lighter than previous due to a newly installed Sky-Tek starter. Hal said they pull this c@#p all the time.
Caused some heartburn but worked out as well.

All the best!

[ADK-Flyer]

What an ordeal! I would have been upset as well.
Great looking engine! It seems to have all worked out now and you can get to building your airplane!

When I shipped my engine to Hal Stockman for the zipper install, the return shipper (same one) tried to overcharge me by $500.00 by saying it weighed more, and the dimension of the crate was different (bigger). Luck would be on my side as Hal stepped in and showed the offending party the weight and size of the crate before he shipped it back to me which was the same size and a bit lighter than previous due to a newly installed Sky-Tek starter. Hal said they pull this c@#p all the time.
Caused some heartburn but worked out as well.

All the best!

Sorry to hear that but at least it isn't only me who has crazy issues LOL. I just got an update from Fedex and my ECU and connectors are out for delivery today. I'll be happy when it's in my hands and I'll probably have to have a couple drinks or something.

[alexM]

I understand the frustration with 3rd party (sometimes referred to as "last mile") trucking companies.

I recently ordered a roof rack for my Sprinter van, thinking it would just be a few big boxes on the UPS truck. Nope. On a pallet, 300 lbs shipping weight. I was contacted by the 3rd party company who wanted to deliver it when I was still working in Alaska. They would charge a storage fee of $120/day if I couldn't accept delivery.

The punchline was that they told me I would need a forklift or a loading dock in order to receive it. "Dude, this is a residence. Who has a forklift at home?"

I contacted the company I bought it from and they fixed everything in 10 minutes. They were able to delay the shipment until I was home, and the truck that showed up had lift and a pallet jack. Super nice guy, all went well.

---
Way back when I worked in the kayak industry I was able to witness the interaction with truck drivers with respect to damaged packaging. A driver showed up with some obviously abused pallets and wouldn't allow the manager of the shop to open and inspect. He just said "okay, then I refuse the shipment". That turned the tables quickly, because the driver doesn't want that to happen. It is my understanding that they are bluffing you in order to get rid of the item and move on. Especially on big ticket items, don't accept that story from them.

When I ordered my carbon fiber boot cowl from Kitfox it arrived on a pallet, and there was damage to the packaging. That driver actually insisted that I get the part out and examine it, which I was thankful for.