A teenager in Canada wants to buy a 250 lb. Fisher Eagle I just acquired. I checked with a trucker, and they want a small fortune to ship and lay paperwork(invoicing and brokerage fees) to ship this anvil to canada, far more than he is paying for the anvil itself. It is too heavy for UPS, and Greyhound doesn't ship to canada. Does anyone have any thoughts as to how I can accomodate this young man and his need for an anvil? Please tell me how to ship this anvil reasonably to canada. Thank you in advance. Helpppppppppppppppp!!!!!!!

I would suggest inviting him to visit your shop and maybe even spend a day or so visiting. Or offer to drive a distance north, whatever is comfortable for you to meet him, and leave the rest of the driving challenge up to the buyer. If he wants it badly enough he can take the initiative.

the trouble with that idea, dave, is that he lives in western canada!

The only other option that I can think of is to ask around to see if anyone is driving in that direction, by posting the approximate points of origin and destination, and letting people know they would be helping a teenager.

Places to post include pet rescue forums because they sometimes form rescue trains to pass pets from one end of the country to the other, and might be able to accommodate the anvil as an additional passenger if they are going that way anyway. Although, a 254 lb anvil might be too much for them... The best bet would be a smith that happens to be traveling that direction.

More or less it is at the same time making the attempt to assist while at the same time setting a boundary. Describing what you can do, and then letting him come up with other options if what you can offer is not within what he feels is appropriate.

Also check with other heavy iron friends you may have such as the steam and gas engine crowd. I've had success getting a 700 pound engine from Nebraska to Virginia via two relays and it was less than $150 because they were coming this way. They are used to heavy iron.

How far from the border is he and does he have access to transportation?

The big problem with shipping is the border crossing. If you could arrange transportation to an appropriate spot for pick-up and then let him do the border crossing then things would be simple. "Personal" rather then "Commercial".

Actually this breaks down to 2 cases: transport east to west in US and then have it cross; or get it across on the east and then have it transported west. There are standard methods of east-west transportation in place that he could make use of.

Blacksmith mail can be very inexpensive; but with an anvil that size handoffs would be an issue. Would anyone in the closest border group in Canada be willing to help out? You might be able to send it closer to the border with a blacksmith attending a conference or meeting. Anybody going to CanIron?

Check with Fed-X Freight. They sometimes give good deals on motor freight (just don't send it Next Day)

Find a trucking broker, They will find a spot on a truck for much less than most trucking companies will charge you. I would guess you could get the anvil shipped for around $250 unless he is on Vancouver island .

For customs your customer might be better off getting the customs broker himself. Most customs brokers will not tell you this but to import into Canada you need a Canadian Broker. To import into the US you need a US broker. Your local broker will probably handle it but they are just going to sub out the job and mark it up, you can use a Canadian customs broker. . I have had good luck with Harte and Lyne for importing into Canada but they are smaller and may not have offices out west where the truck crosses the border. but they might. The tariff cove for an anvil and most other blacksmithing tools is .8205.80.1000

Blacksmith mail can be very inexpensive; but with an anvil that size handoffs would be an issue. Would anyone in the closest border group in Canada be willing to help out? You might be able to send it closer to the border with a blacksmith attending a conference or meeting. Anybody going to CanIron?

Unfortunately for this situation Caniron this Summer is in Quebec. Which is a long way from Western Canada.

As I pointed out the issue is with getting across the border; transporting it east to west is a fairly easily arranged thing *if* you don't have to deal with the customs brokerage issues.

If someone from the USA could drag it up to Caniron getting it freighted to the west should be fairly simple---right? (even though it ends up further east to start in Quebec...)

Not as efficient as getting it hauled to Vancouver Washington, USA and then having the new owner schlep it across the border; but sometimes you have to go with what is possible rather than best.

thanks to everyone for your advice. The cheapest alternative was fed ex freight, but the price was over the budget of my prospective customer, so that obliges me to put the anvil up for sale again in the tailgating section..............oh well..................can a moderator please lock this thread, it has run its course!

Did you try Uship.com? I was able to get my 350# Fisher from Mass to SC for $200, and the guys that brought it down were very professional, but thoroughly blue-collar. Might be a way to get it from PA to the west coast and then let the customer meet with the drivers.

VAughn, thank you so kindly for the heads up, but my prospective customer for that anvil has decided not to buy