Thread: private import - farm machinery

Its pretty straight forward.

As it is just for me, not importing to resell. Have you got any hints or tips?

Where do I start?

My Bro and his mates use this website a fair bit.

Made-in-China.com - Manufacturers, Suppliers & Products in China
Andrew

From that website.
China 100HP 4 Wheel Tractor (SH1004) - China Tractor, Walking Tractor
Andrew

Does it need to be new? USA had a large corporate owned agricultural sector which leases machinery for 2 or 3 years and then hands it back to take a new one. These are factory maintained during this time and sell for a massive discount over new. Many Australian agricultural dealers import them to sell into local market.

Here's a tip... If you're thinking of buying a Chinese tractor, don't! Leave the thing there! You'll thank me in about 6 months time. 😊

The process of importing anything is relatively simple. Find what you want, buy it & pay for it, have someone clean & pack it for transport and then have it shipped, collect it here after paying all the customs & duties. There's a myriad freight forwarders who'll do some or all of the job for you.
The kicker is understanding the fees, charges, import duties etc and not forgetting/missing anything that will make the whole thing unviable. Do lots of homework, reading/googling and ringing around to find out what you're up for.
Shipping is all about standard container size loads. If you can fit what you want to buy inside either a 20ft or 40ft container you're laughing, it's the cheapest way to ship anything. If it's too big/tall/wide but it will go on a flat rack then that's the second cheapest. Dearest way is for anything that's specialised, oddly shaped or just plain ****ing heavy as that requires lots of people & extra cranes etc to do the job. It also means dedicated deck space rather than container stacking areas of the ship.

Originally Posted by Sitec

Here's a tip... If you're thinking of buying a Chinese tractor, don't! Leave the thing there! You'll thank me in about 6 months time. 😊

Why?
I imported a Chinese tractor in 2013 with backhoe, and 6 foot slasher and front end loader. I now have 200 hrs on it and it's a great machine.
Yes it had issues but mainly stupid little things that weren't finished off correctly. It's a 30 hP 4wd and with all those accessories including the import duty was only 14 k.
There are plenty of tractor forums like this one for help.
I can still contact the supplier if I have problems and if I need spare parts.
I have ordered a new starter motor as the original got water inside but it only cost 75 bucks plus delivery to get here in week..
would I do it again
Yes!!!!
Anything local was going to be around 25 k for the same as what I got for 14k.....that's a lot of savings
Brad