Tillage Equipment Shipping
Disc Harrow, Cultivator & Ripper Shipping
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Ship Your Tillage Equipment
Get expert advice on the best shipping solution for your equipment.
Related Equipment
Overview
Tillage tools fold their wings up for the road, which makes them narrow but tall: a 12 m disc can stand over 4 m high folded. That height, not the width, usually decides between a flat rack in gauge, out of gauge, or a roll trailer.
Rigid chisel plows, rippers and smaller discs fit a 40 ft high-cube once the hitch and wings are unbolted. Larger folding units ship assembled on a flat rack, or on a MAFI roll trailer where a RoRo lane serves the destination.
Discs, shanks and baskets hold more soil than almost any other implement. We wash and inspect every gang and bearing before export, because a single clod can hold a shipment at an Australian or New Zealand port.
Typical Specifications
| Weight Range | 2 - 25 metric tons |
| Working Width | 4m - 18m |
| Transport Width | 3m - 6m folded |
| Transport Height | 2.5m - 4.5m folded |
Recommended Shipping Methods
Worked example
Great Plains Turbo-Max 3000 (9 m), wings up: 29 ft 10 in / 9.1 m long, 13 ft 1 in / 4 m wide, 12 ft 6 in / 3.8 m high, 16,100 lb / 7,300 kg.
The ladder below is worked out from these figures. Larger or smaller units of the same type can land on a different rung.
Cheapest first: the shipping cost ladder
We price every machine from the bottom rung up. A machine only moves up a rung when a measurement rules out the cheaper method.
Great Plains Turbo-Max 3000 (9 m), wings up is 13 ft 1 in / 4 m wide, over the 7 ft 8 in / 2.34 m container door, so shipping it whole starts on the next rung up.
- Rung 1
Container
Lowest cost
When: Fits through a 7 ft 8 in / 2.34 m × 8 ft 6 in / 2.58 m door and under 59,500 lb / 27,000 kg, whole or after we take off the bucket, boom, cab or wheels.
- Rung 2
Flat rack
Mid cost
Best fit for Great Plains Turbo-Max 3000 (9 m), wings up
When: Too wide or tall for a container door, but within 14 ft 9 in / 4.5 m wide, 13 ft 1 in / 4 m tall and 86,000 lb / 39,000 kg on one rack.
- Rung 3
RoRo
Mid cost
When: Drives or tows aboard, under 19 ft 8 in / 6 m tall and 110 US tons / 100,000 kg, going to a port with regular RoRo sailings.
- Rung 4
Breakbulk
Highest cost
When: Past flat-rack and roll-trailer limits, or shipped as modules lifted aboard piece by piece.
Container (after disassembly)
RecommendedRigid chisel plows, rippers and small discs with the hitch and wings unbolted, crated in a 40 ft high-cube.
Flat Rack Container
RecommendedFolding discs and cultivators assembled, wings locked up; tall folded units ship out of gauge on height.
RoRo (on roll trailer)
RecommendedLarge folding tools on a MAFI roll trailer, where a RoRo lane serves the destination.
Breakbulk
Rarely needed; only the widest folding frames past flat rack limits.
Container, flat rack, RoRo or breakbulk?
01Container
- Work needed
- We partially disassemble when needed (bucket, boom, cab, wheels), or take larger machines further apart across several high-cubes and open-tops, then crate, block and lash every part.
- Destinations
- Widest: almost every port worldwide, plus inland delivery by rail.
- Typical cost
- Usually the lowest, with no out-of-gauge surcharges.
- Protection
- Sealed steel box; loose parts and attachments travel locked inside.
- Best for
- Most machines: compact ones as they are, others after partial disassembly, and large ones split across several containers.
02Flat rack
- Work needed
- Ships assembled, blocked and lashed. Surcharges apply when wider than 2.4 m or taller than about 1.95 m.
- Destinations
- Most container ports, on the same vessels as containers.
- Typical cost
- Moderate; rises with every centimetre out of gauge.
- Protection
- Open to the weather; we protect cabs, electronics and hydraulics.
- Best for
- Excavators, dozers and loaders too wide for a container door.
03RoRo
- Work needed
- Drives on assembled; non-runners go on a roll trailer.
- Destinations
- Fewer destinations: regular lanes to Europe, West Africa, the Middle East, Oceania and parts of Latin America.
- Typical cost
- Often competitive for large self-propelled machines where a lane exists.
- Protection
- Below deck, but loose items and attachments cannot ride inside the cab.
- Best for
- Running machines going to a port with regular RoRo sailings.
04Breakbulk
- Work needed
- Lifted aboard piece by piece by ship’s or shore cranes, on its own skids or cradle, then stowed and lashed in the hold or on deck.
- Destinations
- Ports with breakbulk berths and heavy-lift cranes; sailings are booked voyage by voyage.
- Typical cost
- Usually the highest for a single small machine; often the only option for the largest pieces.
- Protection
- In the hold or lashed on deck; we crate, wrap and protect exposed parts.
- Best for
- Pieces too large or heavy for a flat rack or roll trailer: transformers, process modules, mining trucks, crane sections.
Handling & Preparation Requirements
- Wings folded and transport locks pinned
- Disc gangs, shanks and baskets washed free of soil
- Hydraulic cylinders locked and hoses capped
- Tires inflated for roll-on, or frame blocked on the rack
- Loose shanks and points crated
- Condition photographs of bearings and gangs
Common Models We Ship
Where tillage equipment shipments go wrong
Mistakes we see on tillage equipment bookings, and what avoids them.
- Folded wing gangs carry much of the tool weight high above the hinges, so lashing only the main frame lets the wings rock in heavy seas and crack hinge pins.
- A pressure washer aimed straight at worn disc-gang and rolling-basket bearing seals forces water past them, so seized bearings show up at destination unless the seals are washed around, not into.
- Rippers and chisel plows often carry a rear harrow or rolling basket that adds over a metre of length, so the booking must state whether that attachment ships fitted or crated.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is a folded disc out of gauge on height?
Folding the wings up narrows the tool but stands it tall. Over about 1.95 m above a flat rack deck, a carrier charges for out-of-gauge height.
Should the wings come off?
Only when it moves the tool down the cost ladder: off for a container on smaller rigid units, left on for a flat rack or RoRo so the tool arrives ready to work.
How clean does tillage equipment need to be?
Free of all visible soil and plant material, including inside disc gangs and around bearings. We wash it and photograph it before it leaves.
Plan your shipment
Import Duty & Tax Estimator
Estimate duty and VAT on the CIF value for 70+ destinations.
Dimensional Weight Calculator
Work out chargeable weight before you book.
Container Space Calculator
See how your cargo fits in 20ft, 40ft, and HC containers.
Route Finder
Load port, sailings, duty and rules for a machine and destination.
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