Just to give you an idea....
...of the costs involved for a deal like this.
Hi All,
I sat down today and totaled up my costs for moving machine(s) and so on. Fuel for the Ia./Maryland segment totaled $910.72. Archie graciously paid for room, while I paid for food, and I definitely got the better end of the deal.
Total cost of food for my entire trip only came to $247.86 (Archie was a cheap date
), and that includes two "big" meals with friends and family that had nothing to do with machine transport other than putting me in close enough proximity to be able to enjoy doing so. Had this been just a straight load out/empty back type of affair, I expect fuel would have been less than $1,500 or maybe a little more. I have no idea what Archie was paying a night for the rooms, but figure $100 a night and that would get you up to about $2,100 assuming 3 days out and 3 back. All in all, cost to move the Lucas for me, was less than a fifth of my total cost of the entire second trip. If you put it against what it cost me for my entire move of myself and my machines it pales into insignificance.
The only real cost was in time and even that was only a couple of extra days.
Basically this should give everyone a good idea of actual costs and if it would be easier to hire out or not. I should also mention I was reimbursed for $200 of my fuel, so in the end my "real" cost for moving the Lucas was only $710 or so plus tolls (again tolls for the entire trip were $136.10, and part of that was a $18.75 whopper for the Tappan Zee which doesn't figure in to Lucas at all). In the end I'm guessing Archie's/Tuckahoe's end cost them maybe a $1,500 or a little more, which makes the entire move go about $2,250 or $2,500 or so? Of course the big ? here would be what would a rigger have cost us if we hadn't done that part ourselves, which would have been necessary had we hired out a hauler (I'm assuming Mr. Romanetto would not have loaded completely for free, though he was extremely gracious in helping us to load)plus it would have had to been crated or at least skidded.
Anyways that is some of the nitty gritty behind the haul in terms of costs and hopefully will be of some help to someone else considering a move like this. There was a lot more invested in haul, like in truck prep before I ever left, but this had to be done irregardless. Had a lot of fun doing it and was nice to meet some of the faces behind the names and see Tuckahoe of course.
Best,
Jim