Exporting tractors to France

[Raul-02]

-in the U.S., for example, tow trucks aren't supposed to pick up cars with no or expired registration.

That would be a State specific issue not a USA issue. I've had unregistered cars and trucks towed.

 

[elslarsen]

Never heard of that.
MY BIL owns a repair shop.
He has a tow company that he sets up to pick up inop cars to bring to his shop. This could be a daily driver that just broke down or could be somebody's project that has sat for 10 years.

I was told by a tow company in CA that cars had to have current tags to be voluntarily towed. If expired, you could go to the DMV and get some sort of certificate allowing towing before the registration was updated. Maybe just a California thing, or the tow company was nervous about towing such cars? So, just personal experience on my part and not in effect elsewhere (or maybe even in CA as a general rule).

 

[CADplans]

A Canadian brought the 584 IH with him when the company moved him to Virginia.
5 to 8 years later, he decided to retire, and found the cost to move the 584 to be 2X the current value.
HE was the one that would pay the move fee after retirement, not some company.

(He retired in 1995 or 1996)

Basically, if he sold it, he would be pocketing the selling price, and the shipping cost, which at that time totaled $15K.

So, he offered it to me, that evening he had the money in his hand, I drove it home.

In 1996, shipping to Canada from Virginia was going to be $1 per pound,, $10,000.

I would imagine shipping to France to be a little more per pound, than a simple truck ride north,,,,,,,,,,

 

[elslarsen]

In 1996, shipping to Canada from Virginia was going to be $1 per pound,, $10,000.

I would imagine shipping to France to be a little more per pound, than a simple truck ride north,,,,,,,,,,

The only reason it would be feasible to move the tractors is because I'd have room in a 40-ft shipping container that will be used anyway to ship household stuff. Just pack the household goods first, in the back of the container, then put the tractor or tractors in last, so that customs has easy access for inspection. Otherwise--if shipping the tractors separately--as someone pointed out above, it's probably more expensive to get them to a U.S. port than the overseas shipping (although I'm only a few hundred miles from the closest port, Long Beach).

 

[ptsg]

As other fellow European members said, without CE markings and some other required documentation from the manufacturer, plus the fact that it's not an approved model in the EU, that tractor will be imported pretty much as scrap. It will pretty much impossible to get a title and license plate. This cuts the value of the tractor waaay down. That's probably a €5k to €7k tractor in Europe with a title and license plate.

It makes it like the older grey market tractors, like Kubota B6000, B7000, etc. People imported containers full of them and now they are everywhere with little to no value. In my country, if you get caught driving on the road with one of those tractors without title/license plate and insurance, it gets impounded and you get a €600 fine.

Being that it pretty much won't leave your place, that's not a big a deal, but you won't be able to go on the road at all. You may still be able to get insurance just with the serial/chassis number.

As far towing it to a shop, that may be a bit hard as there is no documentation of the tractor at all to prove that it's yours or if it was stolen. Maybe a local will be able take some risk and help you move the tractor on his flatbed truck or trailer if it's not too far. And then you have the parts issue and maybe dealer issues as they may refuse to work on a tractor that it's not sold in Europe, but this is more related to good will or lack of, of the dealer.

The only other importing experience I have, is that I get hit hard with import duties and taxes every time I buy something outside the EU.

 

[IndyJay]

I was told by a tow company in CA that cars had to have current tags to be voluntarily towed. If expired, you could go to the DMV and get some sort of certificate allowing towing before the registration was updated. Maybe just a California thing, or the tow company was nervous about towing such cars? So, just personal experience on my part and not in effect elsewhere (or maybe even in CA as a general rule).

Towing a vehicle without registration is known in the State of California to cause cancer.
Consider yourself warned!

 

[Helogabals]

Thank you Helogabals for posting from the EU.

But, if they later need service that requires hauling to a mechanic and I need to use a transporter, that might be a problem--in the U.S., for example, tow trucks aren't supposed to pick up cars with no or expired registration.

Welcome

what you have wrote about US tow trucks to me seems a bit creepy. The whole idea about flatbeds is to transport junk not fit for road traffic

Here in eastern EU nobody will give a what is on flatbed.
And service guys will not judge from where your tractor is. Instead they would be happy about your dollar. Actually I am quite sure here would be cheaper to call mechanic to your place, not to ship tractor around.
Summing up - if your destination would be this part of EU, your plan would roll.
France might be "interesting"

 

[elslarsen]

Welcome

what you have wrote about US tow trucks to me seems a bit creepy. The whole idea about flatbeds is to transport junk not fit for road traffic

Here in eastern EU nobody will give a what is on flatbed.
And service guys will not judge from where your tractor is. Instead they would be happy about your dollar. Actually I am quite sure here would be cheaper to call mechanic to your place, not to ship tractor around.
Summing up - if your destination would be this part of EU, your plan would roll.
France might be "interesting"

Yeah, from looking at the website of the French agency that deals with registering vehicles, it appears France pays more attention and enforces more regulations.

It's beginning to look as though the only thing that makes sense for the Kubota is to sell it in the U.S. for close to what I paid, rather than have it lose most of its value and be at risk of incurring fines and consignment to the scrap heap over in France. The Case, though, might be worth taking if I can transport it to my property and use it without interference--even if I run into problems with French authorities, the loss wouldn't be so much. I will check with French Customs however before proceeding--if they automatically send it for inspection and registration, it might not even get out of the port.

Also, as TimberFarm and IndyJay pointed out, actually in some if not most U.S. states tow companies will pick up vehicles with expired registration--I was citing experience in California only, and even in California it varies.

 

[Helogabals]

US is federal state. Not exactly homogeneous, but still, at least you speak the same language, have the same currency.

Meantime EU is gang of (very) different tribes. But rule is - there can't be any obstacles for random citizens to use junk which is legal in any other EU state. And here starts funny part

I don't know about tractors, but for vintage cars, there is very liberal regulations in few countries, like Lithuania. Or for motorcycles in Belgium. So there is an option - if person really wants to have his transport, he can "legalize" or lets say - "cross EU border" in one state and then use his metal free in any other EU member state.
If you are north FR, where BE-NE-LUX are, there should be a lot of holes for your tractor. But that should be studied.
Sad thing for you is that GB is no more in EU. There were flying trough customs very creepy stories

If I were you I would look how can I sell Kubota and what they want for one in FR. If the gap is big, I would just bring existing one and just use it. Chance that someone will ask you anything is near 0. If you dont drive on roads.

 

[Raul-02]

I was told by a tow company in CA that cars had to have current tags to be voluntarily towed. If expired, you could go to the DMV and get some sort of certificate allowing towing before the registration was updated. Maybe just a California thing, or the tow company was nervous about towing such cars? So, just personal experience on my part and not in effect elsewhere (or maybe even in CA as a general rule).

that sounds like cali