Cost of bearing!

I have been working on a Allis Chalmers ED-40 with a friend of mine. When we got to the water pump which was leaking, like everything else on this rare tractor, it was difficult to find parts. Located a seal, and the bearings at two different places. The seal is about $8 from Sandy Lake. Brenda didn't have the bearings but told me of two Massey Fergerson dealers who each had one. This engine was also used in the Fergerson TO-35. The first dealer about 1/2 hr away had it for $23, I went right over and picked it up. The Second dealer in Virginia had it but it was $33. I said "Well that's an expensive bearing but OK". Well is showed up and the shipping to here in R.I. was $16. Keep in mind that a similar size bearing from McMaster is about $8-10. These bearings are a little thicker, and the 16mm bore is not standard I guess, McMaster lists 15mm, 17mm with a 40mm od. OK, this isn't a standard bearing but one dealer had lit for $23, the next was $10more, then to top that off they want $16 to ship a package UPS ground that probably doesn't weigh a pound. I know that I could have asked how much shipping was going to be, but for a small piece like this I usually see a shipping charge of $7 or 8. And I didn't have to buy the bearing, I could have bushed down a 17mm bearing or tried a bearubg supply. Just wondering what you folks think of what I consider excessive charges, especially shipping. Tom

No.1 sounds like you're lucky you found the bearing,No.2 there is a lot more to shipping than what the shipper charges.Plus they are in business to make money not give you or anyone else a great deal or do charity work.

Try Motion Industries next time you need seals or bearings,they have always had every seal and bearing I've needed or get them in 1 to 2 days and cheaper than anywhere else.Not sure if there is one in your area,but worth the effort to check.

I never purchase ball or roller bearings from a retail company selling equipment. Bearings are commodity items and standardized world wide. The quality is not uniform, NSK, SKF, Timkin Boker, and others are good. (even if made in China or India) Off brands are just that. Bearings with similar numbers are not similar. I use Motion Industries, or Kaman Industrial Technologies for sourcing. Sometimes less than 50% of parts counter, and fine quality. Rare bearings are Inch sizes. Metric are the norm. Jim

Yes, lucky, that's why I am not too upset. It just seems like if one dealer can sell it for $23 and make money the next can make plenty of money selling it at $33 and not try and make money on shipping too. And as I said, I could have tried to get it from a bearing house too, but this is somewhat of a bird in hand deal.

Freight is always passed on,,, sounds about right for what they have been charging me,,, those bearing prices sound fair for today to me as well,, things Cost money now days and that's a fact, be glad you can even get the parts today, I paid 35.00 for a float for a carb last summer,, yes it was a bit high BUT I was glad to be able to still get it for a 45-50 year old carb,, most of not all mfgs are charging out of this world prices on many parts, mainly to get them old stuff out of service as they want you to buy new,, I do not like it but that's the way it works, I see posts here a lot complaining of the price for oil ect,,, sorry but if you want to do this of what to many is a hobby, well be ready to pay for old hard to find parts, just the way it is
cnt

locateballbearings.com

Hi Think yourself lucky you aren't working on a Perkins 288 P6 in a Fordson E27N. The water pump by the time it's shipped from England is over $400 with exchange rates. one bearing that is an odd ball deal is about $300 and hard to find,from what my buddy found out with his. your still not done there for parts to rebuild it and guarantee it won't leak, or you won't break it getting it apart first. I got 3 of those pumps that need work, Or replacing if I don't sell the tractors first!.
working on unusual tractors that got exported to other country's, is not for guys that want everything fully restored on the cheaper side anymore.
Regards Robert

Yes, bearings are usually cheap, but there are plenty of odd ball bearings like the ones that allow a shaft to wobble a little, or have a slightly off dimension, that no doubt have much shorter production runs so set-up etc. per bearing is going to be higher. Inventorying anything odd ball means probably sitting on it for months if not years. Use of a bearing that is close, but not exact has consequences. My $13,000 snowmobile has a front axle bearing from the factory that has slightly too large an ID. Consequently the shaft turns in the inner race instead of the bearing turning. So in 5,000 miles the shaft is worn to where it has to be replaced.

One dealer might be debt free or low debt, the other dealer might be in debt up to his arm pits. I used to do business with a small local car dealer that had money stashed and paid cash when a transport of new cars came in. The dealership was in an old building to boot. Their new car prices were up with everyone else but their service was cheaper than anyone else because their overhead was low and their cost of business didn't include interest payments. Sadly the mother company closed them down because they weren't big and flashy.

I needed a water pump last Fall for a Kubota engine. I checked around and it was priced anywhere form 60.00 to 300.00 dollars for the exact thing. It pays to check around if you got the time. Myself, I have more time than I do money.

Although sometimes your just lucky you are able to even get the part. Not to mention a good deal is not always a good deal when you add the freight charges in or the cost for you to go get it.

Might as well have posted the part # on the bearing???

Adding a little more info to a post is FREE around here!

It seems most of you folks think this wasn't so bad, and overall it isn't. I know I am lucky to find the bearings with so little trouble overall. I was just a little bit surprised on opening the package finding a $16 shipping charge. I know it can be a hassle working on odd ball stuff, this whole tractor has been that way even though nothing serious has been wrong with it. We haven't seen another one so far. Some folks say they have seen them and I know others are around, but not many.

How far can you drive for 16 bucks?

(quoted from post at 14:41:39 03/26/16) It seems most of you folks think this wasn't so bad, and overall it isn't. I know I am lucky to find the bearings with so little trouble overall. I was just a little bit surprised on opening the package finding a $16 shipping charge. I know it can be a hassle working on odd ball stuff, this whole tractor has been that way even though nothing serious has been wrong with it. We haven't seen another one so far. Some folks say they have seen them and I know others are around, but not many.

Click to expand...

If I were to go to CNH for a part, it is a trip to order it, then another to pick it up. Faster and cheaper to order on line, even at $16.00. My wife has Amazon prime, so it is worth an on line search to see if the part is available there.

I doubt there are two dealers in the country that have exactly the same operating expenses so some sell higher/lower than others taking into account how much their
overhead is.

Well, I ordered carburetor fuel line fittings for an International Cub from a CaseIH dealer about an hour away from me. I didn't ask the cost. By the time I received two 5/16 IH fuel line fittings, they were over $30 with UPS shipping and handling.

I also ran into one thing about UPS back when I worked for a local warehouse that shipped lots of packages UPS: I shipped a Kohler crankshaft to a machine shop in Charlotte NC, to be re-ground. My cost to ship from the warehouse using their account was about $9. It cost the machine shop about $13 to ship the crank back to me at the warehouse and would have cost another $1 at that time if it had gone to my home.

When I questioned this, I was told that it depended on how far the recipient is from the distribution center, what volume if packages you ship and whether the recipient is commercial or residential.