Importing old cats to oz

You probably need to define what "worth" means. What would be your purpose in importing them: resell, restore and keep, something else? If you're planning to resell, I would guess that the cost/revenue would not stack up. If you want them for yourself to play with, then cost is not a factor since it's your enjoyment, but the red-tape could be quite discouraging. If you would like to restore, then I'd guess that there are candidates already in country that you could locate then all you'd need to import are any parts that are needed for the restore, which is a much simpler proposition and which many members in Oz have and continue to indulge in.

great summary Neil, gotta agree 100 percent...unless you have money to burn, the hassles and expenses alone would make this a no go....

great summary Neil, gotta agree 100 percent...unless you have money to burn, the hassles and expenses alone would make this a no go....

Yes, good advice. I have another collector friend in Canada who will take a few items in that collection off my hands but still have a 3 j D 2 with a belt pulley that’s in good shape over there, probably better to let it go to another collector than go through the hassle. If any body is interested in a 3j and a moline GVI located in Alberta, let me know.
Thanks

I didn't want to discourage you : ) More that it wasn't clear what your goal was - there are a couple of fellows from Oz that imported units recently (like the last five years I think - Mike Meyer?) who can give you indicative numbers (time, $, amount of paperwork) and an idea of the process for importing a tractor from North America. That will at least give an idea of the gyrations you'd need to go through. If you have $ and you're not in a hurry for the tractor and you don't mind dealing with bureaucracy precisely because you're not in a hurry, then it could actually be not a big deal. When I deal with the government, if I'm in no hurry, then I don't really care how much red tape there is because it's just one foot after another. I could see how it would get old though when time-sensitive imports are the subject, such as food products

Wombat is the expert on importing Cats from the USA, but in my humble opinion it's not worth it for common machines like D2 or D4 because the cleaning costs can be ridiculous here in Oz, most Yanks have no concept of what "clean" means for Aussie Quarantene Inspectors and I've heard several stories of Aussies paying big money to a Yank for "thorough" cleaning over there, only to discover a filthy machine when it arrived here.

Clean is a vague term to most, I own a steam cleaner and still spend a few rounds with it to get some machines to my satisfaction. It never happens on the first round.

For certain areas, disassembly is the most practical way to get something clean. I was looking at my 5U the other day and noted that every part that I had disassembled was genuinely clean, but others, like the bottom of the transmission case, still had decades-old grease and dirt packed in there. That stuff was probably easier to clean off than the parts I handled so if the inspector wanted to look in all those nooks and crannies, even after a "professional" cleaning, there'd still be a good chance he'd find crud.
I would love a steam cleaner Steve - I remember using one as a kid and marveling at how much cleaner and drier items were than regular old power-washing. I also would like one to knock the weeds back around the house, with a big cylinder-shaped head on it so the weeds are at steam temp for a decent amount of time (like 5s)