Hi Norm,
I am not a Victa collector, my interest is pre 1960 Atco mowers. I have had the experience of importing a 1920's mower and it it ended up being a very costly exercise. My ability to achieve this was by having a very good seller who was prepared to clean the mower down completely (in accordance with our quarantine rules) and then I used a service like Pack & Send to pick it up, box it and send it on its way. Would I repeat the process again - not in a hurry given the costs involved but then again I haven't found anything over there that I have said that I must have that. Most of my recent purchases from the UK are parts which can be easily boxed and sent via post or courier.
Shipping stuff around the country can be costly but it depends on what service you use. With most of it, if it can be packed onto a pallet and you use a depot to depot service it is usually not too bad. It is when you need a door to door service that the cost goes up markedly. I have used both and yes for certain mowers I have had to spend more than the purchase price for the shipping. However, my choice to do this was based on the rarity of the mower.
Cheers,
Sir Chook
