Tandem Cycling - sending a tandem by mail

hi. new to this area, im usually in the classic area of bf.
just sold my vintage paramount tandem.its about 5ft long weighs about 45 lbs. shipping from sacramento to massachusets. fed ex wont ship unless in a hard bike case, which is not possible for a tandem i guess. i think my only way is with ups.
do i put this thing in two bike boxes taped together or is there tandem boxes out there?
any guesses to how much it will cost to ship? thanks. any help apprecitated:thumb:

The cheap way to go is to splice 2 single bike boxes together.
Check with Greyhound, trucking company or even an airline for shipping rates.
Find a local tandem dealer and see if they have a tandem shipping box sitting around (you'll still need to pop off the wheels, pedals, bars, etc).
No idea how much $$ to ship; will depend on shipper, weight and distance.
A Paramount has a tad shorter wheelbase than most modern tandems.
Good luck!

I paid about $300 to ship the previously owned tandem I bought from Florida to Washington State by UPS but that included the bike and two sets of wheels and other spares and about 4 news papers and old blankets and whatever the seller could stuff in the home made boxes for padding. The wheels were in a second box while the bike was somehow put into a modified TV box. It all arrived safely and in perfect condition however.

Any guesses to how much it will cost to ship?

It all depends on how much disassembly you and your buyer are willing to deal with. As Zona noted, Greyhound typically has very good pricing and will typically accept fairly large boxes. However, there are many other ways to go some are just more expensive than others.

Over the years I have shipped three small-size tandems VIA UPS for under $70/ea. by boxing up the frame in one box that meets UPS' girth limits with the wheels and other misc. components in a second box. Here's a link to a page I put together that described how our '95/96 Santana was packed for shipment back in '97: http://www.thetandemlink.com/articles/packingtandems/tandemshipment.html

This was how our '98 Cannondale MT3000 was packed and shipped to a new owner in New England back in 2000.
http://www.thetandemlink.com/articles/cdalebuild.html

thanks so much. i think im going to go with having my lbs to it for about 275. it is across country. thanks again. joe