Month: March 2026

My mini excavator garage is now more or less finished. I say ‘more or less’ because I’ve used 240 gm/m2 UV resistant tarp for the walls and I’m going to bang more securing nails in all around the bottom of the walls and along the mid-height horizontal beams in order to make the walls as wind-resistant as possible. It was very frustrating fixing them in place today because we had a cold north-westerly wind with strong gusts that kept making the walls billow out and impossible to fix while the wind was blowing so I had to keep stopping and waiting until the gusts had gone through.

I cut and mounted the side walls and back in one piece which made them harder to fix in place but ended up with no gaps through which the wind will enter and try to blow the walls off. It doesn’t look perfect but I’m happy with the result and think I was quite fortunate in that I didn’t level the ground on which the structure now stands and the framework could never be described as precision built. I think it’ll last as long as I need it to… at least I hope it will. But just in case I’ve fitted thick wire guys to the front verticals to prevent the framework swaying in the wind.

I’ve got enough tarp left over to make a curtain for the open front end but I haven’t thought of a design just yet. Ideally I’d like it to be like one of those curtain roller blinds with a string on the side in an endless loop that when you pull one side of the blind rises and the other side it falls. That would need some kind of sprocket arrangement though, which I think is a bit beyond me, but I’m still thinking.

So what did my garage end up costing me? I’ve saved 55€ by not using the two sheets of ‘agglomerée’ that I originally bought for the roof and used ‘free’ plywood from the crate the excavator came in instead. However, I’ve not costed in the roofing felt that was left over from the last garden tool store/shed that I built in the garden of my old house in Plazac. Totting up everything else, for the wood, nails, glue and anything else I’ve bought along the way, the total comes out to about 185€.

I don’t think this is too bad when you consider that the only other alternative I could find that was high enough to take the excavator was a 3m x 4.5m vehicle garage from Vevor with open ends and one open side, costing 880€. This also had the disadvantage of really being a permanent structure. I did find another 3.3m x 4.8m tent-garage costing 695€ but this had a door only 2m in height which was not high enough. Anyway, I hope all my postings about this build might be of help to anyone else considering such a project.

So what next? After banging in all the extra nails that I mentioned earlier and thinking up a design for a door curtain, my next job will be to go all around the excavator making sure all the nuts etc are tight and greasing all the grease nipples and anything else needing a smear of grease eg the bucket and auger mounting pins. That will make the machine ready for use and the next task will be to mark out the base for my proposed 4.5m x 3.5m garden tool store/workshop.

This will be the excavator’s first big job but before that I might get a bit of practise in by skimming the top off a hump at the bottom of my garden to the left of the new garage which always tilts my ride-on mower to an alarming angle when I cut the grass. It should be fun 🙂

This mini excavator garage build project is proving to be bigger and taking longer than I originally thought. Today I’d hoped to finish it off by completing its roof and walls but in fact only managed to get the roof done. And even then I ran out of roofing felt nails so still have a few left to bang in along one edge.

But at least the plywood roof covering is now totally covered and the roof is waterproof and with some rain expected tomorrow that’s a good thing. It won’t matter too much if the wood of the framework gets a bit wet. I’ll buy some more nails tomorrow as I’ll also need those for the walls.

I’ve got some other things I need to do tomorrow so I don’t think I’ll do any more garage work even if it doesn’t rain. But just in case I’ve put a tarp over the excavator to keep it as dry as possible. It’s not that I’ve fallen in love with it but I’m not stupid and although it’ll be a working machine I want to preserve as much of its value as possible for when I do eventually come to sell it. That was the idea of building a garage for it in the first place.

Back on the excavator garage today. Some time was lost as I had to replace the top horizontal beam in the back as due to one of the corner verticals warping its end joint had opened up so wide that it couldn’t be pulled back with longer screws. So having done that I glued and screwed the new length and did the same to the middle horizontal beam as if the joints are only screwed without being glued they’re too flexible and liable to come loose when the winds become heavier.

Although this garage is only intended to be a temporary structure, from the lessons I learnt when my two ‘tonnelles’ were destroyed by high winds over the winter in roughly the same position in the garden, it has to be put together reasonably well if it’s going to survive the course. So today was all about finishing off the roof covering and getting it securely fixed down. To start off with I attached side bars on each side to which to glue and nail the roofing sheets and to which the roofing felt will be attached, hopefully tomorrow.

Then I had to attach interior bridges along the joins of the roof sheets on both sides, a tricky job for just one person as they had to be supported while being screwed into from outside.

That was a good point to break for lunch to allow the glue I’d used to cure a bit before adjusting the sheets along the ridge line so they laid flat and nailing them down along the ridge on both sides. To do this I had to use a ladder leaning against the sides, climb to the top and lean as far as I could over the roof. Not for the faint-hearted! Here’s how the roof ended up.

And here’s an end section showing how the joins between the sheets turned out.

I’m hoping to finish the whole thing off tomorrow as some rain is forecast for Wednesday. I’ll do the walls first and finish off with the roof and hopefully that will be the end of the project.

No work on my excavator garage on Friday as it was essential for me to cut the grass. It’s now growing like crazy and if left it would soon get to a height that would defeat my ride-on mower as I’ve found in the past. Just once because once was enough as then I’d had to go all over it with my brush cutter which was both time-consuming and very tiring.

So getting back to the garage, yesterday was time to get started on the roof. I’d made the decision to use the plywood from the crate in which the excavator was delivered but I knew that this would present new problems. For a start it’s quite flimsy so isn’t self-supporting, unlike the heavy ‘aggloméré’ that I originally intended to use. It’s also not of very good quality and neither the sheets themselves nor my garage structure are square, so cutting and fitting them neatly wouldn’t be easy. Nevertheless I’d made my decision.

But first after clearing away the junk in front of it I wanted to try the garage for size by driving the excavator into it for the first time. That meant driving it down almost the whole length of my back garden from where I’d parked it in front of the house. This I had to do very carefully as the tracks cut into the ground even with the very slightest turn as the picture shows of the ground in front of the garage where I had to turn the machine to line it up.

The first thing I noticed was that the excavator doesn’t appear to be as high as the manufacturer’s dimensions appeared to suggest. There’s more headroom than I’d calculated when I made the garage’s framework but I’m happy with that because it’ll give me more room to add stiffeners in the top corners of the open end and will also allow me to park the excavator inside well over to one side to make dismounting and mounting easier. The extra length that I added has also worked out very nicely.

So yesterday was all about adding the plywood roof covering. This was easier said than done and the final result yesterday was not pretty, albeit adequate for purpose. I took my life in my hands getting the sheets up there by placing a prop inside and climbing up on my ladder leaning on the framework outside and then moving round, but I’ve done worse 🙂

Today I’m off to Brico Depot to pick up some strips of timber to screw inside the joins of the plywood sheets and some heavier wood to run along the tops of the walls outside to which to attach the roofing felt. That’ll probably be it for today as we’re not expecting rain and I’ll then take a bit of a break and resume work tomorrow.

But worth it. The first job was to fit the excavator’s canopy and rear bumper bar and the second was to clear away all of the waste wood from the crate it came in so it can be taken to the ‘déchèterie’. It doesn’t sound like much but I knew that it would take quite a bit of time and effort.

The weather stayed fine and dry all day but there was a brisk chilly north-easterly wind to start with that continued into the afternoon but was less noticeable as the day became warmer. The first shot is of the excavator when I started.

Next is a shot of the canopy after I’d fitted it. It considerably increases the height of the machine but was not too difficult to fit as I first supported it on an angle on its roof, slid in the back two bolts on either side and then swung it vertical to allow the two front bolts to be inserted.

And here’s the rear bump bar after I’d also fitted that.

It was then time to move onto breaking up what was left of the packing case and chucking the bits into my trailer. It was made from quite a strong plywood and it took quite a while to do because after removing the strengthening and joining strips that had been attached in China, several fairly large sheets remained which were worth saving as they were quite usable even though they contained hundreds of nail holes.

Here’s what I finally ended up with to be thrown away.

And here are the usable sheets that I retained.

I originally bought two large sheets of ‘aggloméré’ (a type of chipboard) from which to make the excavator garage’s roof. They’re visible leaning up against the front of my house under black waterproof covers behind the trailer. I’ve now, decided to save those to be eventually used for the roof of my planned garden tool store/workshop and to use some of the plywood instead.

There’s plenty of it and plywood is quite expensive here in France whereas what I have available is almost free and I don’t currently see any other use for it. So tomorrow’s jobs are to dispose of the scrap wood and then to get cracking fitting the excavator garage’s roof. I’ll be pleased to get that done and it looks as though it’ll be another fine day for it.

It’s here. My new mini excavator. But not before overcoming yet another problem. The agent I appointed gave me a quote including delivery to my home but I told him that as I intended to pick the machine up myself from Marseille delivery wouldn’t be needed. Then I got the unwelcome news that the vehicle recovery trailer I intended to hire for the purpose was legally too heavy for my Kia to tow so as there was a time limit by which I had to pick up the machine from the logistic company’s warehouse in Marseille before I’d start incurring heavy charges I decided that I probably had no option but to go for delivery.

That however was on last Friday and although I was cursing that yet again the two day week-end would mean that nothing could be got done, it actually worked in my favour. It had taken me some time and effort to find the original trailer that I’d intended to hire, but I decided to look again as although I wasn’t holding out much hope I had the time to do so. And I was surprised to find two more that were suitable, one located to the north of me in St Astier to the west of Périgueux and the other to the south to the west of Agen.

I originally opted for the former because the trailer’s owner responded quite quickly and provided a price, while I received no reply from the owner of the second one. But that was until after the week-end when the second hirer responded and it was cutting things a bit fine because as my time limit from the warehouse for picking up the machine was Wednesday 19 March, I intended to pick up the trailer and go to Marseille yesterday the 17th and return it today.

It then it occurred to me that if I had to go to St Astier to pick up the trailer at 08.00 am before heading off to Marseille, should there be any subsequent delays eg traffic en route, I might be hard pressed to make it to Marseille before the warehouse’s stated closing time of 4.00 pm. However, the one to the south was not far off the route I’d be taking to Marseille, so I could pick it up at 08.00 am and make it to Marseille with time in hand. And actually getting to Marseille and getting the machine loaded on time was the absolute priority.

So that was the decision I made. It meant driving 2 hours each way today to return the trailer but that was a relatively minor consideration compared to knowing that I’d have the excavator safely unloaded in my garden when I did so. And it was on Monday that I realised how fortunate I’d been in finding another trailer and making the necessary arrangements because it was then that I got the news that my agent had been unable to locate any transport company willing to pick up the machine in Marseille and deliver it to Fleurac. If therefore, I’d banked on that happening, I would have ended up in serious trouble with the machine stranded in Marseille and racking up serious storage charges.

Heading south to pick up the trailer early yesterday morning also worked out in my favour because there was a lot of early morning fog in the Dordogne and it would have inevitably cost me a lot of time to go to St Astier before then heading south, making it highly unlikely that I’d have made Marseille in time to pick up the excavator before the warehouse closed for the day. As it was I got to the hirer’s premises to the west of Agen in plenty of time and in glorious weather as the shots I took as I hitched the trailer to my Kia show. The only downside was that on the way a small female deer leapt in front of my car and gave me no chance to avoid her. Sadly although my old Sportage is highly robust and showed no obvious sign of damage she died, but at least it was a very quick end and it would have been terrible if she’d survived and been left in the road with awful injuries.

For some reason I’m having problems with Waze on my new phone. The voice giving driving instructions isn’t as loud as on my old phone and the screen isn’t as clear for some reason. As a result after picking the trailer up I ended up heading for Bordeaux on the payage instead of Toulouse, which immediately cost me half an hour in time and an extra toll. Nevertheless, I entered Marseille at around 2.30 pm and arrived at the warehouse in good time to pick up the crate containing my excavator.

The warehouse yard was full of trucks large and small collecting goods imported for onward shipment. I just poked my Kia and trailer in there among them and went into the reception to deal with the formalities. I noticed that the guys driving the forklifts were not actually treating the goods they were loading with a lot of respect. That included my crate which I saw had been dropped quite heavily and dragged across the ground causing damage to its base as well as several of the feet which had been attached in China. The result of this was that after just a short way into the long journey home the base of the crate collapsed some more and it twisted on the bed of the trailer, which would have implications later when I came to unload the machine.

I didn’t realise that after I’d been dealt with and had the machine loaded I’d forgotten that I’d left my proof of identity (French driving licence) in the reception and had to return after I’d left after receiving a number of frantic phone calls which luckily I eventually answered despite being in horrendous Marseille rush-hour traffic. In all of this panic Waze also played another trick on me by sending me into an estate of flats with a dead end and no way to turn around. I managed to do so after several minutes of reversing my car and trailer in minimal space next to parked vehicles but it was an experience that I seriously did not need under those circumstances.

The journey home was somewhat excruciating, taking a full 10 hours with stops for fuel and two brief stops for refreshments. I arrived home at 02.00 am and after a quick shower went straight to bed as I knew I’d have to be up early again today in order to return the trailer at the agreed time. I only had about 6 hours sleep before heading off to Marseille and after a 20 hour day, only had another 5 hours last night before again getting up early to unpack and unload the machine and take the trailer back down south. This was complicated by my not knowing how to get the machine off the trailer and whether or not I’d be able to get it started in order to do so.

I’d parked the trailer with a hump in my front grass behind it in order to minimise the distance from trailer to ground and minimise the slope of the unloading ramps. After removing the rope which I’d used to secure the crate on the trailer it was time to dismantle the crate to get access to the machine inside.

Eventually I’d stripped the crate away and it was time to see how to unload the machine. I didn’t know if there was oil in the engine, fuel in the fuel tank and hydraulic oil in the oil tank as the bucket and small dozer blade both had to be lifted in order to move the machine. But first I had to find out how to start the engine as the machine had come with absolutely no instructions or user manual.

When I added fuel to the tank I found at that it did already contain some as it overflowed and made a mess that I had to clean up. I also found the machine’s battery and put a jumper pack on it and eventually got the engine to turn over but could not get it to start, until I found the throttle. Then it jumped into life almost immediately, so all I had to do was drive the machine off the trailer. This was easier said than done, because when the crate shifted on the trailer on the journey home, one of the excavator’s tracks was aimed at the void in the centre of the trailer (remember, the trailer was for vehicle recovery and did not have a full flat bed).

To solve the problem I had to find out how the machine’s controls worked, jiggle it backwards and forwards as much as I could in order to align it on the trailer and build a wooden bridge over the trailer’s centre void for the excavator to drive over hoping all the time that the bridge would take its weight. It did and I was then able to have the pleasure of driving it across the grass onto my stone drive-in and down to the front of my house.

So that was it for today. The forecast for the next few days is for fine spring weather with no rain, so tomorrow I’ll get rid of all the old crate wood, fit the excavator’s canopy and get cracking on finishing it’s garage. And while doing all of that I’ll also need to fit in cutting the grass before it gets too wild and long. It never ends.

As of now the CMA CGM Cedrus which is bringing my mini excavator to Fos-sur-Mer has been standing off Marseille in the Golf de Lion for the past four or five days. It’s arrival time has kept being pushed back and to cap it all a sister vessel, the CMA CGM Ambition arrived while it was being held up and entered Fos-sur-Mer before it. As I type this the Ambition is leaving the port and the Cedrus is heading in so in the next few hours my mini excavator will at last be unloaded and in France.

But that doesn’t mean I’ll be able to get my hands on it. It won’t be available for collection for something like 5-7 days and in the meantime the agent I’ve appointed will have had to deal with the administrative process of getting it released and I’ll have had to pay the fees involved. During that period I’ll also need to have finished the garage I’m building for it as the weather here is still unpredictable and we’ll undoubtedly have more rain after it has arrived at my house. So that’s what I’ve been concentrating on.

After getting the basic framework for the garage up the next job was to build the structure for its pitched roof. This proved to be far more challenging than I expected as although I’ve managed it by myself it was really a job for two people. Initially I tried yesterday to build it ‘in situ’ but without success. It was almost impossible getting the various components lined up in the correct positions and then fix them together while standing on top of a pair of steps. I had a couple of minor accidents which caused minor damage so I therefore decided to build the roof structure on the ground and then lift it into place to complete the whole structure.

This was much easier said than done because of its weight and also because of how awkward it was to manhandle. It took me a while to figure out how to do it and a while longer to actually get it done but I finally managed it and it was then just a matter of going all around and drilling and screwing all of the joints as tightly as possible. In anticipation of this and also in readiness for when I start on the build for my much more ambitious garden tool shed/workshop I recently treated myself to a new high power Makita cordless drill.

My old Black and Decker is still working well having been used to build two wooden ‘abris’ at my old house and for much other work but having two drills means that you save an awful lot of time with not having to keep swapping from drill to screwdriver all the time. It came with a small battery so I’ve bought a new larger one for it as well and I also bought two large batteries for the Makita together with a double battery charger, so when I come onto my new, bigger tool shed/workshop build I hopefully won’t have to keep stopping due to running out of batteries.

As we keep having rain forecast which often does not turn up, I decided I couldn’t take the risk of leaving all the new woodwork uncovered. I had several old plastic tarps mostly in quite poor shape going back to when I had the caravan and the two ‘tonelle’ marquee type tents that were destroyed by the wind, so I used them to cover the wooden framework at the end of the afternoon, as shown in the images below.

The interior shot shows the basic roof structure.

I’ve attached strengthening fillets at the roof end apexes but although the rear of the garage is quite rigid the open front end is much less so. I’m hoping that this will be resolved when I attach the roof sheets but if not I’ll have to consider other measures as I don’t want the structure to be blown down by the first strong wind that occurs.

This may include adding corner braces in the front as I have done in the rear, as shown in the image.

The apex strengthening fillets appear quite effective but may not be sufficient to provide the rigidity needed at the open front end, but I’ll need to see how rigidity improves when the roof sheets have been added.

It appears that even at this early stage an uninvited guest has already taken up residence in the unfinished mini excavator garage. The old tarps and some other junk were in a heap under my inverted wheelbarrow for many months and in that time I’ve seen two lizards, one large and one small, living in it together with some mice at one time. The large lizard has been out in the sunshine while I’ve been working keeping an eye on what I’ve been up to and when I came to take the photographs today there he was behind a roof beam looking back at me. It seems that he’s already trying to claim it as his own!

I purchased my new mini-excavator via the Alibaba Chinese internet platform because having been scammed once when I paid the supplier direct for the first machine I ordered, it was worth paying the additional small premium demanded by Alibaba to insure the payment I made for the second. However, now there’s a snag. At the time of making the payment Alibaba said that by law, as I am not VAT/TVA registered in France (I was while in business in the UK), it had to charge 20% VAT on behalf of France on top of the purchase price including the CIF delivery cost.

As mentioned previously, I originally wanted to handle the customs clearance of the excavator myself but for reasons I explained in my previous post it hasn’t been possible. So I’ve had to appoint an agent. I made contact with several and have been working with four before making a decision about which one to go ahead with. The problem I have is that one quoted me a figure for clearing the goods ready for me to collect in Marseille while the other three have been reluctant to do so as they say that they have not yet been provided with all of the relevant charges, notably from the logistics company who will be responsible for removing the container containing my machine from the port and unloading it for me to collect.

But there’s also the question of the VAT/TVA. The other three agents have all said that Alibaba should NOT have charged VAT/TVA in China as the French authorities have no interest in collecting it from them and have no system for doing so. They are saying that I will have to pay the 20% TVA again for the excavator to enter France and I’ll have to recover the amount I paid in China from Alibaba.

So now I have a dilemma. If I do not appoint an agent today further problems and potential costs will arise because the goods will have arrived in Marseille with no means for them to be processed. One of the agents, whose honesty and communication I respect, has told me roughly what their fee is (and it’s not a lot) and that all of the other charges that arise will just be passed on to me in the total bill in due course as and when they know them, which seems fair enough.

So I’ve had to make a decision. If the agent who has already given me a quote is confused over the VAT/TVA position (although they say they’re not but are maybe covering themself by quoting high) and causes delay, the whole thing could become very messy. So in the end I’ve decided to go with the ‘honest’ agent even though it may involve me double-paying the TVA and then having to recover what I paid previously from Alibaba because at least I know things will then run smoothly in France and customs clearance will be quick and trouble-free.

Did I make the right choice? Only time will tell.

I now know that I don’t need to go to the port. The logistics company handling the shipping at this end will take the 40 ft container in which there is the crate containing my excavator plus over 400 other items to their bonded warehouse in Marseille and empty the container out. They charge a fee for doing that. As I also now have to use the services of an agent their fee will go on top of that. When I’ve paid the total amount I will be able to go and pick the excavator up from the logistic company’s warehouse.

The CMA CGM Cedrus is still moored up this morning in Barcelona Port and its ETA in Marseille is now Saturday 07 March at 04.00 am, four days later than originally planned. So although I didn’t think in the beginning that I’d be grateful for it, I’ve got a little bit of breathing space in which to arrange for customs clearance and release for pick-up of my new excavator.

The first quote I’ve received is more than I’d hoped to pay but not out of the ballpark and still makes it worthwhile importing the excavator myself rather than just buying one locally which would have been of inferior spec as mine is ‘top of the range’ and is coming with a large range of extra tools and accessories. I’m hoping to receive at least two more today so I can make a final decision and then relax and get back to building the excavator’s garage which is half-complete.

I’ve already contacted the person who has the large trailer for hire which I wish to use to bring the excavator up from Marseille and all he needs is confirmation of the dates. I can tell you that I’ll now be very relieved when the crate in which it’s contained is standing in the driveway outside my house. 😕

The CMA CGM Cedrus is still moored in port at Barcelona but is due to arrive in Marseille tomorrow bringing with it my new excavator. And at the time of typing this I still don’t have the means to clear it through French customs or get it out of the port as so far it hasn’t been confirmed to me that I can enter as a private person with my own transport.

To be honest, with the way things are going I’m not optimistic and at the very least I might have to try to arrange what my old friend Wim has suggested, which is to just get it out of the port and into a local transport depot in Marseille from where I can collect it. It’s most frustrating that after weeks of trying to get the information I needed I’m faced with these problems right at the last minute. 🙁

I have at last received what I think must be a definitive reply concerning my filing an import customs declaration for my soon-to-be-arriving mini excavator…

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Since the Fos Port St Louis office does not have a payment terminal and therefore cannot collect duties, we cannot process your customs declaration as an individual.

Furthermore, port storage fees (demurrage) are very high.

I therefore advise you to contact a customs agent to complete the necessary procedures as soon as possible.

Here are the agents located in the building that houses our office, who are trusted brokers:

{List of agents}

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So that appears to be it. Yes, you can file a declaration as a private individual I was told back last year, but the mechanism to do so isn’t available at the port of entry (Fos-su-Mer).

Highly frustrating and very disappointing after all this time having been passed from pillar to post. And potentially quite expensive but I won’t know until I’ve obtained the numbers from the agents.

The CMA CGM Cedrus made it into Barcelona at 03.50 pm today so should be able to get into Marseille on 04 March with my new mini-excavator.

So despite the other problems I have to deal with I’ve got to press on with building its garage so it’s ready for when it arrives. Today started chilly with quite thick fog and I thought that I’d get little or no work done but around lunch time the fog cleared in about 10 seconds flat and it turned into a lovely spring day. So with no time to waste I got cracking and by the end of the day I got the basic structure of the garage up.

The beam down the centre of the roof is only there temporarily as the garage will have a pitched roof to drain rainwater away. I’ll be working on that tomorrow and when it’s done the ridge beam will be higher. Also the timber across the front is only there to hold the frame in place and won’t be there when the garage is finished.

I was going to bang lengths of angle-iron into the ground at each corner and screw the frame to them but I’ve now dropped that idea. As shown in the next pic, I already had four long tent pegs made out of 12 mm reinforcing iron so I drilled the bottom frame rails in each corner and secured them to the ground through the holes using the tent pegs. I think that’ll stop the garage blowing away in the wind.

After thinking about the problem, I’ve decided to use what is referred to here as ‘Panneau Agglomeré’ for the walls. It’s a kind of chip board made out of compressed wood shavings and is usually used for under-tile roofing and internal flooring. There are two types, internal and external but both are quite inexpensive with the internal being the cheaper of the two.

Shown below is an image of a very old sheet that I originally used to patch the floor in my large trailer. That was about 4 or more years ago and it’s been out in the weather the whole time since then. As the garage is only intended to be a temporary structure for a year or so the material should be more than good enough for the job.

I’ll also cover the roof with it and then put some roofing felt on top of that which I’ve hung onto since I built my last ‘abri’ in the garden of my old house in Plazac. I always knew it would eventually come in handy 😀

As I type this on Sunday morning, the CMA CGM Cedrus that’s bringing my excavator to Marseille is standing off Barcelona, its last port of call before arriving in Marseille.

It left Valencia yesterday at 11.23 am and was scheduled to dock in Barcelona at 06.00 am this morning. I think the reason why it’s still waiting offshore is because as shown below, the area of the port at Barcelona that handles containers appears to be quite small and it’s possibly a bit too congested at the moment to allow the CMA CGM Cedrus to enter.

But that’s the least of my concerns. My main problem at the moment is French Customs. Before I even ordered my excavator I made enquiries as long ago as last summer about the formalities and procedures of bringing in an excavator from China. I was assured that I could handle everything myself without the need for an agent and was advised what duty and tax would be involved. All that was left, therefore, was to discover the mechanics of actually making the customs declaration itself, which as the owner of the goods I am entitled to do.

And that’s what I’ve been trying to do. I have an account on the French Customs’ web site and have searched all over it to find a link allowing me to make an on line customs declaration but without success. I can find lots of links telling me all about the relevant legislation in which I have absolutely no interest. All I want to do is actually make an actual declaration but a link for that I cannot find.

So I re-contacted French Customs with the relevant information about my purchase but instead of someone just providing me with a link I’ve got more irrelevant general information, mainly about the legislation. I’ve then been fobbed off and told to contact another office, only to get the same treatment all over again on doing so. And so it has gone on. For weeks.

It’s almost as though they’re trying to prevent me making the declaration myself. The most useless and rubbish reply I’ve received was a curt instruction to ‘get an agent who would arrange for all of the duties and taxes to be paid’. And this after I’d explained that (a) the customs reference under which the excavator has been shipped is non-dutiable ie no import duty is payable and (b) as a private buyer I have already paid 20% VAT at time of purchase, as required under the French tax regulations ie no TVA is payable either.

So no further payments should be due on importation of my excavator, meaning that the filing of a customs declaration for it should be relatively simple and straightforward. I’ll continue grappling with customs this week but time is now becoming much more pressing as the excavator will arrive in Marseille on 04 March and be available for ‘de-porting’ on around 07 March.

I’ve been given another office to contact which I will do tomorrow and this time I’ll just demand the necessary forms so I can file a paper declaration. And if I get nowhere with that I’ll find out where the closest French Customs office is and go there in person during the week. And that still leaves the logistics of picking up the machine from the port to be resolved.