How can I ship a rocking chair?

Put it in a big cardboard box like the ones used to hold recycled paper, fill it with packing peanuts and ship it Fedex ground.

I would have someone box it up and give you the weight and dimensions of the box and I would suggest trying Unishippers.com They are a freight broker that bids out your shipment to many carriers. I get crazy cheap prices out of them.

You can contact an art handling company in either your town or the town where the chair is currently. They can use (or make) a crate specifically for the chair. Ask them what the rates are for building a crate and how they would ship the item (plane, truck or other) and if you can get some kind of a discount rate if your chair gets shipped in the same group as another set of items. Like, if a museum is having a set of artworks delivered to your town, can you have your chair piggy backed in the same truck? You can also contact the local art museum to see if they recommend a shipping company.

The other option is to pay someone, a friend or a relative to go to the town, rent a small U-haul and pack it up in a box himself, and then drive it back to your town. This is most helpful if you can find someone who was already headed that direction anyway. Even better if you know someone who is already in the town with the chair. Maybe you would only have to pay for the one way trip to your house.

You might try getting a quote for shipping it by rail.

Try these people. You are going to want someone to go to your mother’s house with the correct packing materials, pack the rocker appropriately for shipment, and then expedite the delivery to to the correct truckline.

I once shipped some massive Ohm I speakers from NYC to NJ. A regular shipper like UPS or FedEx wouldn’t do it. I needed to ship them by truck for about $100 apiece, but that’ll be mad expensive across the country. So try contacting a moving company anyway. Maybe they can include your chair in someone’s move from east to west.

I’d advertise on Craigslist for someone making the East-to-West move that you want, and arranging to have the chair included with their furniture, and make a side deal with them for inclusion in their goods and nominal payment to them. The movers don’t have to be involved, other than to do the actual transportation.

I agree with @HungryGuy. We have moved all over the country with various moving/packing companies. With nearly every tractor trailer load of of furniture, there is one random item they are moving for someone in circumstances like the one you described. Moving companies will pack and ship individual items.

However you decide to ship it, make sure to insure it against loss or damage.