Shipping Container Site Prep and Leveling

[waggin]

Since it will be a while before I can get a shop built at my new place, I've decided to buy a shipping container.  Even after the shop is built, it will still be useful and hopefully even more secure than the shop, hence the buy vs. lease option.  I have a 40' container reserved and am going to have it delivered once I get the site prepped.  Oh, and a few days without rain would sure help instead of the few hours that we seem to be lucky enough to get lately.  I'd like to have all my ducks in a row before delivery, so any advice for preparation would be most appreciated.  My plan is to rent a small backhoe/loader next week and have some 3/4" crushed rock delivered for other projects.  I figure I'll do a little leveling of the site and have a few inches depth of gravel placed where the front and rear ends of the container will rest.  I'll put the RR ties or other beam/wood blocking on top of that. 

1.  Most seem to favor getting it elevated rather than sitting on the ground, even if it's on a gravel bed.  I lean towards elevated on some railroad ties or something similar to avoid major condensation and rot underneath.  It gets wet here, and this year it's just plain stayed wet.  For a damp climate, what do people think on this one?

2.  Prevailing opinion is that it only needs to be supported on the ends at the hard points.  Is this correct, or should I have supports at one or more points in the front to back span?  I saw some 8' long railroad ties at Lowes; are there slightly longer ones out there?  I'm going to check at the local farmer's co-op tomorrow for other alternatives.  What have others used?  Should I not worry about a single beam going across at each end and just build up at each corner instead?

3.  How level should I make it?  Some have recommended slightly out of level to improve water runoff. 

Anything else I should be considering?  Thanks in advance!

[rick91351]

2.  Prevailing opinion is that it only needs to be supported on the ends at the hard points.  Is this correct, or should I have supports at one or more points in the front to back span?  I saw some 8' long railroad ties at Lowes; are there slightly longer ones out there?  I'm going to check at the local farmer's co-op tomorrow for other alternatives.  What have others used?  Should I not worry about a single beam going across at each end and just build up at each corner instead?

Anything else I should be considering?  Thanks in advance!

There are indeed longer railroad ties.  They are called switch ties.  If there is a local used tie outlet nearby they can order them.  There are not a lot of demand for these ties but that does not make them cheaper just harder to get.  They are a pain in ____ to handle, stack and store so most places will not handle them.  Plus there are not a lot of switches compared to miles and miles of tangent track. 

However a shipping container is eight foot wide exterior if I remember right.  Some ties will be like 8'2" or so.  Then also some might be 7'10" or so.  Be sure to measure before you load.  Also look the ties over real well.  The railroads do not trade them out just to be doing something.  When they have tie project, they actually have tie inspectors walking and marking the condemned ties.  The Federal Railroad Administration only allows so many bad ties per so many feet.  So the ones they remove are cracked more than allowed, dry rotted or some other defect.  Or you might find some that are from a branch line or yard abandonment those are usually better.  The salvagers come in and pull up everything what they can not sell to the short lines for replacements they sell to the open markets.

Now back to your container you could run one on each end and one each side length wise somewhere in the middle.  That might work real well.   

[Grimjack]

I have a 20ft container. I just put it on the ground and leveled it using concrete blocks at the corners. Its been at least 6 months since I put it in place and haven't had any problems so far. I dont think you can over estimate how sturdy these things are.

[peternap]

I did the same with my 40 footer. It's been there for 6 years and no problems.

[firefox]

peternap: You only supported the 40 foot at the ends, right?
How much weight do you have loaded in the trailer?
Heavy equipment or just light odds and ends?
Thanks,
Bruce

[peternap]

peternap: You only supported the 40 foot at the ends, right?
How much weight do you have loaded in the trailer?
Heavy equipment or just light odds and ends?
Thanks,
Bruce

No, it's just sitting on the ground. Supported all ovcer.

2 ATV's, Diesel Generator, 3 Gas Generators, Tractor Parts, 5 Wood stoves, Chainsaws, Block(s) and tackle, Half full of building supplies...Probably 12,000 pounds total.

[firefox]

Thanks Peter!
Do you have any idea how much they will handle just
supported at the ends? I know when they load them on ships, they are
just attached at the ends with a spreader bar that has twist locks that
are inserted in the four corners.
Thanks,
Bruce

[peternap]

Thanks Peter!
Do you have any idea how much they will handle just
supported at the ends? I know when they load them on ships, they are
just attached at the ends with a spreader bar that has twist locks that
are inserted in the four corners.
Thanks,
Bruce

Here are the Faq's on the 40' Bruce:

40' Dry Freight Container
Ratings
Maximum Gross Weight: 67,200 lbs.
Tare Weight: 7,782 lbs.
Payload: 59,417 lbs.
Capacity: 2,376 cu. ft.

Internal Dimensions
Length: 39' 1"
Width: 7' 6"
Height: 7' 8"

External Dimensions
Length: 40'
Width: 8'
Height: 8' 6"

Door Opening
Width: 7' 6"
Height: 7' 4"

[StinkerBell]

40 HC

40' High Cube (HC) Container

Steel

114in Outside Height   (9'5")

8,796 Tare Weight

58,400 Cargo Capacity

92in Door opening Width     (7'6")

102in Door ooening Height   (8'5")
474in Interior Length          (39'5")

93in Interior Width     (7'7 3/4")

106in Interior Heigth.  (8'8 1/3")

[firefox]

Thanks Peter & StinkerBell!!!
Bruce

[waggin]

Just set up the small backhoe rental for prepping the area where the container will sit, as well as a bunch of other projects.  The light's wrong right now, but I'll try to remember to take some pictures tomorrow before the backhoe shows up Monday.  I'm really excited to use the backhoe, as that's something I haven't done yet.  I've only spent a little time using a front end loader and a cultivator.  This should be fun! 

Here's the bundle of joy that will be arriving soon (stock photo/not actual unit):



It's got doors on both ends, and the external bar/cam rod locking system has been ditched in favor of the internal system seen in the picture above.  With the puck-style padlocks, it should be pretty secure.  The one I have picked out is really clean, both inside and out, with only a little bit of shipping yard rash on one side.  Even the paint is in really good shape.

If I'm reading the comments above correctly, just supporting it at the corners is all that's needed.  I'll have some pressure treated blocks and boards/shims cut to size before delivery.  I'll probably be using it for a couple of cars initially, plus some miscellaneous other stuff, so the weight won't be anywhere near capacity.