Moving a sea container on the farm

[juddspaintballs]

I've been living in a camper for 3 years on my parents' farm and I'm nearing completion of the house I'm building on the farm. I've been using a 40' sea container as my shop the whole time. Although I'll have a garage in the house, it won't be a working garage and I don't want to clutter it up with all of my tools. I want to move my sea container over to the house until I build a proper shop in a year or two.

The move is about 1500' across the farm with not much elevation change, but most of that is on my brand new gravel driveway I don't want to have to repair. The biggest piece of equipment I have is my Kubota MX5100 tractor that can't even lift one end of the sea container with the FEL. I doubt the 3-point hitch could, either. The best plan I've come up with is to buy an axle from a mobile home or so, use two hi-lift jacks (or something) to raise one end, and then weld the axle about 1/3 of the way under the sea container. I have a friend who would probably bring his back hoe or 963 loader over and he'd lift the other end with using chain and drive it over to where I want to put the sea container down. Then, I'd reverse the process.

Does anyone have any other ideas that would work as well or better? It is not a straight shot by any means, so I don't think pipe or logs underneath would work out too well. I don't plan on emptying the sea container and the tare weight of the container is just over 8,000#.

 

[backupbeeper]

Pardon Our Interruption...

Pardon Our Interruption...

I’ve seen some wheels the military uses to lift the front and rear and tow it

But I can’t find a picture

 

[backupbeeper]

Shipping Container, Clip-On Wheels, G1, 7000Lb Set

This is a set of two (2) clip-on axle spindles with 6 bolt / 5.5" bolt pattern hubs (rims, tires not included). The spindles are 6000# per set. 7000# is Avail

www.tek4ufast.com

 

[backupbeeper]

How much room to you have to get in front of it ?
And is the ground solid ?

A local tow company with a “landoll” trailer could move it

 

[juddspaintballs]

There isn't room behind it to get a landoll trailer in there and to get room in front of it, we'd have to take down a wire fence (easy) and move another sea container out of the way

The clip on wheels look nice, but probably cost well more than a craigslist mobile home axle. I'll look into it more, though.

 

[nadogail]

Can you skid the container across a hard surface? Maybe several sheets of plywood would help.

 

[qdvuu]

Here's another option:

 

[zkdiesel]

Ive carried them with two skidloaders
One telhandler
1 tow truck

 

[Firebrick43]

Here's another option:

+1

You can move heavy stuff real easy with some pipe rollers and some boards. Your tractor would pull it just fine on them. Just need people to pull the exiting pipe and carry it to lay in front of the load being moved.

 

[TurnipTruck]

I was surprised how little damage to the lawn this caused:

it may end up planing your new driveway smoother.

 

[BrandonV]

+1

You can move heavy stuff real easy with some pipe rollers and some boards. Your tractor would pull it just fine on them. Just need people to pull the exiting pipe and carry it to lay in front of the load being moved.

Yup. Like how they built those pyramid things . I've seen some crazy TL rated safes move 1-2-3 with the old pipe trick.

 

[Dig Doug]

empty the container most important part!!

Jack up one end and slide an axle w/2 wheels under it, axle can be wider then the container secure axle w/ LONG ratchet straps up over the top to each side of the axle like U

do the same thing to the other end.

use a hunk of chain thru the bottom holes for the shipping container and loop it over a trailer hitch on a truck, tow it like a trailer.


Rent a fork lift / gradal and use ratchet straps to keep it from slipping side to side( outside corners to fork lift mast)

I moved mine w/ a winch on my Jeep, but it didn’t need to go very far.

 

[jack stand]

Will your ground be frozen in a month?
Your buddies 963 will drag it on frozen ground without damaging the ground or crossmembers of the container provided that it's relatively flat.
Chain his bucket to the front (leading edge of travel) lower corners, and raise a box a couple of inches and your on your way.

 

[jblnut]

If you have anything in it it's unlikely the mobile home axle will be happy about carrying that much weight. Most I've seen are rated between 6-7k lbs, some as high as 16k though. Traveling at the speed of smell will of course increase what they'll put up with before failing. I'd be completely comfortable with one carrying the empty weight but not with much stuff inside. The weight of "stuff" adds up a lot faster than one thinks.

Whatever you do post pictures !!

 

[clutchee]

Friend used old telephone poles, cut them and moved them. Picked up and rolled them under, as he pushed the trailer friends would move poles ahead of trailer.

 

[jollygreengiant]

If you have anything in it it's unlikely the mobile home axle will be happy about carrying that much weight. Most I've seen are rated between 6-7k lbs, some as high as 16k though. Traveling at the speed of smell will of course increase what they'll put up with before failing. I'd be completely comfortable with one carrying the empty weight but not with much stuff inside. The weight of "stuff" adds up a lot faster than one thinks.

Whatever you do post pictures !!

That's what I was thinking. An empty container would be relatively easy to move. But a container full of tools and shop supplies is an entirely different beast.

Honestly I think you need to really decide if you want to leave everything in it while moving it. If you do I think you're pretty well limited to using a heavy crane and trailer. Any of the other methods will be pretty sure to toss around your stuff inside. And the weight of a loaded container limits your options especially if you can't get a heavy moving trailer in front of it.

 

[juddspaintballs]

Dragging it with the 963 might wind up being the easiest solution. Here in the eastern panhandle of WV, we don't often have frozen ground lasting more than the overnight hours. The biggest issue is going to be my nice new driveway. I have to cross it if I'm going to drag it along in the field.

I'd prefer to not have to empty the container if at all possible. I know there's a lot of stuff in it, and most of it isn't light. I have shop shelves attached to the walls, a few hundred pounds of gym weights, a big work bench, a shop press with metal brake attachment, etc. You know...shop stuff. I'm not terribly worried about stuff shaking around during moving it because the important things like shelving, the work bench, and rolling tool box are all attached to the walls already.

 

[californiamilleghia]

Would it be cheaper to have another container delivered to you driveway ?
You never can have to much storage

 

[readhead]

Check with some shed haulers. A lot of them can move containers now with the larger track mules.

 

[backupbeeper]

Check with some shed haulers. A lot of them can move containers now with the larger track mules.

Yeah
But it’s gotta be empty

I had a 12x24 shed moved ,for $500
and the shed Mule is a very cool vehicle which made easy work of it but they were adamant about it being empty and looked inside the shed to verify before they even unloaded the mule

 

[Firebrick43]

Yeah
But it’s gotta be empty

I had a 12x24 shed moved ,for $500
and the shed Mule is a very cool vehicle which made easy work of it but they were adamant about it being empty and looked inside the shed to verify before they even unloaded the mule

new meaning to an old phrase, "I have to go see a man about a mule"

 

[Sumboodie]

Call tow company and for ~$200 it'll be moved without fuss.

 

[mike93lx]

Call tow company and for ~$200 it'll be moved without fuss.

Full? Feels unlikely

 

[cannuck]

The FIRST thing you need to know is DO NOT put a load into the container ANYWHERE but at the corners. That is where they are designed to be handled. I have moved by high cube 40s a number of times, but do it by chaining bottom posts to the blade of D5 and have my daughter follow with it while I lead with rough terrain crane on the other end. If you are going to use mobile home axle, you need to widen it and mount it to the corner posts at one end. Call in a tow truck to pick up the other end and you can cost effectively move it to where you want it. Tow guys MIGHT have temporary wheels that will work.

 

[juddspaintballs]

Let's suppose I used my tractor to pull on a chain that is attached to the bottom corners and then used a bunch of poles to roll this thing on...how would I make the turn(s)? How many poles do you think I would need underneath to roll it?

 

[cannuck]

Let's suppose I used my tractor to pull on a chain that is attached to the bottom corners and then used a bunch of poles to roll this thing on...how would I make the turn(s)? How many poles do you think I would need underneath to roll it?

the sheet metal channels under the floor will get bent all to hell doing that. If you on a dead level concrete pad and you had dozens of identical diameter rollers, it still wouldn't work all that well because the corners are lower than the bottom and the container will tilt a little bit when corner goes over a log. On uneven terrain there will be several times when one log is carrying ALL 8k.

 

[jblnut]

Let's suppose I used my tractor to pull on a chain that is attached to the bottom corners and then used a bunch of poles to roll this thing on...how would I make the turn(s)? How many poles do you think I would need underneath to roll it?

If you have a tractor and access to a front end loader I'd honestly just drag the thing and fix the driveway later. The Kubota will likely drag it when it's on poles but it'll just sit and make holes if you hook on now. Dragging it around corners on poles should work fine but you'll need horsepower to get it done.

Actually, first I'd call a few tow companies and see if they have a large rotator or something that could pick it up and carry it. Containers are not designed to be moved with weight in them unless you attach to the built in lifting points. The fork pockets under them say "empty lift only" for a reason.

All that being said ..... I'd explore every option that I could do myself before hiring it out as well ..... If dragging it over poles I'd have at least 5-6 under there so you can keep 4-5 under it while moving the other one from front to back.

 

[Firebrick43]

Let's suppose I used my tractor to pull on a chain that is attached to the bottom corners and then used a bunch of poles to roll this thing on...how would I make the turn(s)? How many poles do you think I would need underneath to roll it?

It will turn by just pulling on it the direction you want to go.

I would have a pole for every 3’ to 4’. If you lay down a track of boards to roll on it will roll even easier.

If the ground isn’t flat make sure you snub up the chains so the tractor isn’t a far distance and maybe a 3point drawbar so the container doesn’t hole itself on the lift arms in down hill area.

 

[racecougar]

I know you don't want to unload it, but you stand a pretty decent chance of damaging the container if you try moving it loaded (assuming it's full of heavy equipment as you described above). This is especially true if you're not hoisting it by the corners.

 

[jollygreengiant]

Let's suppose I used my tractor to pull on a chain that is attached to the bottom corners and then used a bunch of poles to roll this thing on...how would I make the turn(s)? How many poles do you think I would need underneath to roll it?

Once it's on poles it should be easier to turn by just pulling on the container, it should slide fairly easily on the poles. The problems with this situation will be getting it onto the poles in the first place, and actually being able to pull it with your tractor. As others have said, loaded containers are supposed to be lifted from certain points only. You may be ok to lift on the front two corners with a loader to get it onto the poles, but beware of the possibilities. The other issue will be actually moving it with your tractor once it's on the poles. Moving it this way, you'll only be doing a straight horizontal pull with the tractor so none of the weight of the container will be on the tractor to give you some traction. I think you'll need a lot bigger tractor than a 5100 Kubota to actually pull it. Though maybe a combination of the tractor and the loader could be enough?

 

[readhead]

Another option would be to crane it onto a trailer, move it to the new location and then crane it off. You are really limiting your options by all the constraints you are putting on the move.

 

[mike93lx]

Container skates and a couple long 2x12's or LVL's if you want to prevent it from digging in?

ITI Pocket Plug Container Skate

 

[Ilikeike]

I pushed a couple of 40' containers around with a backhoe pretty easily. But, they were pretty much empty. still seemed like our crappy old backhoe did it without much issue, seems like your tractor should be able to pull it if you could keep it from digging in with a little up pressure using your 3 point...maybe..

 

[jollygreengiant]

Call tow company and for ~$200 it'll be moved without fuss.

A loaded container moved for under $200??

It will take at least $1000 for a heavy wrecker to show up around here.

 

[Sumboodie]

A loaded container moved for under $200??

It will take at least $1000 for a heavy wrecker to show up around here.

$150-180/hr here.

 

[Beauregard]

Our local tow company has a large rotating disk rig that does amazing things. His rate is $700 per hour, from his shop until he returns.
It would easily do the job, but you're probably looking at close to $3K, which is getting close to the price of a used container.
I like the idea of placing a new empty container where you want it and moving the existing equipment to the new container with the loader. The present container would then be for secure dry storage. You can never have enough of that on a farm.

 

[bluedog225]

I don’t see how rolling it on pipe or poles will hurt the c channel.

 

[backupbeeper]

Containers get moved while they are loaded , all the time . That’s what they were designed to do

But usually lifted from the top corners

I know you don’t wanna hear it but I’d get another container and move the stuff

I had to move everything from my half basement under my carport and cram the rest into my shed , then after the basement work was done , move everything from the shed and carport into the basement , so the shed could be moved and the carport town down to make reopen for the new garage .

Moved everything I owned , at least three times .

 

[Renegade1LI]

Remember, fast, cheap and good, pick two. Get a 10 x 17 HF portable garage, 180$, empty container into it. Get four 6" or 8" x 10' wood poles or 4" sch 40 pipe. Very easy to move when empty with your tractor. Downside is it will take you a couple days but probably cheapest route and you have a portable garage to use when you're done. You have the tractor, do you have forks and a trailer? Put all your stuff on pallets to make the move easier, this is what I would probably do.

 

[Youngandfree]

Containers get moved while they are loaded , all the time . That’s what they were designed to do

But usually lifted from the top corners

People forget they arrive in the US on a boat packed full and they get moved numerous times.