Stovebolt.com Forums The Side Lot The Old Dominion Stovebolt Society (MD, VA, WV & DC) 20 Foot Conex ? ODSS Territory

God Morning Folks,

I'm in the market for a 20-foot storage container or even a truck body in the ODSS geography. I have acquired too much "stuff" that I just can't part with. Well the "stuff" is clogging my work area and I find myself doing more re-arranging and pushing stuff around rather than forward progress on projects. I half remember Mr. Milliman telling me he could squeeze Charlie into a 20 footer. Or was it Farm Dawg?

I am building a mechanism to jack up a box from 4 corners to load onto my gooseneck. That's work in progress. This shipping nightmare at the ports is making the 20 footers hard to find.

Ideas - suggestions? And dont tell me to throw out my jewelry like 848 heads, 261 blocks etc. etc........

Best, Joe

Just a word to the wise regarding conex box storage - I bought a 20 footer a few years ago to store parts and other misc stuff. If you live in a cold climate, be aware that lots of condensation forms on the inside as winter becomes spring, and it will literally rain water drops inside the box making everything wet. You need to insulate and vent these boxes to prevent this. I learned the hard way....

Thanks - there is a 40 footer on the property and it is full of holes at the roof. Saying that, we get plenty of ventilation and no condensation. There is also a refrigerated/insulated 20 footer that gets a fair amount of condensation if we don't watch it. Thanks for the heads up.

You might expand your search to an enclosed cargo trailer. I bought one on a big road trip to the lower 48 a few years back, and it's my parts storage location. No issues with loading on another trailer to move, just hitch up. A 20 footer might be a bit expensive though.

My 20’ enclosed trailer cost my 5K.

Chris

I also have alot of problems with my 40 ft container sweating so bad the floor is starting to rot. I even took a drill and opened up the 4 vent holes on the sides. I just noticed your in bucks county Try calling TP trailers in limerick Pa also there are alot on facebook and craigslist

I can relate to the condensation issue. Me, Milliman and his BIL got a sweet deal on 3 20 footers about 12 years ago. I used mine to house my big air compressor and zero turn. When the ceiling started dripping I asked Dr. duckduckgo for advice ( and got plenty). Some said to insulate and condition the air. Others simply said to match the inside air with the outside air via an fan circulation air through the container. I do have a wind powered twrily doohici exhaust fan on top but it isn't in the wind enough to do much good. I have a small electric fan that needs to be installed. Its on the to do list....which is long....maybe this year....
Joe, my work has purchased at least 8 containers (20s and 40s) from this company over the years for decent prices/delivered.
https://kkcontainer.com/
I have no idea what the going rate is now given what is going on in the world.

Dear Mr. Amtrak,
Seriously, you must be speaking in jest! With all of those trailers on “said” property, I’m sure the proprietor of “said” property, would never know that you hijacked a trailer for your assembled pile of (junk).
Speaking of junk, do you have a ..............? Just kiddin!
Jim

I had the same condensation issue with my garage that is built into the side of a hill. The concrete walls take until July to heat up enough to stop the condensation. It was so bad I thought the contractor didn’t seal the outer walls properly and I was getting leaks from the outside. After confirming it was due to condensation, I was going to add 1” foam insulation but a bit reluctant as I had just finished sealing and painting the walls and would have required adding sheetrock to cover the foam. I ended up installing a dehumidifier instead. I was surprised at the results. No more rusty tools and no more puddles on the floor. My electric bill did not take a big hit either.

Might work in a steel container as well. Just a thought!

There's a place beside I-65 just south of the Alabama state line that sells/rents/leases Conex containers. I can check them out to see what they have available if you'd like. My storage building is a 53 foot reefer trailer that was once a construction site storage trailer. it's got a plywood floor, overhead fluorescent lights, a steel walk-in door, and a big bay window with security bars where the refrigeration unit used to be. It's sitting on a concrete block foundation with the axles and landing gear removed.
Jerry

Thanks Pal...........IF it's Gerry's it's swiss cheese

Billy - I kind of remember you had one. Never knew you had a condensation problem. It's all about psychrometrics. IF the surface temperature of anything is below the dewpoint of the air that surrounds it - bam - condensation. Someone mentioned a dehumidifier which does the moisture removal by passing the air over a coil and wringing out the moisture as the coil is below dew point. They work well.

I like the idea of finding an old travel trailer or enclosed trailer that may not be road worthy, but worthy enough to winch onto my gooseneck. I have been watching construction jobs come to an end around here and asked the supervisors what are the plans for the small office trailers ? They tell me most of them are leased and go back to the owners.

My gem is out there. I just need to be at the right time / right place.

Joe -- You need to go to more equipment auctions. You may be on a better plan with an old office trailer rather than a sea container, anyway. Even the twenty footers are really heavy. If you remember the Landoll trailer I had at Winchester? Did you notice the big Braden winch on it? That trailer was specifically set up for moving sea containers (20-footers as well as 40 footers). They are not trivial, even when empty, and require a hefty winch (and cable!).

What about an enclosed car hauler trailer? Even new, they are not horrifically expensive (by the time you get done writing cheques, it's probably close to a wash between a sea container, winch and whatever else you need, and just getting a new enclosed trailer). Putting a Maine tag on it is pretty reasonable, too.

And I can corroborate Brother Marlow's condensation claims. I had issues in my container, too (and mine even had a hole in the door caused by someone stabbing it with a forklift). I just left the door ajar and the problem went away.