Thinking about getting a used one to put some of wife’s junk inside and also to keep SXS in.
What are the pros ands cons of using them for storage ??

PROS:

I dunno if there is a specific 'railroad' container but with standard shipping containers there is no way to escape from one if locked inside.
There is a good bit of breathable air in one so a person has plenty of time to think about why they have been locked inside.

If left out in the direct summer sun they get hot inside quickly.
The heat can become so extreme it could shorten the life expectancy of the one locked inside.

Calculations for a 40ft container are as follows.

The limiting factor in the container would be CO2, or water. Not oxygen, and likely not food.

As the CO2 concentration reaches 8%, the person will die.
Despite around 13% oxygen left.

Avg person breathes 10 liters (0.353 cuft) of air per minute and exhales 4% CO2 (0.0141 cuft/min).

This gives,

Air volume : 2720 cuft

Lethal CO2 volume: 217.6 cuft

Time to reach limit CO2 concentration 15400 minutes or ~10 days.

To generalise, every cubic foot gives approx 5.5 minutes of time per person. You may get unconscious sooner though.

Also, in 10 days, CO2 may be limiting only if you are in a cool, humid container. Else you’d die of dehydration much sooner.

Direct burial of a shipping container could possibly create these cool, humid conditions for prolonged life and dampen any unwanted noise transfer from inside to the exterior of the container.

CONS:

Nothing really..

I keep my SXS parked in the yard and use it daily.
It's no worse for wear..

If you're SXS is some sorta show piece that must be kept inside you might need a second shipping container.

Depending on what you store, and how.

Good square footage, weathertight, good price.

But, it's shaped all wrong.


Long and skinny.

If her stuff is small, (female clutter often is) you can build shelves on both
sides and have a nice walkway. If it's bigger, it's hard to utilize the space and still allow access.


We have several refer trailers used for cold storage at work, with good
planning and luck, they work ok.

But, there are times you are unloading a trailer to get something from the front, then putting all that @#%%#!!!%!!!!! back. Just to get one pallet.

They often go by the name Sea container or c container. multiple sized available standard, half, quarter...
the was a company making them into "tiny houses" Inheard a pitch for a guy who wanted to make rent a gyms in them for small firms... you can always cut yourself a man door/windows with a plasma cutter...
back around 2007 or so there was a surplus of them due to a trade imbalance.. the ports couldnt find room to stack them all.

lololololol

The entire world uses these containers for storage of most every item known to mankind while in transit for extended periods of time.

What possible question might one have regarding using one for storage?



I cut a standard door opening in the side of my 40 footer with a cutoff wheel in my 4 inch grinder and installed a steel door..

Simplifyed the access issue through the end doors.
One end is now shelved out, made for better storage options.

The other end door is seldom ever opened, they tend to be difficult if the container is bent or tweaked to start with which is typically why they sell them.

If not set dead level a good end door can become difficult due to the containers twisting when conforming to uneven ground.

It's best to weld brackets to the Interior for shelves, good self-tapping screws walk right through a container wall but why punch holes in your sealed, dry container?

Don’t forget underground doomsday prepper compounds.

Hmmmm, If you locked 100 Democrats inside how long until we'd be rid of them?

Ask any Mexican, they do it all the time when they move their families across the border for free health care.

Son in law has a couple, work well for him!

The doors can be hard to open but they're as secure as the lock you put on them. Some guys will remove the doors and frame in the end for a regular house type door. It's a lot more convenient. Of course that wouldn't work for storing a UTV.
They can get as hot as 150F and 130 is common. If you store anything that can't take a lot of heat, I suggest putting some kind of shade roof over it. Painting it white will help, too. Another option is installing some vents and a powered vent fan. Make it a big one.

They come in several different sizes. Here's a chart showing some variations. There are also high cube ones that are about a foot taller.

I did one like pictured below.
I had Weatherport.com build the canvas and frame work complete with full length doors.
I used it for a remote shop while doing jobs in Alaska.
It worked out well but I wouldn't suggest it, Weatherport makes a great product but ridiculously expensive.
All my construction materials were shipped to Alaska in the containers so I had them pretty much for free. A couple guys could put the shop together in half a day.
https://weatherport.com/products/vehicle-equipment-storage/workshops/

This would be a smarter idea.

Have 4 0f them, 2 we use for cattle and horse feed both under cover, 2 Climate with control for storage, they are very handy, cheap compared to building the same amount of storage, and they can be moved if needed. Rio7
,

I really like that 2nd pic.
What is needed foundation wise for containers?

I've owned a 20' since 2006.
Work VERY well as a storage facility!
Bought this one to store tools and expensive materials while building our home on a rural site. Never even lost a nail! 😉

CONS?
Well, there is the single entry, locked inside problem, but that is easily remedied.

Problems "I've" had.

I'm out in the country. Snakes, skunks, possums, armadillos, coons, you name it, sought shelter under "The Box"!
I originally simply set the container on the ground. It's hard packed red clay.
After a rain, my Rotweiller came in covered with red mud!
A rabbit or other critter ran up in one of the fork pockets on the bottom of "The Box".
From then on, the dog spent his free time outside running from one side of the box to the other, trying to find/get whatever was under the box! 😖!
Because of the proximity to the ground, rats and mice soon chewed holes through the wooden floor!
THAT caused a major clean out, repair and reorganize.
Because "The Box" was so heavy, it slowly began to list to one side, getting worse every time it rained.
Bought 6 retired RR crossties and bolted them together to make two 3×8 pads. One under each end.
Helps keep rats and mice at bay, but now I have more room for the other critters! LOL!
Unless you can get electricity to it, storing temperature sensitive items is lost cause.

PLUS:

Had 105mph wind blow through. The wind rolled a 16', slat side cattle trailer over on it's side.
"The Box", 15 feet away, stayed upright!

No roof repairs! 😃

They have pluses and minuses. You just kinda weigh the pros and cons.


I've never been in one, but YouTube has videos of homes/camps/shops that people have made from "shipping containers".

I bought a 53 foot refrigerated trailer that had been used as a construction site storage unit and office. It's already got a plywood floor and flourescent lighting, and a big window where the reefer unit used to be. I'm incorporating it into an expansion of my shop. We removed the wheels and axles and the landing gear and set it down on a concrete block foundation. With all the insulation that's in the walls I shoud be able to heat it with a BIC lighter and cool it with an ice cube! A regular sea-land container would probably need some foam insulation sprayed onto the inside walls to be able to maintain some temperature control if that's important.

We bought a really clean and nice 20'er with doors on both ends. W/o the double doors there's no air movement inside and it's hot and muggy to be inside. They have waterproof air vents so I'm not sure why guys are mentioning running out of air if locked inside.

We store seldom used items like Christmas, Halloween, Easter stuff plus lawn and garden chemicals, tools, mower, spare air handler, etc. They'd make a great watertight workshop if you parked it in the shade and installed a little air conditioner in one. Little woodstove for burning scraps, recliner and some LED lights and momma would have to bring you sammiches to keep you alive.

Most of the ones I've seen are set on RR ties resting on the ground. They'll last forever and usually don't need a building permit. Your city or county might vary on that. They're very rigid and blocks at the ends are enough unless you're storing very heavy stuff.

Not a box car but a shipping container?


They are okay.


Ugliest damn thing ever though.

They aren't any more attractive when they're stacked to make condos.

The ones with the steel floors make for a quick setup portable weld shop.
Used them for that purpose many times.

The Four corners are all that is required.

Lived in one in Iraq for 6 months. Had heat/AC and a regular front door. Beats a tent

All containers are not created equal.
Never had one that came with a vent.

They're designed to haul cargo and some cargo needs venting.

Might get a 10footer and bank it into the bluff beaide the house this summer to make a root cellar.

I know of a dealer lot in Alabama. Looked at them just last week.

Its a container, not a flipping submarine. Never seen one that is air-tight. May as well do those calculations for the average camper with the windows closed and you'll have the same result. Yes, they do get hell-hot inside in the summer, especially in a non-shaded area, but are pretty secure. Guys at our camp use them, and modify them by cutting air vent or louvres down low with temp controlled extractor fans up high to help manage temps. SXS's stored in them will have shortened battery life due to constant heat exposure, one of the few downside. The other is humidity control in hot, humid climes like the South, but good ventilation does help.

I've been watching this channel on the tube for 3 years. It's a money maker.

BUT this was to live in. They do show how they handled the rust and other issues.

They added a roof with air space and spray in insulation.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-l69It3hxAY3tkBH_utLNQ/videos

Too many slithering critters in my neck of the woods, would definitely need full underpinning.
I guess a footer w/block maybe.

When I was drilling, we had a 20 footer for a portable shop. It had swing out hydraulic cylinders on the corners and would lift the can about six feet off the ground where you could self load and unload on a truck or trailer. If you loaded it on the back of a Morooka, you could put a shop about anywhere.

Our front wall was hydraulic fittings, the left wall coming in was a big gas powered welder then shelving with filters and odds and ends. The right side was a big steel workbench with vice, a hydraulic hose crimper then more shelving for parts and safety items.

It was nice to fire up the welder and have lights when working nights.

I’ve got a 53’ container full of stuff. Best storage shed ever ! I put pallet racking down 3/4 of one side for shelving to hold all kinds of smaller pieces. They last basically forever if you fix any rust. They lock as securely as any shed could. The sealed no air supply is ridiculous BS as they have ventilation at the top front side corners. You can spray foam insulate them for climate control and put a roof over to cut the heat. Buy the steel ones for best security. The aluminum ones can be cut open like butter. I had to pay $2150 for one and $350 delivery because there’s a shortage but as the recession hits and there are stacks of them idle the price should come back down to around $1500 for a decent container. Remember that the shipping companies are paying a pretty penny to store unused containers. Delivery will be stupid high due to the current green raw deal. FJB !

Cutting in a door on the side, increases the usefulness if using for storage. Eliminate the need for hallway.

I always wondered about condensation in one of these. Seems like the ones we used for storage on some of our job sites would sweat a lot during cold weather if we didn't leave the doors open to air them out occasionally...

I've seen a couple outfits that sell these in all kind of configurations with man doors, windows, and roll up overhead doors in the sides of them for storage uses. Seems like it would make them a lot more useful...

Congratulations on understanding the post...
Went right over the heads of more than a few...

There is a guy down the road from me that built a barn out of two 40 foot containers. It looks very similar to this one.

We have 3 on the property. 2 at 40', 1 at 20' feet to store my excess and miscellanious. I have loaded 100s with food products for shipment.

I have yet to see one without ventilation in the top corners.

But still, I would not wish to be locked in one. Probably would hit 120 degrees in the summer sun.

i worked on the design for several years and then a longtime friend/Campfire guy took on the job of building my big garage based on two 40 foot containers. The enclosed space is 60 wide by 50 long and all but one of the trusses (an end wall) sit on top of the two parallel containers - all on a 6" slab done by another Campfire friend.

Those strong steel boxes provide a secure shop area on one side and secure storage on the other side. Stout, tight and fireproof - all metal construction. Took advantage of the opportunity and extended the roof line another 30 ft. on the outside, yielding a covered canopy 50 wide and 30 long at one end. Two 12x12 doors at one end and a 16x12 door centered on the canopy end.

Six vehicles easily, a four post lift and generous operating space - and an enclose 40x8 shop on one side and same for storage on the other. 120/240v power, compressed air along one side and outside under the canopy, plus other helpful goodies. i do like it.

Containers are intended to be loaded at the factory and unloaded at some warehouse on the other end. As far as I know, the same containers will fit on a ship, rail flat car or truck chassis. They don't unload them off a ship, then swing the cargo to a rail container. It moves straight from Shanghai to Omaha without ever being opened.

As far as getting locked in, any freight trailer is the same way, you can't open it from inside. That's why they sometimes find trailers full of dead Mexicans that some coyote abandoned when things got too hot. How many of the cargo trailer that guys buy to convert to camp trailers can be opened from the inside before the doors are converted? Some can but most can't.

I prefer to buy used refrigerator containers, they have zero vents, steel floors and come insulated with closed cell foam between the steel inner and outer walls, floor and ceiling.

To each his own..

IIRC,


Crossfireops had a setup with containers.


2 containers with a open area covered with rafters.

Have a 20’. Cut two windows and a regular entry door into it, a partition wall that creates 8’ of storage area accessible by the standard doors, and an office in the other 12’ with the windows and door. LED lights and some receptacles, lvt flooring, 2x2 studs, insulation and plywood on the sidewalls and ceiling.
$2,000 for the container, Probably another $2,000 in the work.
Pretty handy. It’s been on a job for 18mos, bout to move it to another job where it will be for 24 mos.

Glad you can afford offhire reefers when you an find one. At this point all the shippers are fixing reefers with major damage due to the critical shortage of reefers. There’s one at SSA right now they dropped while unloading it from the ship. They’re chopping it up and trying to rebuild it but I think they’re wasting their time. I doubt they’ll ever get it straight enough to fit a chassis. Seriously damaged reefers are the only ones on the market right now. And…if you’re worried about someone sneaking up and locking you inside all you need to do is lock the turn latch closed with the door open and they now need to open the lock and open the turn latch to close the door.

We used to lock each other in the -20 walk in freezer at Wendys.

It was hilarious

Just don't bury a shipping container my BIL found that out it collapsed!

Got a one-tripper 20 foot for $3500 DELIVERED, about 5 years ago. Same thing would be about $5000-$5500, now. A 40-foot one-tripper is over $8k. Prices WAY up..

(Yeah, I know. Somebody y’all know bought one for $2500, last week🙄.)

buy an Amish building if you have them in your area. I have one and it's built like a house with 16" centers and a strong floor. You can even choose the color, door placement, trim, roof type, and window placement.

They are just a steel box, and they can get pretty dang hot in direct sunlight.

I had not heard of any shortage. My Son in Law just purchased two more 40 footers in the last month. I have no idea on the cost.

Reefers ? Even standard uninsulated containers are way up in cost due to shortages. They’re still selling rusty hulks cheap but good straight containers are all being used right now and not off hired.

No. Not reefers. Intact weathertite 40 foot cans suitable for storage of household goods and furniture while the next house is built.

We use smaller ones offshore for shipping. I have seen them used for living quarters and storage shop space. They are solid buildings.