Property out of town - Haul your tractor, or build storage - opinions?

[Snowback]

I'm struggling with potentially biting the bullet on some type of onsite tractor storage. Our property is 40 miles from town. 30 minutes by car or truck and 45+/- minutes when loaded with trailer. Not really that bad in the overall scheme of things.

It is somewhat of a chore/pain to load from town and head back and forth with tractor and implements. In town there is a relatively low chance of theft with many more deterrents in place and there are two acres here where I use the tractor from time to time, but it's usually because I'm lazy. The machine probably should live up on site... Can anyone speak to the life altering improvements/epiphanies they may have have had after being able to leave their tractor and some tools/equipment on site as opposed to hauling back and forth? (Assuming a properly secured shed or container with locks, insurance, maybe game cameras, etc...) There are neighbors on the adjoining 20 acre tracts on a reasonably well traveled county road. Theft would be one item, but insurance would allow me to sleep at night. Mice and other critters would be another possible issue I do not currently have to deal with.

We're not ready to commit to anything permanent up there in terms of large buildings since final location of things might change, so it would either be a container, or a lower cost, built on site structure.

It just seems that some days I would be much more likely to hop in the truck and rip out to work for a few hours if the tractor was there and ready to go, as opposed to planning ahead, trying to string a few days worth of work together, and then performing the "load/haul/unload, repeat" ritual. I am able to haul my full kit in one fell swoop and have become reasonably proficient at getting all the implements on the trailer at one time. I appreciate this is a somewhat trivial request for input, but was curious if anyone else has had a similar experience either way with insights that could be shared.

Thanks in advance!

 

[hawkeye08]

If me, I would put a container onsite and secure my tools there. Downside is the extra travel/work when you need the tools at home. Sometimes I have time/energy to do a task, but if you add additional time/travel then miss that opportunity.

 

[JerryK]

Sometimes hard to get any type of insurance on stuff if it's on property that you don't live on. There has been at least one discussion on this forum about a guy that used a on site container to store his tractor, but I don't know what it was under. I remember something about him putting in a shelf type storage above his FEL bucket to give him more room for his other stuff...

 

[flusher]

Nothing will deter a determined thief from getting your tractor. All he needs is a battery-powered angle grinder with a handful of cutoff blades to saw through anything in his way.

Use your trailer and keep your tractor near you at all times.

Good luck

 

[Snowback]

Thank you hawkeye08, JerryK, and flusher! This very short sample of varied responses covers a lot of my thoughts very concisely... My brain continues to hurt. Certainly pros and cons here. Sure wish there weren't stinkin' thieves out there.

To haul or not to haul remains the question. Please keep 'em coming if anyone else has additional input.

 

[brasco426]

Nothing will deter a determined thief from getting your tractor. All he needs is a battery-powered angle grinder with a handful of cutoff blades to saw through anything in his way.

Use your trailer and keep your tractor near you at all times.

Good luck

Boy I couldn't agree more. If it were me I think I'd keep it near me. We work too hard to have some thief come and steal our stuff. Drugs are everywhere and the addicts addicted to them and most will steal anything to get high. A camera is just going to catch them on video, and only usable if you can ID them. That's a tough call Snowback, I was a contractor overseas and thieves broke in my house because they knew I was gone. I immediately got a security system from ADT. Still even some thieves look at it as they have time even if they trip it before the cops show depending how far out you are.

 

[930ck]

My farm is only 6 miles from where I store my tractor but found that I didn't use my tractor as much as I wanted to because of the hassle of getting it to and from the farm, decided to get a shipping container.
Now if I have an hour of tractor work I don't waste that much time getting it there and back, have the tractor insured and still worry about theft but am getting a lot more use out of tractor.
The only thing I keep in container is the tractor and implements, all tools go back to town with me.

 

[s219]

Been through the same thing, and I transported the tractor every time I needed it. I got good at loading/unloading. Often, I'd load up the night before so in the morning, I could just head out.

 

[kebo]

Nothing will deter a determined thief from getting your tractor. All he needs is a battery-powered angle grinder with a handful of cutoff blades to saw through anything in his way.

Use your trailer and keep your tractor near you at all times.

Good luck

This would get my vote. It only takes one theft/vandalism incident at the remote property to wipe out a lot of your hard work and efforts to have a nice tractor and equipment to go with it. Even with insurance to cover it, which is really just a bandaid for the physical theft/damage, but it won't help the emotional aspect of it too much.

If you do decide to leave it stored on the remote property, go ahead and prepare yourself mentally that at some point it will get stolen or vandalized, and when/if it really does happen, then it won't be such a killjoy.

 

[kthompson]

By chance do you have a neighbor who would let you store the storage container on their property near their buildings or such. You might could have customer latch assembly to offer protection for the lock itself from a grinder.

 

[MossRoad]

Well, you have to make the drive out there and back, regardless, so you're going to spend time driving no matter which place you store the tractor. So you're real time spender is loading/unloading twice. Can you become more efficient in that task? Can you leave some things on the trailer? It takes me about 10 minutes to load/unload and hook up/drop the trailer. So that 20 minutes per day is time well spent for me. As mentioned, someone that's determined can steal anything quickly. We own remote property (only 9 miles away) and I used to leave my IH2500b out there year round. And the battery was stolen. And the lights were stolen. And animals chewed it up, etc... but it was basically not worth someone going to prison over, so they never stole the tractor itself. Anyhow, I'd never leave my current tractor out there unless I had a building or container to store it in with active burglar alarm system over cell phone with battery backup power.

 

[Rustyiron]

Get a container. It's not hard to modify the padlock area's (4 of them if you desire) so that a grinder is unable to reach the lock. Then if your really worried, wire in an additional battery switch or pull the ground wire and keep that with you.

 

[newbury]

By chance do you have a neighbor who would let you store the storage container on their property near their buildings or such. You might could have customer latch assembly to offer protection for the lock itself from a grinder.

That's the first thing I'd do.

Well, you have to make the drive out there and back, regardless, so you're going to spend time driving no matter which place you store the tractor. So you're real time spender is loading/unloading twice. Can you become more efficient in that task? Can you leave some things on the trailer? It takes me about 10 minutes to load/unload and hook up/drop the trailer. So that 20 minutes per day is time well spent for me. As mentioned, someone that's determined can steal anything quickly.<snip>

Why do you unload when you bring it home? I'd only unload if I knew I was not going to use for a few weeks. Otherwise throw a tarp over it and be ready to roll.

Get a container. It's not hard to modify the padlock area's (4 of them if you desire) so that a grinder is unable to reach the lock. Then if your really worried, wire in an additional battery switch or pull the ground wire and keep that with you.

Containers seem to be going for cheap again. I'm pretty sure I could get through a container well with a good grinder, either battery powered or with a small generator.
BUT - I'd get a container or build a "tornado shelter" and put several cameras around it to monitor any activity. Then if after several months or so of monitoring if I saw evidence of people checking it out I'd only use it to store handtools, a place to sleep overnight, a place to get out of the rain etc.

BUT if there was no activity or evidence of people trying to break in I'd take a chance on leaving more "stuff" there. If I felt it was a pain to load the tractor up and haul it home then I'd have to make a decision.

The container would come in handy anyways.

Heck in Houston you could probably put a 20' on your trailer, or get a hi-cube 40' for less than $2,500 delivered.

 

[MossRoad]

...


Why do you unload when you bring it home? I'd only unload if I knew I was not going to use for a few weeks. Otherwise throw a tarp over it and be ready to roll..

Because I use it several times a week around my home.

 

[AxleHub]

Because I use it several times a week around my home.

But your opening post said "and there are two acres here where I use the tractor from time to time, but it's usually because I'm lazy. The machine probably should live up on site..."

So do you use it "from time to time" at home or "several times each week" at home .. . . Because those two statements are not the same to most people ?

 

[aczlan]

But your opening post said "and there are two acres here where I use the tractor from time to time, but it's usually because I'm lazy. The machine probably should live up on site..."

So do you use it "from time to time" at home or "several times each week" at home .. . . Because those two statements are not the same to most people ?

MossRoad isn't the OP. He has just been in about the same situation.

Aaron Z

 

[oosik]

I think in your situation I would want the tractor/tools/attachments close at hand - where I live.

My location is very remote and I live here, year round. In the 34 years here, I've only had one situation where the two fellows may have been looking to steal something. I scared them so bad with my "crazy old man" routine that they have never came back.

Its also quite beneficial to be on first name bases with the County Sheriff & State Police. They will stop by and check in with me several time a year. It is known & seen by my neighbors that the police visit occasionally. Word spreads. Every little bit helps.

 

[stuckmotor]

If you store it, unless you can afford a new one, PLEASE INSURE IT. People will steal the color out of your eyes if they get a chance.

 

[Gary Fowler]

If me, I would put a container onsite and secure my tools there. Downside is the extra travel/work when you need the tools at home. Sometimes I have time/energy to do a task, but if you add additional time/travel then miss that opportunity.

That is why I have about 3 full sets of tools. Every time I was working out of town, I bought a set of tools to keep there. Nothing wrong with having too many tools though. I also now have 3 rolling cabinet tool boxes to keep everything in.
When I bought the land for my retirement home, the first thing I did was lay out where I wanted my house and shop then hired a dozer to level the area. The land then set for a couple years and all the dirt settled in nicely. I did have to do some more levelling with my tractor because my proposed shop location got compromised with an overhead electrical line so I had to back it up 50 more feet. This worked out for the best because it gave me a bit more turn around room which I now need for my motorhome.
I regress: After a couple of years of planning and design, I had my shop built, a 52 x30 foot structure. A few years later after completing my house and moving in, I added on another 30x14 wing. It seem you can never have enough storage/shop building. Build any outbuilding twice as big as you think you will need.

So, my suggestion is to go ahead and plan your site layout and at minimum put a container on site to store your tractor and some basic tools in. I would get a 40 foot rather than a 20 BECAUSE my experience says you will end up filling it with tools and equipment and may even need additional space. If you have the land area, put the container way off the road and back in the trees, hidden as much as possible and for sure completely out of your way of future building.
Just don't get it so far from your future house that it is a PIA to get too. The walks get longer and longer as you get older and it could be expensive to move that container later. A CUT or even small utility tractor isn't going to be able to move it, maybe a small dozer could drag it around a bit to relocate it.

As I said, I elected to just go ahead and build my shop in the spot chosen since I needed the storage anyway. That was the best $30K I ever spent. When my Crosby house sold (I had to sell it prior to building my retirement home), I rented a house for a year and much of my stuff wouldn't fit, so my shop became a storage area for my boat and dozens of boxes of "stuff" that would not fit in the smaller rental.

Costs continue to rise for building materials so anything that you can afford to build now is going to be cheaper than it will be several years into the future.

 

[newbury]

<snip lots of good stuff>
As I said, I elected to just go ahead and build my shop in the spot chosen since I needed the storage anyway. That was the best $30K I ever spent. When my Crosby house sold (I had to sell it prior to building my retirement home), I rented a house for a year and much of my stuff wouldn't fit, so my shop became a storage area for my boat and dozens of boxes of "stuff" that would not fit in the smaller rental.

Costs continue to rise for building materials so anything that you can afford to build now is going to be cheaper than it will be several years into the future.

And to the OP and anyone else planning similar stuff -

Think now of getting 2 long containers and building like the above (although I would have spaced them farther apart).

Before I lucked into my present "shop" situation in late 2011 I had a 15 foot by 15 foot workshop. I was planning on putting up a structure based on two 40 foot tall containers with maybe one across the back separating them, and 40 or 60 foot trusses across the top. Giving me a 40x40 "shop" area with 2 large storage containers that could easily be secured.

Now I have 5,500 sq feet of shop so that's not needed.