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

[Gary Fowler]

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.

We did similar to that on construction sites where we had plenty of containers for tool rooms and other storage. Not as elaborate, we didn't put shed on the sides in most cases, just put raised walls at the inside edge of the container so as to make the roof high enough to get cherry pickers under it (about 18 feet tall) then ordered pre-formed trusses at least 40 feet wide to make a gabled roof. We sometimes used the 40x40 area between the containers as a mini-fabrication shop with the containers on each side used to store pipe fittings and shop tools. That photo looks very neat and provides some good water-proof and rat proof storage. On a good level surface, one could pour a concrete floor between them and pour it right up to the steel floor beam on the containers to make it weather proof and have a good shop surface to work on. I had considered doing just that when I built my shop but my bid for a stick built, turn key 30x52 was so cheap that I just went with onsite construction from the ground up.

 

[Beltzington]

I have been living with a similar situation for 7+ years, my property is 50 miles from where I live. Driving 100 miles round trip is a pain made worse by having to pull a tractor, I leave mine at the property. Buy an inland marine policy to cover your tractor and attachments and don't worry about it. Statistically I image you would be taking more risk with both the tractor and yourself towing it all the time as opposed to it being stolen. You're going to want a storage shed at some point anyway so might as well get it done.

Good Luck with your decision.

 

[newbury]

<snip>
THANK YOU ALL for your input. I am glad to see that my internal back and forth is not dissimilar to the thoughts presented here. Definitely can chew on this a bit more and will start putting some $$$ aside for future build while fine tuning my pit stop load/unloads. Below is a shot of my "one man band" loading set up with all the main gear I use save for hauling chains, binders, straps, tools and grease/lube tote. I think I might consider a container or small outbuilding/container to leave the machine and some tools/grease, etc.. when doing work over periods of days or weeks, but then haul the machine back to town if I need to travel out of the country or won't be able to run the tractor for more than a few weeks for whatever reason... Thanks again everyone!

Thanks for the feedback, I didn't realize you had a strict HOA, I thought you lived in Texas.

And that one picture of loading won't do! Make a video

 

[MossRoad]

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 ?

I never said that. The original poster said that. You done got us mixed up!

 

[Snowback]

Thanks for the feedback, I didn't realize you had a strict HOA, I thought you lived in Texas.

And that one picture of loading won't do! Make a video

Ha! Now you're really testing my technological capabilities. I will indeed try to make a video one of these days.

As to HOAs, most of the state is unnzoned and unplanned which is a blessing and a curse in some instances. Some of these suburban communities can go downhill really fast when people don't have respect for their homes and property. We chose this place in a community with an HOA in order to keep jerks with tractors and trailers from moving in and bothering us with their redneck antics and games! So far they haven't figured out I'm not one of them...

 

[MossRoad]

View attachment 469150

I didn't know Mahindra made Swiss Army knives! :laughing:

 

[Snowback]

I didn't know Mahindra made Swiss Army knives! :laughing:

LOL! This little beast is indeed my Swiss Army Knife. The real lynch pin holding it all together is a 60" EA Wicked Grapple. It has cut outs in the grapple lid that make this funky setup work. (They catch the top of the upper link box-blade bracket, and it clamps down perfectly around bucket) That's a heavy box blade hanging out there, but it's no problem for the machine as long as the cutter is on. I just need a place for a toothpick now...

 

[dragoneggs]

Hi Snowback,

Everyone's situation is a little different and it looks like you are getting lots of opinions of good value. I think if it were me, I would go the container route, try to thief proof it as much as possible and get insurance! If insurance isn't possible or too expensive, then I wouldn't do it.

Eliminating the hassle of trailering saves you time and also reduces risk of something going wrong on the road that could be another headache or liability. I know I would jump in the truck or car much more often if I didn't have to mess with the loading/unloading and hauling. Nice thing about getting a container is that if your needs change, you can probably recoup your outlay if you don't need it anymore.

 

[MossRoad]

LOL! This little beast is indeed my Swiss Army Knife. The real lynch pin holding it all together is a 60" EA Wicked Grapple. It has cut outs in the grapple lid that make this funky setup work. (They catch the top of the upper link box-blade bracket, and it clamps down perfectly around bucket) That's a heavy box blade hanging out there, but it's no problem for the machine as long as the cutter is on. I just need a place for a toothpick now...

Here's a picture of my little Swiss Army knife...

 

[Snowback]

Here's a picture of my little Swiss Army knife...
View attachment 469157

Very nice! Handy looking unit. I'm gonna start a new thread on "Swiss Army Knife" setups. :thumbsup:

 

[Sumner Sapough]

My father and I have had this some what same situation. They have their main home in Ga and Farm in NC. The newest and most reliable tractor is a JD 3005 and a finishing mower and 4ft rotary mower to accompany it. The main issue is moving the equipment and trailering from GA to NC which is not the most convenient trip. At the current moment my father and I just let the equipment that we are not constantly using (Case IH 495, 5ft rotary mower, and some other pto equipment) just sitting at the farm. I understand this isn't the best set up however our neighbor is good about watching our stuff and calling if any thing is up. However all of this is about to change. I saw where you said permanent location is out of the question, however in our case the design is already set up or barns, outbuilding, etc. So within about 3 weeks we hope to build a barn that will relinquish our neighbor of watch and we will be able to lock up the implements and all the 13 tractors. So I guess that I am saying all of this that having a shipping container or 2 will be great since they are movable, lockable, and can store a lot of things especially if organized efficiently. Either way...good luck in your endeavors.

 

[kthompson]

Just realize tractor in a barn can still be stolen...

If you must store a tractor away from you do install a simple switch they will not find easy or understand it is wired to prevent it cranking. Most people want to drive them off the land and not have to winch them onto a trailer or such.

 

[MossRoad]

When I would leave our IH2500b on our property, I'd always take the battery with me and I'd also take the distributor from under the cap. One night the county police called me to tell me the people across the street from the property called the police to report my tractor's lights were on late at night and maybe I was dead under the tractor, please check. So the police went out there and there were no lights on and no battery in the tractor. Hmmm..... best guess was there was a vehicle parked next to the tractor with someone trying to steal it and they left before the police came.

 

[WoodChuckDad]

I live 115 miles from my land. The tractor stays there. I have had pictures from multiple game cams on the land and along the drive that showed strangers checking out the tractor, even 400 yds from the road, thru heavy woods. Right now, logging is taking place, and there gate is down..and the trees are cut along the road, so getting onto the property would be easy. I have insurance....I would still blow a gasket if someone messed with my tractor or excavator, but it is a better option than nothing. I have insurance on my implements as well. There are a dozen hand tools up there that are not insured, as well as a canoe, etc. Some things, you just have to take a risk with. I don't have a trailor, and if I had one stout enough to haul my tractor, I'd need a new truck to do it. I do have multiple game cameras up there and have been thinking about installing one that has 3G wireless. Leaving the goodies out of sight and reach is not easy to do.

 

[jrm21]

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...

Good point about the insurance, but it works both ways.

I have a second home about 200 miles from my "main" home. I also have a few machines that I only use at the second home. My "home" has a garage. My 2nd home only had a shed. While the shed door has a lock, it is far less secure than my (occupied) main residence garage.

I spoke with my insurance agent, figuring it would be much less expensive to insure things if they were locked in my main home's garage. It involved my having to trailer things back and forth all the time, which I wasn't happy about.

Good thing I asked. Leaving an ATV or tractor in a shed at the unattended 2nd home was about 25% of the cost. I kept telling the agent "but no one is there." Didn't matter.

YMMV depending on location and other factors. The point is to ask the agent - you may find that the counter-intuitive option is much less expensive.