Shed Security (long)

[jmc]

Bill,

I think a good approach is to discourage them from coming onto your property in the first place. A locked gate is no fortress but it forces them to commit themselves to an illegal act at the road. No excuses like "I'm looking for my dog...". On top of that, a sign at the gate warning of video surveillance makes them think about hidden cameras documenting their illegal presence.

John

 

[Phils]

Slydog,

Mississippi prices are different, I'm sure, but just for your reference the price I've been quoted for containers here in Northern Calif. are:

20' -- new, 3500; used, 21-2400

40' -- ['97/98 vintage] 3250

40' aluminum -- (~12 yrs old) 2900

These prices all included delivery, which is about 25 miles.

Phil

 

[KubotaSteve]

My parents have a house trailer about 150 miles north of where they currently live that they use mainly for a summer get-a-way. They just put a storage building up there and keep 4 wheelers, tools, and other things up there almost year round. They have never had a break in to the trailer or the building. The building has no windows and has a walk-in door and a garage door. They did some modifications to strengthen both doors which included using angle iron on the walk-in door. They also have some neighbors down the road that stay up there all the time. And finally they got an old car for $500 and keep it parked there and move it around from time to time to make people think someone lives there year round. I agree to go with the storage box though if possible.

 

[JDGREEN4ME]

So far I've had one quote returned. A 20' used steel container in "water tight" & "wind proof" condition is $1700 if you pick it up at their location in New Jersey. Delivery with the customer providing "lift off" services is $450 and delivery for a tilt truck would be $1050. The cost for a used 20' container with delivery to my location would be $2750. I did not think the $1700 sounded too bad but $2750 with delivery? I might need to re-think my plans. I will let you all know what the other quotes are.

 

[KubotaSteve]

For the extra price of a tilt delivery, I would check into getting a local rollback service come out and get it off the bigger truck and then drop it where you want it. Probably wouldn't charge more than $100. That might save you about $500.

 

[slydog]

Thanks Phil and JD for the qoutes you've obtained.

My main problem is there are 4 other people who have easements to the road going through my property. Even though none of their lots are developed, and I put up a gate at the main entrance to the property, I was told that one of the owners had a problem with the gate being locked. Even though I provided all owners with keys to the lock!

I consulted a local attorney in a different town, and he advised me that actually an easement provides them with "un-encumbered engress and egress". I got them to agree at least to wrapping a chain around the gate with a lock attached to the chain for the "appearance" of locking it. I didn't tell them what I had found out from the attorney. Actually, according to him, I couldn't even put up a gate unless all were in agreement.

While I love our land, and don't foresee any other problems with the easement road, I have learned a valuable lesson in that I would never EVER EVER buy another piece of property with an easement THROUGH it involved.

Ken

 

[bgott]

$1050. to haul a container? How far do they have to haul it? I have a wrecker company up the street from me who has a dolly they built out of the rear end of a 1 ton truck. They lift one end of the container, slide the dolly under it and then pick up the other end and head on down the road. $100 if he likes you, $150 if he doesn't. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif I've seen 20 footers in good shape sell for $700 to $800 at auction, $1200 to $1600 for 40 footers. We have stacks of them around Houston, there are more imports coming in than exports going out and I have heard that it was cheaper to build new ones in the orient than to ship the old ones back. That might not be true now that the price of scrap has run wild. Another thing to look for would be companies that scrap out dry boxes and reefers off of trucks. I have one guy who has suggested trading a couple of old reefers for some tractor work. His company buys up old refrigerated containers, trailers and van bodies to rebuild and resell the refrigeration equipment. I'll have to screw a plate over the hole left in the box but that sure beats building a shed.

 

[JDGREEN4ME]

It is about 260 miles from Newark, NJ to our location on Seneca Lake in NY...

 

[NY_Yankees_Fan]

JD,

I am about 50 miles from Newark, NJ and the ports. The company below has a large roll off car carrier that I think can handle a 20 foot container. I was thinking of buying a tractor in Delaware 2 years ago and he quoted me a price of $400 to go down and pick up the tractor. It is about the same distance as to upstate NY to DE. Give him a call, Mike's Auto Body 1-800-592-2886, ask for Mike Cavitch.

 

[EddieWalker]

I did a post called "My Container Barn" in the projects forum that started out exactly as what you want to do. I needed a secure place to keep my tractor, ATV's and tools safe when I wasn't there.

A 20 foot container isn't very large once you put a tractor in it. I can store two four wheelers and my CUT with mower attached to it along with shelveing in a 40 foot one.

I put up a gate at the entrance to my land, then put the container in far enough to be out of site from the road. I also keep the gate closed at all times to disourage visitors.

Locals like to come by and visit, see what your doing and say hi. Problem with that is they will talk about you and what you have to others, and then there's no telling who will know what you have and are doing.

Most thieves are the kids of nice folks with a drug problem that nobody is taking responsibilty for. I gurantee you that most of the theft is done by a local kid that everyone knows who it is, but wont do anything about it.

The pros who know what they are doing are gonna get it if they want it. When I was with the State Department in the Marine Corps, I was tought that every lock is just there to delay. Not to stop. There's no such thing as a lock that will stop somebody who knows what they are doing. You will be suprised that there isn't a mechancal lock in the world that had a rating of a minute or more.

You have to worry more about those small little cutting torch outfits more than bolt cutters. It doesn't matter how hard you chain or lock is, the cutting torch will take care of it in seconds. Alarm bells and sirens are silenced with a can of expanding foam. Disconnecting the electrical or fuel system doesn't stop anybody from winching your tractor onto a trailer. Removing a tire is a real good deterent.