By jacking and cribbing you can raise the container pretty evenly up high enough to back a trailer under it. You can move these things around on a concrete floor using some floor jacks on wheels (standard automotive floor jacks) You can jack them up at one end at a time with a pair of jacks at the ends of a beam you have placed transverse at the end.
If you didn't have all the required materials and equipment and had to buy any (or most) of it you could find the margin nibbled away to the point you were working for free or maybe even paying more for the opportunity to DIY. A fair question is, would I go through all the effort (and expense of procuring the required materials) required to set up to do it and the doing of it to save $250. So much for my confidence in being ABLE to do it safely.
Mine were both transported on and unloaded from a semi by a forklift ($500 and this was a monster forklift) inside one of my buildings (14 ft rollup doors at both ends for drive through) however mine were both full and quite heavy.Įmpty, I am confident that I could safely load and unload one of them onto and from my 12,000 lb (max gross wt) 18 ft trailer (not deck above so would require cribbing.) I am further confident that I could secure it safely to the trailer and pull it with either of my diesel pickups at or above the minimum interstate speed of 45MPH with no particular consideration for excessive risk to the equipment.Īttempting to drive at or near the upper speed limit would incur those considerations and risks because it is like towing a parachute and HP requirements go up radically for each small increment of increased speed. The selling yards usually have means of picking them up and placing on a trailer so unloading is the issue. There are different height units (one is called high cube and is taller) and weights vary. This is how you will get it done for about $200 or so. The best price for a tower will be a flexible schedule tow at his convienance.
The yard I bought mine from only had 20' models in the 5000# and up range. It was a smart $250 that I spent.ĭouble check the weight.
He spent about 10 minutes backing, unloading and gathering up his straps. He dropped the back edge within inches of where I marked it for him.
As the tow truck driver backed into the woods, he had to carefully watch for trees. The path was still dirt with no crusher run yet and only about 12-15' wide. I had my container delivered about 120 miles and set into the woods down a driveway we made ourself with the tractor. How will you handle crowned roads or sharp turns? (container could twist on an open deck) How would you get it off at the destination. A container will have 64 square feet of non aerodynamic frontal area.
Things to worry about if you try to do this:ĭamage to your own vehicles such as tranny or engine concerns.ĭo you have enough HP in the tow vehicle. Your average tow truck can easily go down dirt roads or across fields to the exact place you want the container to set. Compared to the costs of trying to do it yourself, this is a no brainer unless you really do have a lot of big equipment and experience to do this. Two hours later he can set it down exactly where you want it in less than 5 minutes. He will back up, slide the ramp back, winch it up and secure it with straps. You should be able to find almost any tower to haul it 100 miles for about $250.