Has anyone good experience of an effective locking system for shipping containers? I'm contemplating storing quite a bit in some shipping containers over the transition of a house move, and these seem to be the ones mainly used:
AWEM
At my work, if a container needs to be secured better than a normal padlock on the handle, then we have the welder add a padeye on the door which closes above another pad-eye on the other door. These are drilled so that a padlock can go through both. However, there is also a box of plate steel welded to one door which covers the padeyes, which is open only at the bottom ( and a slot to allow the other door padeye to enter ). The padlock is accessible only up through the bottom of this guard box. The box permits hand access to the bottom of the padlock, but prevents access to the padlock hoopy bit with a set of boltcutters or angle grinder.
Of course, with an angle grinder you could ( eventually ) grind the protective box off, but it does add a level of security.
This is a rather home-made measure, and requires access to welding equipment.
I could do a drawing if it's clearer...
The container we rented for similar reasons had a lock welded onto it which looked pretty solid. Obviously this was a container which had been retired from shipping, to be just used for storage.
cheers, clive
Of course someone could angle grind through it, but thats going to take considerable time and make a lot of noise/sparks - assuming there is a handy power point or they have a cordless grinder.
Are they in a remote location or something?
I can recommend the Abus hasp & staples - and the corresponding padlocks:
The overall cost of lock and hasp/staple would be similar to the locks you were looking at.
As an aside, when we have had to send fully-kitted workshop conatiners and data logging computer cabins to remote wellsite locations overland ( by truck, with overnight stops in every place you don't want to stop ), we have in the past had to weld the things firmly shut to avoid them arriving at the wellsite totally stripped.
The container doors had steel plate strips welded across them. The computer cabins had plate welded over the windows. The cabin doors had plate strips welded over them.
It took the rig welder half a day to gas-axe them open.
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Ron,
Thanks for that - yes lock boxes are commercially available (£146!!!)
AWEM
Where are you getting the containers from?
cheers, clive
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(£146!!!)
Clive,
I've had a quote from
AWEM
And how long will you be using them for?
cheers, clive
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Rather depends on circumstances - I will have a house to re-furbish, and a barn to make waterproof. As soon as the barn is tight, the containers will be less of an issue, but as they will be tucked away on a bit of land out of sight of the house I may explore the possibility of renting them out where they are for storage. So possibly only 6 months or maybe for ever !
AWEM
For 6 months may be worth renting, esp if it comes with all the locking stuff already there for you. Would need to check with suppliers. (I think it came to about a tenner a week though - and they seem to do random trade-style pricing, so you could well get a better price for 6 and being nice to them :-) )
Will a buy back apply if you've hacked it around to fit a lock? Is the buy back 600 quid less delivery back to the base?
For ever, obviously worth buying. But do you want the hassle of renting them out?
(FWIW I reckon the contents of our house would go into 2 containers. If you consider one of them is the size of a normal removal lorry, this makes sense. Oh - and I'm talking about 20-foot ones)
cheers, clive
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Clive, my main 'contents' are 26 tons of engineering workshop - lathe, milling machines, surface & cylindrical grinders, foundry equipment, currently occupying 1100 sq foot of home (hobby) workshop - and tight packed that accounts for 4 20 foot containers. I want them in the containers for as short a period as possible as contents of containers tend to sweat and hence rust, so want to get the barn serviceable asap. Can't do anything though until contracts are exchanged! The house contents are fairly minimal despite it being a 7 bedroom 4,300 sq foot edifice.
The buyback comes with free collection, the supplier is offering lock boxes but at quite a price. Renting out they seem to command £25 per week each or £7K8 pa fully let
AWEM
AWEM
It was just a thought :-)
I'm pretty sure mine was around the tenner a week mark + delivery/collection, not so long ago. Mine came from what was Royal Wolf (Leeds branch), who were merely the second people I got from a web search. Of course they may be more expensive under their new flasher branding, or in your area, but might be worth a look?
cheers, clive
So really you're looking for storage of a workshop with a house attached rather than a house with a workshop attached?
I really wish I had a bit more workshop space than my 10' x 6' shed and the back bedroom of around the same area (but full of 'well-you-know' stuff that might (will probably) (well, possibly!) be useful one day.)
If you live near a large port or know of a nearby container depot you might be able to buy a few quite cheaply. At any rate the chances of you getting the best hire rate for what you want would be there.
Good luck.
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4,300Yes it's true Frank, and indeed in house searching it was a case of looking for a potential workshop with a house nearby And haven't you yet come to realise that those vital parts that you keep become essential just after you've taken them to the tip having kept them for
20 yearsAWEM
If you are prepared to look at badly battered ones and maybe those in need of some patching/welding you can get them for a lot less than those advertised here:
More here:
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