storage container off ground

[ugabulldog]

This is a 40' being delivered, flat sandy soil, You would put timber underneath still? And if so would 8.5' RR ties be long enough (they are half the price of PT 6x6x10, but I don't want to be pennywise and pound foolish), trailer is 8' wide but of course it will be hard to center? They will use a tilt bed trailer.

 

[EddieWalker]

You never really know what railroad ties are made out of, so you might get a quality wood, or it could be something horrible. Railroads put them on large crushed rock so they are never sitting in water, just laying on top of the rock. This allows them to dry out quickly when it rains and to last longer. Here in East Texas, with red clay, termites and just about every wood eating type of bug that there is, the do not last very long. The bugs eat out the wood on the inside, so they look fine for years, and then one day, they just collapse.

PT wood is better, but for what you are doing, I wouldn't use them. You are just creating a home for rodents. I've never seen a shed that was mounted on skids that didn't have dead rats under it.

I would have gravel delivered and then spread it out. For your container, I would think two inches should be find. You just want to keep the container off of the soil if you can.

 

[Rmart30]

We have put used RR ties under ours. 15 years later ties are still there.

 

[Gunny]

I agree with Eddie, sit it on a good bed of leveled gravel

 

[deerefan]

Eddie is correct. Gravel is best-will allow moisture to drain away, which, with today’s pressure treated wood or rr ties is a killer.

 

[CADplans]

I agree with Eddie, sit it on a good bed of leveled gravel

My SIL wanted the the JD 855 out of the shed, and the only place he had to put the shed was a "swampy" area,,

17 tons of 57's later,, the cargo container was up and dry,,,

It has been perfect for over 2 years,, (about) and this was the wettest year on record for this area,,,

Oh, yea,,, no RR ties,, just stone,,

 

[AWSubie]

My container is on a 4” bed of 1” unwashed aggregate. Over the years as the bed has settled it is easy to jack up one end, throw some stone under a corner and get it level again.

 

[TractorNH]

I have a 40' that sits off the ground almost 18" at one end due to topography. I wouldn't worry about the container being in contact with the ground. They are made to be used in the harshest, most humid of places, the ocean. The bottom of mine was coated with what looked like tar on the cross rails and the bottom of the wood floor. Mine was a container I purchased from work. It had been sitting on poorly drained gravel (often damp) for at least 10 years. The bottom still looked in excellent condition due to this tar coating.

As far as holding it off the ground or supporting it, you only need to support the 4 corners. It is designed to carry the entire load inside of it at those points.

 

[QRTRHRS]

If you are still considering RR ties over stone, you may want to look into poly ties. I don't know a thing about them except I have seen them advertised. As mentioned, any time you have a space you have a home for critters.