12-19-2011, 08:46 AM
Since I started this thread, I thought I would post "the end" of the story.
I wound up buying a used shipping container from "Big Island Container Sales and Rentals" at 981-0805. Kimo was very helpful.
I spent hours and hours researching the prices of used shipping containers. They are very expensive on the Big Island because demand is high. As I spent a year looking for "the best deal" the prices on containers went up about 15%. I should have spent less time researching and more time buying. Long story short, we bought a 40 foot used cargo shipping container (a high cube) for $4995. It wasn't the most expensive one we found, but it was in a little better shape than the slightly cheaper ones. It cost a little over $400 to get it delivered. Considering it took about 90 minutes to get it from the road onto concrete blocks on our land I think it was a bargain. The 40 foot container sat on a 50 foot trailer, and the semi truck in front of that. Altogether it's over 65 feet. Getting that through our tiny driveway gate, through our twisting driveway, and onto the designated space on soft, unpaved ground was no easy task. The driver also spent a lot of time helping us get the thing up (and level) onto concrete blocks. He was a rockstar, and we tipped him $20.00 cash. I would have tipped him more but it was all I had on me. The trailer had a moveable axle, allowing the driver to make unusually tight turns with little space. Even so, getting this thing delivered was like threading a needle with a semi truck. The truck had to go back-and-forth a LOT to get it into place, with each trip tearing up the land more and more. By the time it was done the beautiful lawn was turned into a mud pit. But, lawns grow back...
I wound up buying a used shipping container from "Big Island Container Sales and Rentals" at 981-0805. Kimo was very helpful.
I spent hours and hours researching the prices of used shipping containers. They are very expensive on the Big Island because demand is high. As I spent a year looking for "the best deal" the prices on containers went up about 15%. I should have spent less time researching and more time buying. Long story short, we bought a 40 foot used cargo shipping container (a high cube) for $4995. It wasn't the most expensive one we found, but it was in a little better shape than the slightly cheaper ones. It cost a little over $400 to get it delivered. Considering it took about 90 minutes to get it from the road onto concrete blocks on our land I think it was a bargain. The 40 foot container sat on a 50 foot trailer, and the semi truck in front of that. Altogether it's over 65 feet. Getting that through our tiny driveway gate, through our twisting driveway, and onto the designated space on soft, unpaved ground was no easy task. The driver also spent a lot of time helping us get the thing up (and level) onto concrete blocks. He was a rockstar, and we tipped him $20.00 cash. I would have tipped him more but it was all I had on me. The trailer had a moveable axle, allowing the driver to make unusually tight turns with little space. Even so, getting this thing delivered was like threading a needle with a semi truck. The truck had to go back-and-forth a LOT to get it into place, with each trip tearing up the land more and more. By the time it was done the beautiful lawn was turned into a mud pit. But, lawns grow back...