Shipping Containers Get New Life On Farm

Shiping Containers Get New Life On Farm LIVESTOCK Buildings 18-5-33 When Daniel Voss decided to turn his 50 by 100-ft. machine shed into a calf barn and to put up a new 60 by 100-ft. machine shed this spring, he needed temporary storage space for all his tools. The Ramsey, Ill., dairy farmer found the storage space he required in an unlikely item: old sea-going shipping containers. After such containers are no longer deemed fit for sea duty, they'll still last virtually forever as landlocked storage containers. And farmers like Voss are finding them useful for storing machinery and equipment as well as tools, according to Carolyn Robinette, Vandalia, Ill. She rents, sells and delivers the refurbished containers. Of more than 100 units she rents, three or four are usually rented to farmers, Robinette says. For example, Voss rented the larger of two sizes of containers, 8 ft. high by 8 ft. wide by 40 ft. long, for six months from Robinette. Cost was $65 a month. Smaller, 8 ft. by 8 ft. by 20 ft. containers rent for about $50 a month. "If I was going to need longer-term storage, I'd probably buy one," says Voss. Robinette sells the bigger steel containers for $3,000 to $3,200, depending on condition. The smaller containers sell for $1,500 to $2,000. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Carolyn Robinette, Self Storage Containers, U.S. Rt. 51 N., Vandalia, Ill. (ph 618 283 2949).

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