Putting a Shipping Container up on Blocks with 30 ton Harbor Freight Jack

I raise my shipping container so I can recover the 16 foot wood poles that were used to roll it over to its resting place. I use common 8x8x16 cinder blocks with PT wood to keep it off of the ground and a 30 ton hydraulic jack to lift it.

[@wcjcnc]

Those bottle jacks from Harbor Freight are great!

[@ContainerAcre]

Saved us from hiring a crane to raise ours!!

[@dagwood1327]

I have a shop built out of 3 containers welded together. I found I needed a solid pad on the bottom because the block positioned upright will sink in the mud. Nice video.

[@webstercat]

+David Gardner I'd like to see a picture of your containers. I'm planning on doing the same thing but with two containers.

[@dagwood1327]

+Billy Barton I don't have any right now but plan on doing a shop tour video under the channel name WudRest.

[@ContainerAcre]

We left ours sitting a year and a half and saw minor sinking, but when it was all settled out we raised it farther. We haven't gotten to that point in our video series yet. We're putting the future multi container house on concrete piers.

[@johnvinga5446]

@@ContainerAcre Good idea. I wonder if a common five gallon plastic bucket of reinforced concrete would make a good footing for just a storage container without too much weight in it; for a home or several containers welded together (and therefore more downward weight per corner), what about those bigger 12 gallon plastic buckets the swimming pool dry chlorine (like HTH) comes in? These filled with concrete and rebar sure seem like they would make good footings for not much money.

[@valerietriplin8351]

Thanks very helpful. Trying to get someone to life container on church property to place it on blocks. Someone place it on the ground now the doors won't open.

[@your2nd]

Container still looks water tight but you need to throw a little paint on it if you want it to stay that way, imho . Great job getting it up off the ground, it needed that.

[@rchopp]

Nice job, where there's a will there's a way and a 30 ton jack helps some too..Take care

[@homesteadprepper]

rchopp Thanks. A 30 ton jack make stuff happen. lol

[@andrewdisney8475]

Best job I've seen so far! But have you ever seen a cinder block? FKJB!

[@RicardoGarcia-ds3sr]

why wouldn't you place a support piece of wood under the concrete block so the block doesn't settle into the sand. it seems to me the weight of the container would cause the block to dig into the sand over time and with every rainfall....

[@donf3739]

I would either put a cap block, or other slab, under it, or use 2 8X8X16 blocks, side-by-side, and lay them with the flat sides up and down, with the weight over the cross member of the blocks. Still use wood on top to cushion the blocks from shock.

[@TheDirtflyer]

Great Job, Now I know how it's done.

[@chocachips]

30 ton jack is fine! If you worry about the knowit alls and naysayers youll never get anything done!

[@BIGALTX]

I've always used chains... but just bought some yellow straps... haven't used them yet, but I think I'm going to love them... so much lighter... Good job on the setup... a man can't have too many bottle jacks. Have you found that the HF jacks hold up pretty well?

[@Greenwashedhipppie]

I don't about those jacks, but those high lifter off road Jacks are a beast. I used a 2.5 ton one several times in Iraq to lift a 6ton plus armored humvee. It takes two big dudes to crank it with that much weight on it. Not the safest thing to do, but when your horse is down a shoe in Indian country you got to go with speed.

[@homesteadprepper]

Joseph Fairlane Good to know, thanks.

[@homesteadprepper]

TexasPrepper2 Thanks. I can't say how well the bottle jack will hold up just yet, cause I have only had it since 30APR15. If it holds together anything like my Harbor Freight 3 ton floor jack has for the past 4 years I will let you know. My straps have been awesome to use for all kinds of jobs. I carry at least 2 around at all times on the truck.

[@kronstudios]

Thank you sir, exactly what i was looking for

[@mickael4973]

smart and simple, thanks for this great idea!!!

[@chocachips]

Container wheels. Lookem up!

[@erxvlog]

Nice work.

[@Mitalayeka]

I thought i saw one of the cinder blocks broken into 2, did it?

[@the_truck_farmer]

I saw that cracked block too…on the deeper second end as he let the bottle jack down.

[@webstercat]

I take it that the container could be raised even higher if you repeat the steps by raising the height of the jack and putting more supports under the blocks. And this could be a one person operation?

[@ContainerAcre]

Yes and yes. That's what we did.

[@edwinwise6751]

Sounds like your homesteading next to a freeway……with utilities

[@bctruck]

Well done!

[@homesteadprepper]

BCtruck, rebuild, repair,repurpose Thanks.

[@jwwm2]

Harbor Freight to the rescue. Not too bad of a deal for $100.

[@homesteadprepper]

John Strabismus I lucked out and it was on sale for $84.99. No complaints!

[@syujengchyang]

#wow2023

[@danielmbcutler]

how long does the internal arm extend? Do you know how I could shift it over about a foot? Can't seem to figure out how I might shift the location on my own?

[@kallenhunstiger7279]

Ever thought of using a tri-pod?

[@helicopterdriver]

Did the same with a 20 ton bottle jack. Did have it shift one time and move about a foot sideways. A large piece of 4" x 3/8" angle iron saved a lot of time as it didn't sink in the ground like wood can. Container is a 40' High cube (9800lbs) with about 6000 lbs of machinery in it. Lifted it with no problem. hardest part was getting on the ground after digging the hole and jacking it. A large piece of rebar bent for a jack handle would have saved my back for sure. Fire ants had undermined one corner and caused it to settle. Kill them if you see them near the supports! :D

[@Jimmy_in_Mexico]

I want to build a shop with four containers but stacking on on top of the other with a large space between the containers to make a 2 bay shop.

[@homesteadprepper]

Jimmy in Mexico You and me both! I will one day park 2 of them with @ 24 ft. space between them and put some sort of a roof on and have my dream garage but, it will only be one level.

[@DriveShaftDrew]

good job

[@homesteadprepper]

drvshaft drew Thanks.

[@larryd3615]

No, please record just a bit of your moving the other container, posterity, and maybe a mistake happens that we can lean from, thanks.

[@nickbutter9270]

Good job Homestead Prepper.

[@archerc4828]

Looks like Florida. This guy is more likely to end up on CNN just for that fact alone.

[@christophercase7140]

Archer C Florida Man...,

[@FSUmofo]

"It weighs 9600 pounds and my 3 ton jack should pick it up but it wont because it has stuff in it"

[@homesteadprepper]

Wow, you pointed out something I said wrong. I strongly suspect you point out flaws in others but, not in yourself. How about you man up and make a video about putting a shipping container on blocks without a script and make no mistakes when you speak?

[@FSUmofo]

lighten up man, just a joke....but you specifically said that your 3 ton jack "should" be able to pick up 9600 pounds! That's not misspeaking, that's either not knowing the weight of the container, or not knowing what a ton is. You corrected yourself in the annotations about the weight difference but not the 3 ton jack, so it appeared as though you really believed 9600 pounds is less than 3 tons. That's funny to me. Have fun, good luck. I meant no harm.

[@homesteadprepper]

You come across like troll. Make some of your own vids and and you can deal with like minded people like yourself.

[@donf3739]

The jack would only lift about half of the weight, which would be about 2½ tons. Maybe two of those together would work, depending on how much "stuff" there is. :)

[@kronstudios]

how many blocks you use?

[@homesteadprepper]

That is personal preference but, one block high should be sufficient for most applications. I recently put a container up on some scrap 4x4 pt with no concrete blocks: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y6WQgaulnbuVkMk

[@kronstudios]

homesteadprepper so 4 altogether?

[@donf3739]

@@homesteadprepper So just the corners, right?

[@dpsrmag]

O