Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Burying a SeaCan

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Burying a SeaCan

    Part 1

    When we started construction on our house I brought in an old 20' sea can for secure storage of tools and materials while we were not on site. The can wasn't in great shape, but was structurally sound and a decent deterent from thieves and vandals. Now that the house and barn are built I no long needed the storage near our house. I do however need a place in a remote pasture to store miscellaneous equipment and feed - preferably out of sight. What better way than burying it? I can't think of any.

    The can:



    I was going to coat this with cool seal or tar before putting it under the ground, but I changed my mind after seeing that there were 3 coats of paint in place than were still in decent condition. It had a few nicks and rusted spots in the paint that were covered with rust stop and tar.

    The first step was picking a site that was out of sight from the road running by the pasture. I still need to be able to pull the tractor up to the doors to unload heavy items so putting it entirely underground with only top access was not desireable. For this reason I chose a hillside with sufficient slope to bury the rear and still have access to the front, but not so steep that I couldn't complete the excavation with our small backhoe.



    Our backhoe is a ditch-digger, not an earthmover. Excavation took about a day and a half.



    I don't have a crane or boom truck big enough to lift and set the can in place, so we had to improvise with a new makeshift road coming down the hillside. I used the excavation dirt to fill uneven places on the route in.



    I made sure to keep the bottom of the excavation at a slight angle so water will run out from under the can. This angle wasn't taken into consideration originally and I had to dig a little further into the hill than I had anticipated. This is going to leave me with about a 15 foot cut in the hill that will have to be contained to keep the dirt from washing in front of the doors.



    The best way to reduce backfill pressure on the sides of the can is to disturb as little of the surrounding soil as possible. This also means that you have to keep the can absolutely straight as it is pushed in the opening. This proved to be much more challenging than I anticipated. I ended up having to connect several towing chains together and pulling the rear of the can from up the hill with a truck while pushing the front with the tractor at the same time.

    So far I have the sides backfilled, and very little dirt on the top. The next step will be to reinforce the ceiling to handle the weight of the dirt on top.



    The pic uploads have just about burned up my internet for the night...lol
    Part 2 to follow....

  • #2
    Great thread and pics. I will have to do the same as soon as we start ours. We are putting four 40ft HC in.
    Be Prepared, Plan for the unexpected.

    Comment


    • #3
      Thanks. My only thught is, Does the soil drain well enough that you didn't need to put down gravel or a drain? All of the one's I've seen around here need a french drain system or a foot of well packed gravel underneath.
      Survival question. What do I need most, right now?

      Comment


      • #4
        I think with his being open in the front with a downward slope, he shouldn't have any issues. If it was completely buried then I would say yes.
        We are installing a gravel bed with a sump well. We are diverting most of the water runoff around the hole but want to make sure we do not have a flooding issue. The sump well will have a heavy duty sump pump while we have power and a hand pump for after.
        Be Prepared, Plan for the unexpected.

        Comment


        • #5
          The intent of the slope under the can is to let the water run off and out from under the front. I believe that is going to be sufficient, but this is an experiment for me so time will tell. We've had one good rain since I put it in the ground and so far so good.

          Comment


          • #6
            Plan for adequate ventilation, then add more ventilation- even unburied.

            The solar gable attic fans work great for this. A standard gable vent cut into one of the small flat sections near the corners- look at the pic at top, on the side, about 1 foot along the wall you will see a section that is wider than the other sections and flat. Make sure it's screened and sealed well for rodents and pests.

            A lot of folks use the whirly bird type vents around here. Everyone I've talked to said "they leak unless you tar the crap out of them." I wanted to avoid that route.

            Put the panel for the solar attic fan where it will draw the most in the afternoon sun.

            May need additional venting on top of this.

            None of ours seemed to have problems EARLY ON. However over time we noticed mold and moisture problems. PLAN for it ahead of time.
            www.homesteadingandsurvival.com

            www.survivalreportpodcast.com

            "Don't be too proud of this technological terror you've constructed..."

            Comment


            • #7
              Speaking of the solar attic fans. We purchased two of these for our containers. I wonder if they will also operate off of the battery bank?
              I need to hook one of them up and see. This way when we have these cloudy dark winter days, we are not without forced ventilation.
              Be Prepared, Plan for the unexpected.

              Comment


              • #8
                Ours are just right to the panel. When a little shading goes over the panel the fans visibly slow down.
                www.homesteadingandsurvival.com

                www.survivalreportpodcast.com

                "Don't be too proud of this technological terror you've constructed..."

                Comment


                • #9
                  Thanks LD3. You are right about moisture being a problem. The guy that was using this can before me stored furniture in it and everything ruined.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    I will have to try hooking them up to a battery and see if they will operate correctly.
                    Be Prepared, Plan for the unexpected.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      awesome thread. i nominate this one for the "thread of the week!"
                      good pix....
                      practical info..
                      lots of good questions/suggestions from other posters.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Ditto RR!

                        We haven't done a "best post of the month" deal in a while, so here it is.
                        Boris- "He's famous, has picture on three dollar bill!"

                        Rocky- "Wow! I've never even seen a three dollar bill!"

                        Boris- "Is it my fault you're poor?"

                        Comment

                        Working...
                        X