The default, and the right answer most of the time. Thirty-three cubic metres, roughly the contents of a three-bedroom house, and a footprint that fits on the flat part of most Northern Rivers blocks without engineering the ground first.
| External (L × W × H) | 6.06m × 2.44m × 2.59m |
|---|---|
| Internal (L × W × H) | 5.90m × 2.35m × 2.39m |
| Door opening (W × H) | 2.34m × 2.28m |
| Internal volume | 33.2m³ |
A 20ft is the volume-for-money sweet spot and it is the size a standard tilt-tray handles most easily. Allow roughly twenty metres of straight run for the truck to line up and slide it off, plus the length of the container itself. Where that run does not exist, the answer is normally a crane truck rather than a smaller box.
Three-quarters of what we deliver between Kyogle and the coast is a 20ft, and it is not because anyone is being sold up or down. It is because a 20ft matches the two most common jobs in this district almost exactly. A house being emptied while a rebuild or a renovation runs is a 20ft. A farm shed's worth of gear, fencing, feed drums and a mower is a 20ft.
It is also the easiest size to place on the ground we actually have here. Much of the Richmond and Wilsons river country is flat, soft and beautifully easy to drive on in July and quite different after a fortnight of rain. A 20ft on four timber sleepers or a set of pads spreads its weight over a footprint most people can level with a shovel and a spirit level. A 40ft needs a genuinely straight twelve metres, and on a sloping hinterland block that usually means a bobcat.
For hire it is the size that makes commercial sense. Hire from $27 a week is a 20ft rate; the shorter and longer units are quoted job by job because there are simply fewer of them moving.
One caution on grades, and it matters more here than it does inland. Salt air from Ballina round to Byron works on steel constantly. A cheap as-is unit put on a coastal block will look considerably worse in three years than the same unit sitting at Casino. If it is going near the water, spend the difference on cargo-worthy.
Grades matter
Cargo-worthy is the grade we check wind and watertight before it goes on a truck. As-is units are cheaper again and are not sold watertight — one may have a patched repair, a soft floor section or a door seal that no longer seats, and we will tell you exactly what is wrong with it before you buy. New single-trip units are sealed and unmarked. If the container has to keep rain off what is inside it, buy cargo-worthy or better.
| Size | Used from | New from | Hire from |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10ft Containers | $4,350 | $6,400 | POA |
| 20ft Containers | $2,200 | $3,300 | $27/wk |
| 40ft Containers | $2,600 | $5,500 | POA |
Guide pricing only, ex GST. What you actually pay delivered depends on the grade, where you are and what is standing in the yard that week. Ring 02 6622 1322 and we will give you a real number instead of a range.
Tell us the address and what the ground is like. You will get one figure with the cartage in it, not a range.