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Old 06-03-2012, 09:16 PM   #1
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Portable Storage?

I am looking for ways to store my 68 GT. Living on the Colorado front range the biggest threats are sun, hail and wind driven dust (think sand blasting). A friend of mine with 80 acres is willing to let me put one of those portable storage garages (pole frame covered with fabric) on his property.

Any suggestions on brands & types of portable storage?

The 'floor' will just be mowed weeds/grass that I'm sure will eventually die. Is it worth it to put a tarp or other type of 'floor' down?

Any thoughts on varmint control?

Thanks,
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Old 06-03-2012, 11:03 PM   #2
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If you have lots of wind, watch out. The tent building may take off and who knows what damage it might do to the AS. They need to be really well tied down, and even then, how long will the fabric last? Think carefully about this and decide if the risk is worth the potential benefit.
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Old 06-03-2012, 11:04 PM   #3
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Well, if money isn't to big of a deal. " weather port make the best in the industry" and are located on the wester slope. http://www.weatherport.com/
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Old 06-04-2012, 07:54 AM   #4
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Here is a link to a whole bunch of different styles and brands.

Portable Garage & Carports
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Old 06-04-2012, 08:19 AM   #5
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I have a shelter much like a carport. Closed on both sides, open on the ends. It is attached to the side of my shop.
I have a tarp on the ground under it. I like the idea of keeping the weeds down. It also keeps the tires off of the dirt.
The tarp is a heavy duty type. They are recycled billboards. Made out of vinyl. A 14' x 80' tarp weighs in at 80#.
Having an unobstructed (no weeds) view under the trailer is nice. You can keep an eye on things. It also reduces the fire hazard.
I live near Torrington, WY. If you get up this way, I'll give you a tarp. One that I have used on the hay stacks and has a few cracks. But it would work fine for under your trailer.
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Old 06-04-2012, 09:08 AM   #6
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Here is a place where you could purchase a shelter for your business jet, make a horse arena or get a cover for your car dealership from.. It's been a wish-book for me going on ten years now.

Animal Housing, Livestock Building, Hay Storage, Hoop Building, Farm Buildings, Hoop Barn, Fabric Building, Pony Wall Buildings, Compost Building, Equine Arena, Temporary Shelters, Equipment Storage, Portable Garages, Portable Shelters - FarmTek

As an aside to a lovely camper shelter - I needed to store and stage interior parts and liner panels, etc. so I went with a 10' x 20' Sams's club $200 tarp shelter. With 11 tons of dirt for site prep, hold down guys & anchors, pressure treated mud plates to fix the tube frame to, etc., I tripled the cost of the shelter - adding a few sheets of $7 chip board, some peat to keep the floor boards dry and insulated and a chunk of $25 outdoor carpet boosted that to $800.

Now I'm out of luck when the tarp shelter material dies from UV and weather - it's going on 18 months and the fabric has cuts and is getting textured from aging. Just saying if I had spent more up front 1) it would last longer 2) not be a dead end with replacement covers available 3) have some resale value when its time to fold up shop so to speak...
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Old 06-04-2012, 10:44 AM   #7
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I would go with one of the tall metal roof shelters. It will hold up better in the wind and the metal will withstand the sunshine. I believe the shear strength would be better as well. Any of them must be anchored well. The wind around Greeley is probably as bad as it is here.
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Old 06-04-2012, 03:54 PM   #8
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Thanks for the responses!

Wheatherport - Holy Cow they are expensive! Would love to buy local but not for 2 or 3 times the price. I'm also leaning away from the tin roof carport type since they are more expensive and don't provide any protection from dust and wind.

I'm thinking about this one from Shelters of America in the 24', 14.5 oz version.
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Old 08-13-2012, 12:35 PM   #9
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Update...

Thought I'd post an update on the portable shelter. I purchased a Shelter Logic 24'x15'x12' tent shelter to store my 20' airstream in. Now that I have it up and am storing the AS in it I have a few observations that others looking for the same type shelter might find usefull.

1) My bigest disapointment was the zipper doors. The zippers were cheap plastic and ripped open the first time the wind topped 40 mph. I have removed the end covers and plan on talking with the local tent and awning co. to see if they think that brass zippers would be more durable.

2) The shelter took much longer to setup then advertised. I have to admit that I knew this would be the case when I bought it. Total it took 3 guys 16 hours over two days.

3) The auger anchors it came with were worthless. Two of the 6 had the disc piece break off while putting them in dispite using rebar to make pilot holes first. In SL's defense, the ground out here is hard clay with lots of rocks in it. I ended up ordering the cable anchors that had the bullet head on them and they worked much better.

4) I took extra precautions with anchoring and lag bolted the feet of each rib into 2"x10"s. I then drilled holes in the 2"x10" between each rib and pounded in 4' rebar to hold it in place. The wind on site has hit 76 mph since it was put up and the main part of the shelter is holding up fine. I suspect the fabric will rip before the frame goes anywhere.

5) The nuts supplied with the kit were standard grade 5 nuts - no lock washers supplied. I replaced all of them with nylocs (nylon lock nuts). Not necessary but I think that it was worth the extra $25.

6) If I was going to do it over again I would put up a pole barn instead. The cost would have been a little more but after putting this one up and having put in pole barns in the past, the difference in cost & effort isn't that large.

7) I would make the shelter longer instead of just long enough for the camper; especially if the ends are to be left open.


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Old 08-13-2012, 03:26 PM   #10
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Are you comfortable with its ability to withstand hail?

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Old 08-13-2012, 04:03 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by w7ts View Post
Are you comfortable with its ability to withstand hail?

Ken
For the most part. The fabric is three layer 14.5 Oz rip-stop polyethelene (the Heavy Duty option). I supposed that large enough hail could put a hole in it just like a high enough wind could rip it. But it's better then nothing and I have insurance that covers that.

My biggest worry would be that smaller wind driven hail could enter the open ends and break the front or back windows. Those would cost a bit to replace and but would be below my deductable level. Again though, it's better then nothing.
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Old 08-13-2012, 05:36 PM   #12
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We read this with great interest as we have considered doing the same. Thanks for posting your experience!!!
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Old 08-13-2012, 09:35 PM   #13
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Yes - thanks for reporting a real-world test.

Closing off gaps in the shell will help keep the hydraulic force multiplication down, I went over the loose areas of my shelter seams using SpiderWire® 50lb test fishing line and a curved needle, did bar tacking w/ three of four loops every four inches and kept the thread running between them. Yes - a PITA until it was windy, -20°F and snow.

And... the Spiderwire® did emergency repairs on the zippers on this one end flap when the nylon teeth started turning into sand and allowed the pull to get on the wrong side of open teeth. Remove teeth up high if you have to get it started again and stitch off the damaged area. Yes, eventually it turned into a sure a four foot zipper isn't fun but it beats no zipper at all.

When I contacted King-Canopy last month over the zipper degrading they sent a replacement three-zipper end panel free & no shipping even though it was 13 months out of the one-year warranty. Sad part is I stuck my hand through the roof on trying to fit the new panel. $200 doesn't buy much I guess. we will see how generous they are the second time

Baseboards across the ends may be the key you're after. A small notch trench in the dirt and set a pressure-treated 2x10 or 2x12 spanning the entire width of the shelter, then a four-inch drywall or deck screw to toe-nail into the 2x10 frame footing board you added will lock the corners. It's really just a dead weight to help anchor the hang-glider they call a door flap. When it's time to pull the trailer through the screws come out and boards can just lay flat to be driven over. Tying the flap to the baseboard could be screws and washers (I use rubber backed cup washers) either through DIY grommets or a chunk of lattice or lath shim - and/or use the bungee cord ball & loop fasteners through DIY grommets and holes drilled through the baseboard.

I'm still coveting a FarkTek 15-year warranty tensioned fabric building - it may happen this fall.
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Old 04-13-2013, 10:48 AM   #14
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Latest Update

Just thought I would post the latest update on the tent shelter. We had a typical spring snow storm last week and the shelter wasn't up to the task. The poles on one side buckled. The highest wind gust recorded by the on-site weather station was 62 mph. I'm pretty disappointed

Guess I'll be putting in a pole barn this spring.



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Old 11-10-2014, 01:11 PM   #15
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WeatherPort Shelter Systems

Hi Jinkers,
I have a 30'wide x 40'long WeatherPort Shelter System that I use to store my Trailers and Vehicles inside of during the Winter and Summer months. I live in Colorado where we see significant wind and snow storms. Before I ordered my shelter, WeatherPort looked up my wind and snow loads so that they could fabricate the best shelter to hold up to my specific wind and snow loads. I have had the shelter up for 7 years and have had no problems! Great product!
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