Inside Storage

[dmac]

The owner of my storage barn is selling his property, so I will probably lose my spot (unless the buyer wants to rent out space in the pole building). So I am looking around for new inside storage. I found a condo storage place, see http://www.parkplacestorage.net/ Does anyone own a condo-storage facility? How has it worked for you? Is there a good resale market for these?

[CanoeStream]

I know the Twin Cities prices are quite a bit more. I pay $109/month in Sartell for a 30' storage garage. That's a fairly tame "suburb" of St. Cloud. The security is nothing like what you are looking at. It's just hard finding 10' wide storage garage spaces up here.

[dmac]

I looked intot he condo storage unit - they are for the independantly wealthy. Just the insurance and taxes cost more than what I pay per year to store my trailer indoors!

I found several places that advertise to store boats indoors over the winter. I called them and found one that will sotre the trailer for $300 total for 6 months. It's about 40 minutes away from my home - which won't matter for the winter. I still need to find a year-round solution though (with easy summer access).

[overlander63]

Why not get one of those "carport in a box" instant garage things? They are available for RV's as well. You can set it up in the spring, and take it down in the fall. Then you could use the "Hi N Dri" solution for Winter.

[Janet H]

Take a look at local municipal airports - they often rent hanger space to rv and boat owners.

[dmac]

I brought the trailer to the storage place and it is a dump. I should have driven up and looked things over before I commited my money. After this winter we will not use this place again.

I cannot store my trailer at home (homeowners assn) so the instant garage is not an option.

[CanoeStream]

Nice suggestion Janet. Dan, since Wally Byam was in the aircraft industry in WWII, it's too bad you can't pass off your Safari as some Area 51 black project. If Planes of Fame were still at Flying Cloud....

50 miles to your northwest I can say that there's only generous good security storage for pop-up campers & fishing boats. My 8' wide Argosy pushed the door width limits to the max -- it was very difficult to get it into a 9' nominal door storage facility. I know one relatively inexpensive place (Aspen Storage, owner: Patrick Mastey ph: 320-259-6135) that has pole barns just NE of Sauk Rapids. But this is group storage and the company wants to move your trailer in and out. They don't allow access without one of their employees present. I needed to meet somebody out there but they tried to accommodate me. I had to ask by midweek to arrange a mutually agreeable time to pick up before any weekend. They weren't demanding leases and could be a reasonable option for winter storage, even at your distance. It took phone calls to every storage facility in the area to find them!

How does your homeowners' assn deal with parking your Safari overnight while you prepare for a trip? Yes, I also have had covenants to deal with. I am currently using jkcompanies.com -- they state a location at Albertville. The Clearwater facility was where I struggled with my Argosy. I dunno -- try yellowpages or dexonline.com for Rockford, Buffalo (those 2 getting too metro-fied?), Annandale, Maple Lake, Hutch, Dassel/Cokato -- but I'm sure you've made an effort in that general direction. Burn up that phone card balance!! Best wishes!

[dmac]

Canoe,

I'm committed for this winter... the trailer is "in the barn" so to speak. But once it comes out, it won't be going back.

The airport idea is a problem because most airports (including our own MAC) require that airplanes be stored in hangars, not other stuff. It may be possible to slip a trailer into the corner of a hangar dominated by airplanes. I have an option for a hangar lot at FCM if/when they finally expand. If that ever happens I will build a hangar and try to slip the trailer in the back.

Also, I have a second home in northern Wisconsin. I could build a pole barn on the land, but that is a LONG haul from home.

There must be a source for moderately prices indoor RV storage that is not in a dump... I just have not found it yet!

[markdoane]

Did you try the fairgrounds? I haven't used them, and I don't know how to contact, but I've heard lots of people store boats and RVs in the horse barn.

[Tinsel Loaf]

Careful about those temporary shelters. Some counties require a permit even thought they are temp. We live in the country and it blended in being forest green but the county fined us and made us take it down. We needed a permit even thought temporary shelters are supposed to be exempt.

[alvinator]

Those Minnesota condos are very nice and very expensive. We opt for local fairground storage from Oct 1 thru April 15 in an unheated pole buiding with a concrete floor; $125 total for the 6+ months. There are no in-out privileges but we don't winter camp in balmy northern PA. We think the price is a bargain.

[dmac]

I retrieved my trailer from it's winter storage. It was filthy from the dirt floor pole barn, but otherwise intact.

I am still looking for year-round indoor storage, at a reasonable price and with reasonable accesibility during the summer, somewhere in the SW Minneapolis/St Paul metro area. Extensive on-line searching has come up with nothing. For now I must store it outside at a commercial storage place on a month-to-month basis.