Shipping containers Bunya Mountains

What goes out to Bunya Mountains is largely storage for holiday cabins and accommodation — linen, mowers, firewood and off-season furniture, secure lock-up for tradespeople working on cabins with nowhere to leave gear, hay and fencing storage on the grazing country along the slopes, and general storage on the residential blocks in and around the settlements. None of that alters how it is quoted — describe what goes inside and where, and you get one figure with the cartage already in it.

Indicative only and ex GST — a real figure for a Bunya Mountains job takes one phone call. The trip out to Bunya Mountains is costed into the quote rather than left as an open item.

Everywhere else in this district the conversation about a closed steel box is about how hot it gets. At eleven hundred metres it is the other way around, and the practical enemy is condensation.

The mechanism is simple. Warm moist air inside meets cold steel overhead, and it rains inside a container that is in perfectly sound condition. On a mountain that spends days inside cloud, with cold nights most of the year and genuine frost in winter, the conditions for it are close to ideal. People store bedding, linen, cushions and soft furnishings for a cabin, shut the doors in April and open them in September to find mould.

Three things fix it, in order of effect. Do not shut damp material in — anything that went in wet stays wet. Fit vents at both ends so air can actually cross rather than sit. And for genuinely susceptible contents, put desiccant tubs in and check them when you are up. Lining and insulation help further, but ventilation does more per dollar and it is the step people skip.

The range road is the first and largest factor, and it is not a small one. The climb is steep, narrow in places and genuinely winding, with switchbacks that a long vehicle simply cannot take. In practice that means the realistic delivery up here is a 20ft or a 10ft on a tilt-tray. A 40ft on a sidelifter is generally not viable above the range, and we would rather tell you that at the enquiry than after you have paid for one. Where a 40ft is genuinely needed, the honest options are two 20ft units instead, or placement at a suitable spot below the range and moving it up yourself with equipment that suits the road. Weather compounds it. Cloud sits on the mountain for days at a time, the bitumen stays wet long after the rain has stopped, and in winter there is real frost up here. None of that makes a delivery impossible and all of it makes the timing matter more than it does on the flat. The second factor is the blocks themselves. Many are small, steep, heavily treed and built around existing cabins, which leaves very little room to line a truck up and very little clear air above the spot. That is the classic case for a crane truck: it costs more than a tilt-tray and it refuses far less, and on a tight mountain block it is frequently the only sensible answer. One local point that catches people out: do not plan to place a container under a mature bunya pine. The cones these trees drop are very large and very heavy, and they come down without warning through the season. It is a real hazard to a vehicle, to a roof and to anyone standing underneath, and it is easily avoided by choosing the spot with it in mind.

Wherever you are, the vehicle wants the same basics — a surface that will not give way, an unobstructed approach, and nothing over the placement point. Pictures of the gateway and the intended spot answer nearly everything we would otherwise ask. More in getting a container onto your block.

1. Can you get a 40ft container up the range?

   Generally not, and we would rather say so up front. A 40ft comes in on a sidelifter, and that combination does not suit the switchbacks on the climb. The workable answers are two 20ft units instead, or placement somewhere suitable below the range with you moving it up on gear that suits the road. A 20ft or a 10ft on a tilt-tray is the normal delivery above the range.

2. We store linen and cushions for a cabin over winter. Will they be alright?

   Only if the container is vented. This is the single most common problem up here — warm moist air meeting cold steel produces condensation inside a completely sound container, and soft furnishings shut in from autumn to spring will come out mouldy. Fit vents at both ends, never shut anything damp in, and add desiccant tubs for anything you really care about.

3. There is nowhere to drive a truck in on our block. What now?

   A crane truck, most likely. It stands on the road or the nearest firm standing and lifts the container over the fence, the trees or the cabin to the spot. It costs more than a tilt-tray and it makes tight mountain blocks possible, which on a lot of properties up here is the difference between a delivery and no delivery.

4. Is it safe to put a container under the trees?

   Not under a mature bunya pine. The cones are very large and very heavy and they drop through the season with no warning, which is a genuine hazard to a roof, a vehicle and anyone standing there. Under other trees the usual considerations apply — limbs overhead, leaf litter holding damp against the steel, and no clear air for a truck to work in.

5. Which grade suits a cabin storage container?

   Cargo-worthy for anything you want to keep dry. Those units are checked wind and watertight before they are loaded, which is the grade that suits bedding, furniture and equipment. As-is units are cheaper and honestly described, but they are not sold watertight and they are a poor idea in a place that spends this much of the year inside a cloud.

6. We are in a bushfire area. Can we shelter in it or store valuables in it?

   Do not treat a container as a fire refuge — steel conducts heat, the timber floor and door seals will burn, and there is no ventilation. Keep the surrounds cleared the way you would around a shed, tell your local brigade it is there, and make sure your fire plan does not depend on it.