Getting a zero-turn into a shipping container: door width, ramp length and deck size
Most zero-turns with a 48 to 60 inch deck fit through a container's 7'8" door with the deck lowered; a 72 inch deck usually does not. Measure the widest point of the mower, including the deck and wheels, and use a ramp long enough for a gentle climb over the sill.
The door is the limit
Both 20ft and 40ft containers have a door opening about 7'8" wide. Standard boxes are about 7'5" high at the door, and high cubes about 8'5". Most 48 to 60 inch decks clear the width easily with the deck lowered. A 72 inch deck is close to or over the limit once you add the discharge chute.
Measure your mower at its widest point, with the chute down, before you order. Height is rarely a problem unless the rollover bar is up.
Ramp and sill
The container floor sits above the ground on its corner castings, so the mower has to climb a sill. A 3 ft folding ramp works for a walk-behind. A 4 ft ramp gives a heavier zero-turn a gentler angle. Back it in straight, so it drives out forward. Ramps are on the accessories page.
Setting up for a crew
A 20ft holds a zero-turn and a walk-behind on one side with a rack of trimmers and blowers on the other. Gasoline never goes inside; keep cans in a vented cabinet outdoors. The landscape crew box has the layout and a free plan, and the ball field room does the same for a church or league mower.
Buying a container?
Longleaf sells used and one-trip 20ft and 40ft shipping containers, delivered by tilt-bed across the Pine Belt. Enter your ZIP for the delivered price — it comes straight from the supplier feed and already includes the haul. Locks, vents, shelving and lights are on the accessories page. We sell; we do not rent.
Keep reading
- Do I need a permit for a shipping container in Forrest County? — Shipping container permit rules in Forrest County, MS: Hattiesburg and Petal setbacks, historic districts, the floodplain, and the county outside town.
- Which accessories make a shipping container usable: locks, vents, shelving and more — Which shipping container accessories to buy first: a lock box and padlock, vents, solar lights, no-drill shelving, a leveling jack and ramps, in order.
- Storing a boat on its trailer in a 40ft container on the Gulf Coast: width, height, vent and moisture — Storing a boat in a 40ft shipping container on the Gulf Coast: door width and height limits, trailer and T-top clearance, salt air, moisture and storms.
- Car, truck or boat storage in a shipping container: what clears the door — Will a car, pickup or boat fit in a shipping container? Door clearances for a 40ft high cube, what fits and what does not, and keeping the paint from sweating.
- How to turn a shipping container into a hunting camp gear room in Mississippi — A shipping container as a hunting camp gear room in Mississippi: lock box, solar lights, shelving, a vent, a hook wall, and getting the truck up the camp road.
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