When i was still in my teens I learned that by helping others I would then know what they know. When all of my friends were running away when a buddy needed a hand with something, I was stepping up and volunteering. Looking back at 72 years of age, I surprise even myself at the breadth of things that I have gained knowledge of. Some of my friends saw me as a sucker, I saw it as free education. Now days I am still watching videos like this, adding to my store of knowledge. Thanks for the post.

Makes me miss my daddy. That man could rig anything to work. Just took a little time to think about it. Sometimes after days he'd say with a big grin "AHA! i got it!". Nobody else would know what in the world he was talking about but he'd get right to it and get the task done. Thanks for not quitting. Thanks for the memories. Blessings to you sir.

you really start to appreciate the compressive strength of little wooden blocks on jobs like this

"The key to being a productive person, starts with being curious about tools." Truer words have never been uttered. Thank you sir.

That’s some FINE farm boy engineering. Work smarter not harder.

Engineer who works at MSU here, love the channel and thought this was a really fun way to refresh my statics knowledge. The answers to your questions are as follows. In a scenario like this one, you need to balance all of the forces in the X and Y planes, as well as the moments of inertia, for the shipping container. In an ideal scenario, where everything is level, there are no forces in the X direction. The forces in the Y direction are the weight of the container, the force exerted by the trailer (Ft), and the force exerted by the wheel (Fw). Summing all of these up to equal zero gives us the equation, Fy = 9000 - Ft - Fw = 0 We also need to balance the container's moment of inertia, as on their own each of these forces would make the container rotate. We can do this calculation at any point along the container, and doing so at the trailer hitch makes things convenient by eliminating the force of the trailer from the get go. The individual moments of inertia are calculated by multiplying the force by its distance away from the pivot, which as I just stated we are assuming to be the trailer. Therefore, summing up the moments of inertia to equal zero gives us the equation, Mt = 9000(40/2) - Fw(x) = 0 Rearranging the terms of these equations gives us a way to calculate both the force on the trailer and the force on the wheels which are, Ft = 9000 - Fw Fw = (9000(40/2))/x = 180,000/x So for any distance 'x' that the wheels are placed from the trailer, you can calculate the forces on the wheels and trailer. For example, if you put the wheels 24 feet from the trailer (60% of the distance), the forces would be as follows. Fw = 180,000/24 = 7500 lbs Ft = 9000 - 7500 = 1500 lbs One small caveat is that these equations only apply if the wheels are placed beyond the midpoint of the container. Some signs change if you put the wheels inside the midpoint, but intuitively I'm sure you would see that doing this wouldn't work too well. You'd have a good chance of flipping your equipment. Thanks, and keep up the good work!

45 year old carpenter here, if you are adopting I wanna throw my hat in the ring 😂

I have a real fascination for watching master craftsmen at work. Normally it's their chosen field. However, some fellows are just amazing at everything. Thank you Mr. Scott for taking the time and effort to teach the rest of us.

Had a half dozen of those containers years ago on customer site. Only had to move them 15 to 20 feet. Used a bunch of scrap 2 x 8 laid flat with 2” pipe to roll the container. Used a couple railroad jacks to lift them high enough to slide the pipe and planks under. Only took a few guys to push them around

I love that drill lever. It's exactly the kind of thing you'd find clearing out your grandpa's garage and forever wonder what he used it for.

Rory moved a container to a tighter spot with a small tow truck and winches - "Can Trailmater replace a crane?" - on KZfaq. Both yourself and Rory have great practical intelligence. When you started jacking up the end of the container it reminded me of Wally Wallington who used similar principles to move 20 tonne stone blocks by hand. Great video.

With a support 13’ from an end, the center of mass being in the middle, the reaction at the excavator end is: 9000 lbs * (20’-13’)/(40’-13’) = 2333 lbs. (ignoring friction and wind resistance, of course!) The equation is derived from structural engineering statics. The same equations that are used to design all types of buildings.

Appears to me that you had yourself a really fun day or 2. Finding solutions can be enormously mentally uplifting.

You have the spirit that enables you to conquer any problem in life that you face … you do not need the praise of any of us.

This man can and will do what he sets out to do, and he has a great voice!!!!😊

Scott, I believe I have some skills you don't. However, I also believe the skill ratio is about 90/10 in your favor. The main skill I'm referring to is ingenuity/creativity. Thinking outside the box has never been my strong suit. Watching you successfully overcome an issue is inspiring. Thanks for continually teaching an old dog new tricks.

Alot of good things going on here. i hope the young guys are watching this on how you drill the holes upside down without hurting yourself! this is an important skill to learn. your ribs and wrist will thank you !

At the end of the video now......"A productive person"......What an idea! What a concept! This, is exactly what is missing in America today. The desire to be productive. Keep up the great videos, EC!

the jig he made for using the hole hog to drill into the bottom of the iron is brilliant. Whenever i see someone do that I always think about how I could benefit by being patient and making something to make my life easier, instead of just barrelling through to get it done. This channel is amazing and his insights are wonderful. I hope to be half as competent a craftsman when I am his age.

Hydraulics are like a super power. Watching you jack up the end of that box with the toe jack and an 8 inch lever arm had me 🤩

That was a wonderful video. I share your love of tools. I sold used mechanics tools for 25 years as a side business so my wife could stay home with our two kids. She home schooled them through high school. Full-time rural letter carrier 32 years.

Installed vault doors and safes for 35 years! Done jobs for many financial and pharmaceutical corporations that the giant safe companies backed out of!!! This fella is the real deal! I sure would hired him on some of my most remembered used vaultdoor relocations East of the Mississippi.

An old saying "a worker is only as good as his tools" . Well to add to that the worker has to have the experience to understand and know how to use the tools as well . Great job man !

I am one that is attracted to unusual tools. Eventhough I intuitively know they have value sometimes they will set for years before you appreciate and understand what really makes them shine. Old tools have a soul and a history waiting to be shared.

You did good Sir. I have rented 4 container wheel Jack's for a day and moved containers for under $150. (CDN) All 4 wheels could be turned with a hand crank and attached at the corners to the lock box. But recently I can't find them for rent anymore. Could be wheels without brakes became a problem. One rental store said a flat bed can move one quicker and for the same money and he wasn't getting many rentals on em so he sold them. Cheers 🇨🇦

Awesome video. It reminded me of when I moved my 8'x10' shed 30-40 ft from the front yard to the rear of my garage. All I had was a farm jack, blocking and round pipe for rollers. no excavator or trailer axle.

The 3 things I liked about this video: The lever for the "hog" drill (oh yeah! SMART!!!)), the manager (a/k/a black cat) and the curiosity you still have! I love when people keep that child like curiosity! Very handy especially for situations like this. Kudos - you just made a 4 1/2 ton THING move on your command!!! Didn't need to be fast (what, like 2 mph AT MOST!!!) just goes to show that slow and steady DOEs win the race!!!

I just realized after you showed all those tools, that I often complete a project and have lots of tools out in the yard. I can't take them all back in one trip and some are heavy as well. I got the idea to make a tool cart that could go in the dirt and gravel, then I remembered I had a 4-wheel cart that's 2'x3' with, I think, 8-inch pneumatic wheels. it's a heavy-duty cart that I have had about 700 pounds on it and It has helped me in so many different projects. Your video made me think of a solution to a problem that I probably wouldn't have thought of on my own. Thank you.

Genius! I like the way your mind works, you not only did it, but you can do it by yourself!!! Good job

Good job as always. The door end is heavier than the other end. I’ve moved several 20’ containers on a 22’ deckover trailer and had trouble getting enough tongue weight with the doors facing rear. Plenty tongue weight with doors forward. Unfortunately I don’t know by how much, but it’s significant.

Awesome job! I’m glad men make videos for the younger men & women can see them. With a brain and tools anything is possible!

You just know someone is super-skilled when they make things look easy. Genius.

With EVERY sequence of this video I see a man that has a firm grasp on creating mechanical advantage. Thanks Scott for the vid and keep up the good work

Enjoyed this one. Right combination of figurin, testin, persevrin!

Well done mate! South Africans when confronted with a situation like yours say, 'boere maak 'n plan'! Translated directly, it is ' farmers make a plan'! Brilliant outcome.

Dear Sir you show the true American spirit. You had a problem and worked your way to success. Way smarter than your age. Plus the feeling of accomplishment. Beautiful

Nice job! My only advice is that when you need to get a bit more lifting force from the boom of the excavator, lower the backfill blade more. The added down power from the blade hydraulics can lift the boom a few inches when all else fails.

WOW!!!!!! You sure make us elders proud. Encouraging us to do more. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!!!!!!

EXCELLENT! BRAVO!!! THANKS FOR SHARING....AT 73, I CAN SAY I LEARNED A FEW THINGS TONIGHT. THANK YOU

I have been collecting tools all my life. New and pre loved, like the car salesmen say. Second hand shops are a treasure trove, and also estate sales and auctions. You can modify a tool but the right tool for the job is always best and safest.

This is quality content, feels like OG videos from this channel

I absolutely love your curiosity, pluck and skill. The solution you devised for single-handedly relocating that shipping container was as incredible as it was effective. I'm with you on the curiosity about tools. My collection is substantial, dates back to my boyhood, and is still growing. I got into 3D printing and CNC a few years ago and have never looked back. Well done, sir. Well said, too.

I loved this video!! I'm in my 70's and was amazed at what you did. I agree with your ideas about understanding tools and will be sending this video to my son's.

Nice job. Lots of opportunities to shake hands with danger. The helper handle for drilling those holes was smart.

Great advice at 15:23 . Something that I always preached to my son and now his children. You don’t have to be able to do something or use a tool to understand the process.

At 76, I have smashed fingers and wrists, twisted wrists and smacked shin bones with 1/2 inch electric drills more times than I care to remember. You sir are a genius. No doubt you learned the hard way too. God Bless.

I’m glad to see I’m not the only one with an assortment of corded tools that work just fine

I remember my father once lamenting giving me my first tool set. I must have been five. Everything and anything I could get my hands on was coming apart because I wanted to see how it worked. I remember when I was eight, my dad gave me an old telephone. I had no idea how phones worked, all I knew was the wires came out of the wall. So, as you can imagine, I decided to I was going to put some wires back in the wall! Let's just say that that was an enlightening experience. They say a lesson hard learns not soon forgotten. When my bell got rang, it was indelibly imprinted upon me. That was also the time I decided to start learning electronics!

Resourceful, self-reliant and inspirational. Hope the young’ens are watching. Thanks, Scott, for inspiring me to “keep up the smart work”.

Very good job, congratulations 🎈🎊🍾🎉 from someone with 58 years experience in tracking business and 7 million miles over the road.

This channel is so authentic and honest. Just seeing someone offer there know how, knowing plans can change often and you adapt to them. Gotta love this guy. Great insights!

It is a linear relationship, once you know which lines. Pretend the entire container is a single load right in the middle. If your axle is 13' from one end, then your axle is also 7' from the center. So, 9000lb 7' from the axle/pivot. So, the weight acts at the end of a 7' lever, applying 9000lb*7', that's 63,000ft.lb. of torque. You are lifting from a point 27' from the pivot. Countering that 63,000ft.lb. of torque with a 27' lever arm takes 63,000ft.lb. / 27ft = 2,333 lb.

EC gave me permission to buy more tools, excellent! 😂

Thank you for this video. I've never seen your channel before but I am so glad I came across it today. You remind me a lot of my grandfather who passed away at the end of 2022. He always found a way to do what he wanted and if he didn't have a way he made a way. This simple video about moving a container brought back so many memories of things he and I did together. I subscribed to your channel and will be watching all of your past and future content from now on!

Love your speech about tools at 15:00! This is how I think also! I love tools so much. They are great!

WAIT A MINUTE !!! Your BURKE BAR could have easily lifted that box ! I guess you must have loaned it out to a friend ...

I have my son watch these types of videos because it is a close to what I experienced growing up. Problem solving. KZfaq gold right here!

The most enjoyable, simple and best video I have watched. Really down to earth and no BS. THANK YOU.

The demonstration of “necessity being the mother of invention”. I have used toe jacks of varying designs and for many purposes many times during my career as a mechanical engineer. A fantastic solution to many problems especially when working single handed. Good video, thanks.

And always remember, figuring out how to do it is more than half the fun.

Awesome, this is why you're the GOAT,

The only helpful thing of my father , who was alcoholic & abusive , was " care & use of tools. He always said the answer to a problem is right there in the problem. Once you've worked out the problem, it's a matter of proper tools and knowledge of how to use them. I'm grateful for that. It has saved me time and money. Good luck to all.

The epitome of this video… is life …. Your an an amazing example of what should be taught in schools today. Think … don’t rush. Use your head with your hands! We are teaching people to dumb down… which creates absolute ignorance. Stickers to not put your hands in a lawn mower deck…. Well there you have it.

You are a great story-teller! Being inspired and learning something new with every video. Thank you from Sweden!

“Give me a bunch of random little levers and my baby Kubota and I can move a four ton trailer” ~ EChimides Amazing ingenuity!

One of my grandfathers taught me to always use the right tools for the job. This video puts a new spin on that old maxim. Thanks for sharing.

Great job, people missed watching people work so smart. Continue the teaching! Never to old to learn new tricks.👍

Civil Engineer for credibility, long time viewer since my time as a carpenter love the channel ! Assuming 13.5ft from the end of the container to the axel: Axel carries 6792# Excavator carries 2208# Its actually algebraic in nature no differentials needed just classical mechanics, set the sum of: lever arms x forces = 0

I love old tools. I’m 73 and my dad left me with a bunch of old tools and I use them all in one way or another. Being a woman, they are part of my survival. You can’t always depend on others to do repairs and build things.

Wisdom can not be bought. I really enjoyed this video. Thank you.

Yes, yes, YES!!! Amen! I'm always looking at things with a mind to their potential uses! I think people think that's a bit weird, but I get a lot more use out of odd bits of things. When I'm working on something & trying to get it fixed, I'll often see a picture of something in my head that may work for what I need. I think the Lord assists me a LOT since I have to fix things by myself. This was a great video on ingenuity/engineering & perseverance; thank you so much for showing it CAN be done...and how. I'm now looking for a toe jack!

Gotta love it when a plan comes together! Good job Scott

Funny watching the thumbs up count tick up as Scott pumps the jack - almost in unison... 😁

You are a real original . To come up with these ideas for moving that container & then make it happen - on your own . Its just crazy - wonderful . All power to you .

Jack of all trades, master of none. Still better than a master of one. Awesome work. Thank you for the video and wisdom.

2700 lbs with the axle at 14 feet if the container weighs 9000lbs. 14/40=0.35 The axle is placed at 35% in of the total length of the container. That equals 70% of the weight balanced on the axle. Which leaves 30% of 9000 lbs to lift. 9000x0.3=2700.

When you use these conex boxes for storage, you should put them up on blocks. When they sit flat on the ground, the moisture that comes up from the ground every morning, will transfer through the box, making everything on the inside moist or even leave it with conensation. The little bit of airflow underneath will keep everything nice and dry.

Now im not regretting that i buy many tools in the past..,thank you sir your video is trully essential...😊

This video was packed with very wise tips and tricks

I don’t enjoy antiques store except for one thing. Finding tools that I don’t know what they do and then figuring them out! When I was young and able, I had minimal tools and work was hard. Now that I am older and less able, if I don’t have a tool, it’s because I don’t know of its existence. I work much slower, but it’s easier and I sure break a LOT less stuff! I sure wish I knew the lesson in my 20s of “Stop & Go get the Right Tool!”

Where’s Andrew Camarata when you need him? I think the weight at the far end with the fulcrum at 1/3 is a third of the total weight, since two of the three thirds will be balanced on the fulcrum.

I’m overjoyed that I found your sight. I’ve been saving (not hoarding) tools that I’ve come across and have brought home. My family think I’m nuts and sometimes I think I’m as well. But then you come across things that everybody scratches their heads and you say, wait a moment, I think I might have something. When you pull it off and you’re standing there thinking, I wasn’t “nuts” and beaming with satisfaction, it sure is something. It’s happening more and more more now due to 30 yrs of interest and the younger gen’s just have no clue and my kids really roll their eyes anymore and I’m ok with that! Thank you on your idea of container moving. You’ve given me thought on what I can do with a tandem axel that’s been lying around and a 40’ container I bought 40 miles away! Have to look at the cost but figure I’ll have to pay someone to safely get to my ranch but the idea is now planted and there no way I can not think about the possibilities! Lol

I absolutely agree with your last thoughts on this about knowing about the existence of tools. I'm renovating a house right now and knowing about specialty tools has helped alot

Hardest working man on KZfaq! You'd have made a heck of a farmer, EC.

Here’s how I would calculate the potential resistance of lifting with a axle set in 13 feet. You stated the container is 8,800 lbs and 40ft long. 8800 / 40 = 220lbs per foot. The door end is probably heavier, however I am going to leave that out of this initial calculation. With a 13ft overhang on our axle end, we have 13ft x 220lbs = 2,860lbs of weight solely on the axle. Now we have a remaining 27ft at 220lbs per ft. 27 x 220 = 5,940lbs. This weight would be evenly distributed between the axle and your lift point. 5,940lbs / 2 = 2,970lbs Axle Weight: 2,860+2,970 = 5,830lbs Lift Weight: 2,970 lbs This is how I would quick and dirty calculate to confirm I am not overloading equipment when I move containers or equipment at my job. How you rig your lift, what the weight of the door end and many other factors play in to the exact resistance to lift. If I was in your situation, I would be rigging with a minimum WLL (working load limit) of 3,500lbs. Curious to hear what others think as well.

Masterclass in mechanical, hydraulic, and pneumatic advantage. Love that toe jack!

Your comments at the end of your video were like listening to me. I often walk through hardware and tool supply stores just to look at watch is there and ask about née tools. All in an effort to file away in that storage area in my brain to recall some time in the future. It may not be for the application it was actually designed for, but for an application it will work for. Great video. It's good to see an old boy like me doing some interesting DIY with logical, analytical brain power.

Total length of the container: 40 ft Weight of the container: 9000 lbs Position of the axle from the back: 13 ft Distance from axle to center of gravity=20ft−13ft=7ft W(front) be the weight lifted by the truck on the front end. W(front)×27ft=9000lbs×7ft = 2333 lbs on the truck side

Run for President.

Good job on the lever with slot for the drill!! AND; I really like the philosophy of: When you help someone do something, you learn what they know!

I'll have to save this video since I have a 40 foot high cube that I will need to move at some point. I love the ingenuity you use with whatever you have to solve a problem. I'll have to check out more of your videos.

I'll try to help here. It's a physics problem not a math problem:). Your center of mass, assuming equal distribution of the container weight-wise, is as you said 20ft. from either end. (the mid-point). Now we need to create an equation. F can be the tongue weight. so F * 27ft (40-13=27) and the moment created by the containers weight of 8,800lbs* (20-13) = 8,800 * 7ft. The equation for moments is F*27ft = 8,800lbs * 7ft. If we solve for F (the tongue weight) using hte information provided the F of/= (8,800lbs *7ft)/27ft F = 2,281.48lbs. Therefor, if you place the axle 13ft from the back, 27ft from the front, the tongue weight as a result of the span of 27ft will be, rounding, 2,300lbs. Close to what your approximations were/are. The formula, once you have it (note above) is rather straight-fwd. and you can position the axle where ever and input the data to get your result. Interestingly, the tongue weight will decrease by (and this is just napkin mathing it about 220lbs. so if you move the axle one foot closer (to say 40-14=26ft) you'll get closer to your approximated 'ball-park experience weight of 2,000lbs). You can approximate 220lbs per foot for each foot as you move closer toward the front. (not really but it's close - to be precise would require a new formula like: Tongue weight change (lets call it TWM) for every ft (d) we move the axle. TD = total distance, BW= weight being moved (in this instance 8,800lbs). The formula woudl be twm=(d *BW)/TD. I hope this is helpful.

This reminds me of the old joke: “How do you eat a whole elephant?” - One bite at a time.

Good to see a Top Hand in operation. I truly enjoyed that.

There's no such thing as "too many tools"! I'm always on the lookout for something I can use to make something work or go better.

Put a tongue on it and patent it as The hillbilly mobile home. Well done!!

I would have a full blown safety brief from my safety officer, the wife, before attempting that job alone!

My husband has that kind of ingenuity too. Great job!

You are a legitimate hero. You made my day. You helped me more than anyone ever had. Thank you. Susitna Tanya

I too stop at yard sales, pawn shops etc to find tools that i could use!! Found a metal chop saw one time, worked great for the work I was doing at that time. Have a bunch of tools that my father (electrician) had as well as my grandfather's (carpenter) too! Worked in industry as a maintenance tech, lots of those tools came in handy!! Stay safe and nice job on the container move!!