Thanks for watching! What color do you think we should paint the container?

Might consider drilling and tapping some grease zerks into your hinges so they don't rust and freeze up over winter super cool setup 👍🙂

If you are going to adjust your solar panels more than just "summer" and "winter", you could paint marks on your cable for every 10 degrees. That way if you want to adjust your angle you can just look up the ideal angle and move panels accordingly. It also allows 1 person to adjust array, you can just remove the bolts turn the winch to proper position and reinsert the bolts.

The conex needs to be off the ground (railroad ties) and your perf pipe needed to be bedded in Gravel with landscape fabric covering it with more Gravel on top. A retaining wall for the hillside is a must as well. Shipping containers have all their strength at the corners. The skin isn't structural

Great job guys! I would be very careful moving that high pressure gas bottle around without the cap installed. Especially laying on its side. If it had rolled out of the cart and broken the valve off, you would be surprised at how far the missile could travel.

With the weight hanging from one side of the container, my biggest concern would be a strong wind lifting up and sideways on the whole array and container and tipping it over toward the array. It seems that pre-measured posts to connect the bottom of the beams to cemented in ground mounts (one set of posts and ground mounts for each angle) would provide a support far enough outboard to absorb that rotational moment. I know the container is very heavy, and will be even heavier with the batteries in it, but that is one huge sail you are mounting on it. Alternately, you could run cables from the top corners of the container uphill to steel posts drilled and epoxied into the exposed tops of a couple boulders to keep the container from being able to tip, or do both to stabilize both the container and the sail.

That comment about welding galvanized is 100% correct. Fumes are extremely toxic!

We have completely buried them at our Camp Sites but we first covered the whole container with Tar to seal up any unseen cracks they may let moisture in. One has been in the ground since 1971 and still works fine.

The main reason the holes go down is because water will gather at the bottom of the pipe first. If you installed with the holes up then the ditch would need to flood to the top of the pipe before the water would drain. Water chooses the path of least resistance so with the holes down the water will find them easier and can be managed away from the container faster. Something to consider, if it's not too late, is to coat the outside with some sort of undercoating, preferably the spray kind. You won't necessarily need truck bed spray liner but it would last far longer than regular undercoating. The longer you can keep the steel from rusting the longer you container will remain under ground...

Throughout all the episodes I was always impressed by the deep consideration and planning. I understand the time crunch but when you started this project I felt you started cutting too many corners. My biggest concern is that there is no foundation for the container. Yes, batteries and everything in the container will add weight but it would have been prudent to place the container on solid corner foundations and weld the container to the foundation. You can still drill some holes and pour concrete in the front to bury steel beams vertically that will support the container. Otherwise when you will have high winds and solar panel sails you will have the container moving. I like the hinged idea but please consider reinforcement of the wall, maybe from the inside where the hinges line up. One more corner cutting I saw when you welded the HF winch to the wall. These container walls are not that sturdy having all the forces on this one point of contact. You pinned the extending struts on the top but still this wrench will need also reinforcement from inside. Also the extending struts will need reinforcement on the wall. Containers leak from the bottom up when you bury them. Luckily you "did not bury" them but it would have been better to have drain channels underneath towards the downhill side. Sorry for this, I usually refrain from commenting as its always easy from the comfort of the home office to see details. But I felt compelled to do this as you always impressed me with your attention to the level of detail. I just build a 45 ft car port of a container and can attest that these are not that sturdy to bending forces. Keep up the good work! I love your channel and your 'off grid way of life'. Cant wait for the dozer work.

Camo out the container and panel supports in a pattern that will match the surrounding forrest. Great job on the build. Drill the pivots the install grease fittings for long term ease of movement. 1/4-28 tap for threads. Use your jack hammer to install the pins in the ground.

If you want your french drain not to plug up, you gotta put some landscape fabric around it to keep mud from infiltrating. Or you can clean out the pipe periodically, which should be easy in your circumstance with the exposed straight ends. Also, rust is more complicated than you might expect. Things rust when exposed to both water and air, and how fast they rust isn't something you can easily guess just by looking. Not all water is the same, and some kinds of it lead to more rust than others.

It amazes me what vast knowledge different people have and the work they have done in their lives!! I know how to teach others how to sing/perform/how to speak in front of a crowd… but what you all do and what your viewers know👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻😃

I hope you guys are aware that welding galvanized steel releases some REALLY dangerous fumes. A little late for the episode but something to remember next time

Usually it’s considered dangerous to bury shipping containers because they aren’t built to handle side loads and are really only designed to handle loads along the rim of their ceilings and on their floors. It’s very possible that after some time the walls cave in because of the weight of the dirt pushing into the side. Especially with extra weight like water/snow/frost.

So much could go wrong .... but so much might go right!

Great job welding Riley

Power supply taking shape nicely! Might want to stack large rock beside the container's downhill side do that the fill on the uphill side doesn't push it sideways. Get more telescoping square tubing on the 4 corners of the array panel so it's much more rigid in the storms. You'll want that for the winter snow loading also. I know that you've got more welding and other work to do for this project, but great so far!

Loved the shot of Boone and Bailey sleeping in the back of the car. 🥰 My understanding of weathering steel (COR-TEN) is that it requires the alternating wet/dry cycle to form the resistant barrier. Burying it eliminates the cycle and it ends up rusting "normally." I'd have used a thicker mastic-type coating rather than the paint and done something to protect the coating before backfilling to reduce scratches from penetrating the coating. Another thought would have been to put stone and drainage under the container to help with things drying out.

great video thank you! the holes face down on drain pipe for at least two reasons. one is the dirt is less likely to get inside the pipe with the holes down. facing the holes down also allows the water to enter the pipe at a lower level than it would if the holes were facing up. the drain pipe is not supposed to catch water as it comes down it's supposed to allow water to flow out as the water table rises up from Below.

You have a good woman that can help you and knows what's she's doing that's good that it doesn't all fall on you good job guys

Watching you guys is great! Riley your mind is the part I enjoy and Together you two compliment each other so much. Love your can do positive energy. All I wish is there were more videos 😂I know it’s too time consuming. Enjoy!

I think your main issues with the solar panel will come two areas: 1. Freezing and shifting/snapping welded joints and 2) Wind pressure and vibration.

The main concern I have would be the side load during the winter and especially during spring thaw. The added weight of the snow/water could trigger a side collapse or could result in the entire container and array sliding down off of the cut you made. I'd recommend that you look at not only shielding the top of the container, but also look into some way to divert run off to mitigate the potential problem.

The man hammers like lightning, never strikes twice in the same place..... lol I resemble this remark!

I would paint the container to match your building. Have you considered an anchor system? I would put some big rocks in the front after you paint the container.

I think you should have poured concrete footing under the container so when the ground gets wet there will be no container shift.

Off grid is awesome. Love you guys.

Really, really, really big project..... smiles 😊☺️☺️☺️

I love that you guys are prepared to discover a mistake years from now. I have a bunch of firsts on my off grid property that you just can’t find in KZfaq University. Like you I figure you give your best thought and effort and hope it works. I have designed tilting panels raised off the roof of our barn to cater from snow depth. We had the barn structure engineered to withstand massive forces from snow, panel framing weight, lateral and updraft wind lift from the panels. This allowed us to have the panels out of main view like you guys have. Most say it wont work but the engineers signed it off so we are giving it a go! My water collection design was a first for the company that installed it so we’ll be watching that and expect some modifications also. Many have said I should be YouTubing my project but I know the effort that takes and what I’m most impressed about you guys is the effort you put in to document every project. I just could not find the time of effort to so that! Very impressive!

It was all great. Love it! The only thing is saw that was concerning was the thickness of your drainage pipe. Too thin of a schedule pipe for the load without a bedding for protection. Im confident it crushed with the first rock. The good news is with the grades in the area, standing water wont be a concern. Ive worked dirt for 50+ yrs.

I'm just jealous of your welding skills, Courtney!

Absolutely amazing woman. I can only wish my wife was as supportive and helpful.

Now you need a gigantic broom / windshield wiper mechanism to sweep the snow off of it in the winter time . Super cool and resourceful set up you guys are building keep up the good work 😎

You could install an actuator and light level tracking so it stays at the optimal angle throughout the day / season. Simple and pretty cheap to do.

Diagonal measurements are the key to squaring things up perfectly.

Thank you again. You should make it so you can add some tie out cables to help stabilize it when it gets windy. Have another great day.

Brilliant flexible/pivoting solar array framing system, though I'd be concerned about your solar array (once the panels are installed) turning into a sail in strong winds. Also, your container is probably at some point going to take some side damage from a lateral load, most likely from water, I would imagine (think rapid snow melt or really heavy rains). Your drain may not be able to keep up. The reason you shouldn't bury shipping containers is they're not designed to take lateral loads, they're designed to take vertical loads, but I'm sure you know this already. If burying one, you should really reinforce the interior walls with some framing

Hope you are figuring in the wind for this project! Maybe some additional stabilizers using galvanized wires

A few years ago I worked for a business that sold food storage and preparedness products, (2000). We sold product to a girls ranch, they had several containers buried. But, they had them with the back into the hill, also the terrain was very rocky and clay so it couldn’t move because of saturation. So good luck!

Ice, snow and expanding the fill. I live in the sub-tropics. I see how mild weather pushes rock apart into sheets and chunks in my locale. The V shape of the backfill is like a wedge. A simple machine. How hard is the winter freeze-thaw going to push the container away from the hill?

You have plenty of input and suggestions regarding your work, I don't think you need any more. Without a doubt, one of my favorite episodes. Riley's brilliant engineering mind and Courtney's continued support, welding skills, excavator skills, editing skills and... You guys are fire!

You drive around with the gas bottle without the protective cap. If that bottle falls out of your trailer and the faucet breaks, it will fly off like a rocket. never transport a gas bottle without a protective cap! (Love you guys!)

Thanks for sharing another interesting project. Great creative design and excellent fabrication skills. Regarding burring shipping containers. I remember seeing a video on a community that created tornado shelters doing this. They lined up the containers with the doors facing each other, just far enough apart to allow the doors to open. Then they covered the sides and back with dirt and grass to help hold the dirt in place. Voila quick and solid protection. I believe that was Greenburg Kansas' FEMA trailer park after the devastating F5 tornado that scoured much off the own out of existence. I know you guys are pretty good with safety, but I see Riley loves his hiking style boots. He should seriously consider getting some safety shoes. They are now offered in similar style boots so they are much more comfortable than boots of the past. Just dropping a descent sized wrench can crush a toe. It's worth the $100 to $150. They are also generally electrically insulated and fire resistant. The first feature probably saved my life when I turned the breaker off in the house after I moved in and needed to fix a socket. When re-stripping a wire I got a serious tingle. Turned out some idiot had connected this circuit in a loop to 2 circuit breakers. I had manually traced the wire from the breaker so I was certain the correct breaker was off. After that I also got in inductive power indicator. Hold it near the holes in the outlet of electrical wire and it will beep if it's hot. Cheap and even easier than using a multi meter. Thanks again for the great videos and I look forward to seeing your solar system progress

I have been so inspired by you guys, can do attitude, and problem solving.

Spray paint marks on your cables and supports for summer (yellow) and winter(blue) to reduce the guesswork. You could take it a step further and adjust it 30/31 days. You would need six colors or marks to mark the progressions between summer and winter solstices. If it gets too top-heavy, use the hole saw and cut 3" disks out of the top, spacing the holes out like an aircraft spar. Then add the disks to the bottom. Each 3" disk should be 3/4 to 1 lb.

You could weld up up tie backs for the container. Big, long T shapes, that you dig into the ground and bury on the uphill side, will help steady the container onto the hill side. When you study "frost heave" you'll see it pushes equally, in all directions toward the surface... L shaped earth pushes in an L shape (where your container sits is L shaped earth). Long Tie backs will help steady it.

Most people would be satisfied with stationary solar panels. But this duo has to build one that tracks the sun. I'm impressed guys

I seen a older couple on KZfaq build their shipping container home underground and it was pretty impressive😍😊

The best ideas are the simple ones ,well done .

Very cool adventure to be on and pretty excited for the unlimited power! I'm sure most of the colors have been suggested, so how about a pastel purple or light purple. Something that subtlety goes with nature a bit, but not completely.

Big sail, and North Idaho occasionally gets BIG WIND….. So, MANY bracings, and get those heavy batteries inside for ballast!

Let me try again. Your pivoting solar idea is brilliant!

To drill holes in ground and fill with concrete with chain to anchor everything down might be a good idea.

when drilling with a hole saw in metal, cut a piece of sponge and insert inside the saw. put oil in the sponge to lubricate and help cool the saw. Great vids!!

Love the music at the beginning of the video when you guys are back filling the container, lol . you guys are great.🫶🏻

Thanks again for sharing your lives with us and letting us in on your adventures. No, not sketchy at all...😁

You could possibly put a light sensor and small motor on your solar panels array and have it follow the sun automatically that way they will always get the optimal Sun🤔, and you guys are doing great that's a lot of work and it's really going to be a good project and be beneficial for your place

Love Your videos!!! Concerned about those freak wind storms that once in a while blow through.

Owsome. Super idea for swinging the panels. Cheers. 🍺&🍷

"Little by little, piece by piece"......until I am complete! Love it!!! And with your continuing projects, you are celebrating Christmas year round!!! And I'm sold on ecoflow products now.

How will the solar array work with 5’ of snow on the ground? Love your videos!! Jim

I think the biggest problem that you would have when you bury a container is if you put too much load on the top of your container. We had a 40 footer at work for a field office and one of the job site material handlers used a fork lift to set a pallet loaded with a full reel of heavy electrical cable on the roof. It was easily over 1000 lbs and the roof caved in about 12 inches. When the pallet was lifted back off, the roof partially rebounded, but was still deformed.

I think it should be a camp of all the surrouding colors.

Your enthusiasm for projects is a big part of your success. Great progress.

awesome! I think I would drill some pins into the ground at the bottom in case there is erosion or an evil spirit.

I was thinking that a post on the front on each end, using the same post method you used constructing the house, would keep the container from creeping better than the skinny stakes in the soil.

Love the Ecoflow battery thingy and wow enough juice to run the AC for 8 hours, yes please I'll have on of them. Loving your clips too.

I liked how you test at the snow load Super cool idea

Great progress! I was a little concerned to see the last few seconds of the video where you are hauling the gas cylinder in the trailer with out the cylinder cap on. If it slipped out the trailer, the valve could get knocked off followed by a dangerous accident.

Wind load could be a problem. I was not happy with their "foundation" either. I would have suggested 4 corner posts sunk and cemented in: gravel bed with 3 drains to sit on: separate I beam and posts for panel support: and some wind load calculations. In my area, Pacific Coastal Range, just north of San Francisco we get 60+ winds several times a year.

Boone said I'm getting out of the sun. Bailey said me too!

The dogs sure had a good nap going in the back of Courtney's car!! Too funny. As always, you guys are really amazing with your well thought out projects ... 🇺🇸

Nice setup. Would have put a dirt cover over the drain pipe. One thing that I would suggest is to taper the dirt at the bottom of the pannal edge to let the snow slide off and down the hill side. Can't wait to see how it works out.

This is a great idea, but I really would anchor the container more. Drill down through each corner into the bedrock and anchor with concrete and anchor bolts. Otherwise fantastic!

A deck on the container should be a future project. It’s is an excellent view

You kids keep doing what your doing. And try and have fun.😉

I think the problems with burying shipping containers are more when they completely under ground, not just used as a retaining wall like yours. Ive seen a few of them crushed like a tin can when put underground without adequate bracing.

For French drains the holes in the perf pipe go up. For septics the holes go down. You should also use geotec fiber on top

Another awesome and very creative project. You might want to have someone check the local wind loads in summer and winter modes for a) lifting up the container, b) shearing your adjusting bolts, c) buckling your sliding posts. Good luck!

I have that same welder, (multimatic 220 multi-process) it’s amazing being versatile. Welding tip get Lincoln “inner-shield” flux core wire then no need to tow gas bottle around, only down fall is spool size is either 5lb or 60lb spools unless you can find the 20-30 lb spools to fit in your machine. My wife and I love the show, keep up the great content!

There is a large amount of force on the container to roll or push it down the hill. I’m also concerned now you’re adding a very large solar panel system which will act like a lever or wind sail to roll the container. Gravity and wind are powerful forces. You may want to consult an engineer and add out riggers or ties back into the hill side. I’m concerned as you will have a lot of money in that container.

10:55 Boss Babe behind Looking at his husband - oh freaking Love this guy so much

Thanks :) I knew a guy hid a container in a cave, he did it at night and covered the front with rocks. Made a nice home and I don't think he ever got discovered

I'm glad we watched this late so I could come in here just to tell you that you're both awesome!!

I am SOOOOOO pumped to see this project come together!!!! GREAT JOB

This is the best solar setup I have ever seen. Great Job.

Ralston Oklahoma has a single school building that held elementary thru highschool. The school at the time only had middle school attending it but the state is know for tornados and the kids didn't have a good Storm shelter. So we buried a conex container under ground. After closing off any openings that could allow water in. Then we installed under ground electric, attached some vent pipes with fans along with heat and Air . Along with a short wave am/fm radio . It's been 70% buried for over 10 years and no issues with rust or water entry.

I saw a video of a couple in New Mexico that buried 2 containers side by side to be their home. I couldn't tell you the name of it. It's been about 6 or 7 years ago that I watched it. It's looking good there.

What a great idea, love how you two come up solutions to problems. Love the channel

My neighbor buried one and concreted it over. They use it for storage. Be careful with the mold that might build up. After a few years they had a serious mold problem. Other than that it's still in use today.

Miller is a great little machine. Good choice. I’m impressed with y’all’s ambitions and team work. A man and a woman can do anything as a team. My wife has proven this to me many times. She is awesome. Good luck to you both.

To square large/long things use the 345 Triangle. From the same point measure 3' one direction then 4' 90⁰ from it. That's 2 legs of a triangle. The long leg between it would be 5', hence the 345 Triangle which ends up with legs 90⁰ to each other. So it works in multiples if you have for example a large deck or frame 6,8,10 for example

its new experience u guys trying something I'm learning too by watching, I only wish u had done that grey rust paint thingy before the backfill

The winch was very clever. Good job you guys.

Hole saw tip as soon as your saw touchs your work, you have the circle scribed. Take and drill and drill two holes the width of the kerf about 180 degrees apart threw the steel. This relieves the chips alot faster with less effort.

so i just wanted to thank you , you two have given me hours of distraction and fun as im lying down for hours and hours everyday. 2 years ago i was just like you going and moving all the time then i injured my back lifting granite countertops, as we cut them from the slab. 2 failed surgeries later and about all i can do is watch you do fun stuff, i love it!!!!!

Great show, y'all. You are fun to watch, and thanks for keeping the bloopers in, tells us how real you are. Love to see it. You two give me smiles, as do the pups.

I've been off grid for 3 years, what I've found is even with the panels optimised for winter Sun (UK 🇬🇧) we have excess power in the summer, it's feast or famine.

The two of you are AMAZING !! How your minds think and develop these ideas is unbelievable. I have read some of the comments concerning high winds once the panels are installed. I like some of the comments about securing the uphill side, top of the container 'the part that was backfilled with the rocks' with cables that are attached to vertical steel beams that are cemented into the ground 10-15 feet from the container could help with any potential high winds or heavy snow. The way your minds work I'm sure you have already thought of the solar array destabilizing the entire container. Love your channel and all the things you have invented, created and built.