A tight beachside village with an enormous fig canopy over the main street and blocks that were subdivided long before anyone imagined a twelve metre truck. Sawtell is the most likely place on this list for the answer to be a crane truck, and that is not a problem, it is just the right vehicle.
For Sawtell, the units we load are mostly for household storage through the renovations that run constantly in this village, tools and materials for the trades working them, furniture storage for properties that change hands or get let seasonally, and overflow for the businesses along First Avenue with nothing behind them. A hay shed and a home office are different purchases. We would rather match the unit in the yard to the job than sell you the dearest box on the row.
Not sure a 20ft is enough? The dimensions page has the internal measurements, and the used 40ft guide price sits closer to the 20ft than most people expect.
| Size | Used from | New from |
|---|---|---|
| 10ft Containers | $4,350 | $6,400 |
| 20ft Containers | $2,200 | $3,300 |
| 40ft Containers | $2,600 | $5,500 |
These are entry points, ex GST. Ring for the box we would actually send to Sawtell; the figure you get covers the truck too.
People hear crane truck and hear extra cost, and there is one. What is worth weighing against it is the alternative, which in a lot of Sawtell situations is not a cheaper delivery — it is no delivery, or a container sitting on the verge because that is as far as the tilt-tray could get.
A HIAB lifts the container up and over a fence, a hedge, a retaining wall or a garden and sets it down where you actually want it. It needs somewhere legal and stable to stand and clear air between there and the spot. If you tell us up front that it is a tight village block, we will quote the right vehicle first time rather than quote a tilt-tray and revise it.
Sawtell renovates continuously and the storage problem is always the same shape: a house has to be emptied, the job will take longer than the builder said, and putting everything into a facility means loading it twice and paying by the month for access you rarely use.
A container in the driveway or on the nature strip, where council permits it, means one load-in and one load-out and the contents stay on the property. For a job of three months or more it is usually cheaper than storage as well. Hire suits this better than buying — the rates are on the hire page — and if the renovation turns into something longer, a buy-out avoids a second delivery.
First Avenue's figs are the single most quoted access constraint we have on this coast. They arch across the road and they are not going anywhere, and a tilt-tray with the bed raised is a great deal taller than one driving underneath. Off the main street, the older village blocks are narrow with short driveways, established gardens and frequently a fence or a retaining wall between the road and where the container needs to sit. Parking on both sides of the street removes what little turning room there was. The practical consequence is that a crane truck lifting over the obstacle is the standard solution here rather than the exception — it costs more per job and it puts a container into back yards that nothing else will reach. Out through Toormina and Boambee East the geometry relaxes considerably and ordinary tilt-tray work is usually fine. Sand and salt apply as they do everywhere on this stretch.
We would rather sort the vehicle from photos than find out at the gate. Measure the tightest point, pace out the straight run, and glance overhead — the block-access guide explains why each matters.
Usually, with a crane truck. Narrow blocks, short driveways, established gardens and the fig canopy over First Avenue mean lifting over the obstacle is the standard approach here. Send photos of the street frontage and the intended spot and we will confirm the vehicle and the price before you book.
That is a council question rather than ours, and the answer varies by location and duration. City of Coffs Harbour is the authority for Sawtell. Ask them before you book the delivery — it is a short conversation and a much better one to have in advance.
The yard is at 1a Reid St, South Grafton. Ring ahead and we will have a unit opened up for you.
Or skip the form entirely.
Call (02) 5616 9099