Moving portable buildings

[cstocks]

My neighbor has two portable buildings on a lot that he has just sold and he needs to get them moved right away. He has two buildings, one 12x16 and the other 10x20. He wants to store one building on my three acre lot for about six months and he is giving me the other building for free. He and I have arranged to have them hauled over to my lot so transporting them is not the problem. The buildings are supposed to be off the lot by the end of next week and the ground has just dried out enough over the past few days to get the truck onto his lot to pick them up. The problem might be the weather. A front is supposed to be moving through and if it rains very much I am afraid the ground will be too wet for the truck to get to the buildings to pick them up. The truck is scheduled for Wed. or Thurs. so there is plenty of time for it to rain enough to complicate matters.

If it rains and the truck cannot drive onto the lot I am thinking about hooking up some chains or cables to my TC33D and dragging the buildings approx. 75-85 yds. to the front of the lot to where the truck can get to them.

So, here is my question. Can a portable building be dragged without damaging it? Both buildings are on skids and the skids run from end to end, so the game plan would be to hook up to the end of each building and pull it with my tractor. The ground is flat but not level so I don't know how much of a factor that will be. I don't have a clue how much either building weighs but I don't think weight will be a problem. I am just worried that I won't do it right or that I will tear the buildings up by dragging them.

Anyone have any experiences to relate or advice to offer?

 

[Gatorboy]

I have never moved buildings on skids (yet), but many of these buildings have holes drilled in the skids to run cable through them so you can drag them around -- hence the term "skid".

You should have no problem pulling them with your tractor, as long as you take it slow.

 

[jwstewar]

I've got 2 buildings on my property one 8X16 & one 12X16 they are each built on 4X4 runners or a skid as you refer to it. I plan on drilling a hole in the 4X4s and running a cable through all of them if I ever have to move them and dragging them with my truck (don't have a tractor). I would think you would be just fine provided you keep the pressure even between all of the runnings i.e. don't pull it by just one corner.

 

[Gary_in_Indiana]

Chris,

Most buildings I've seen built on skids had at least one end of the skids cut at a 45 degree angle (usually at the door end) to allow them to be dragged.

I don't know what kind of truck you have coming Wednesday or Thursday or how you have arranged to have your buildings moved but I'd like to make a suggestion. I've had great success moving small structures like you describe with a flatbed rollback car hauler. I'm talking about the kind that towing and recovery companies use.

The bed slides back from the cab and angles downward to the ground. They are able to obtain a surprisingly low angle. Many have removable side rails so you have a completely flat and open bed (your skids are likely high enough to put the crossmembers of the floor above the little sides, but check those measurements). With a winch at the bulkhead your buildings could easily be pulled up onto the bed and delivered wherever you ask and placed in whatever spot you choose.

The biggest advantage of this method is you can pick up the phone right now and call a towing/recovery company and have them come and do it now while the ground is dry. /w3tcompact/icons/clever.gif I hope this helps. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[micromike]

I bought a 10' by 16' portable building on skids from a neighbor a couple years ago. Pulled it home ( 100 yds.) with an S10 4x4 and had only one problem. We drilled through the ends of the skids and installed eyebolts and hooked a chain to the eyebolts. On the first pull one of the eyebolts opened up. We welded the eyebolts closed. No problems after that.

I've got some pictures somewhere. It was rather humorous to see a a truck pulling a building that looked almost twice the size of the truck. It would have made a great commercial.

 

[crb478]

They will slide on the skids as long as the ground is dry enough they do not dig in. If they dig in you may need to put down boards for them to slide on or put pipes or round post under the skids and roll the buliding forward on them replacing the pipes as the come out . This is a slow method, but it does not require much power to move the building

 

[Fly_Rodr]

I moved our 8 x 12 building with the tractor. The chain was able to wrap around the skids on each side, I then connected the chains to the FEL, lifted the front of the building slightly and moved it with no problems.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

As long as you have a spreader bar there shouldn't be a problem. If the buildings were built right, one should be incorporated into the skid itself. If you aren't sure, it's not that hard to make one up.
Towing a building without a spreader bar can collapse the building real quick, and by the time you notice the collapse, the building is trash.

 

[cstocks]

Thanks to all this morning for the replies. I figured it would be okay to drag the buildings by the skids... just needed a little confirmation.

Gary, Your suggestion about the car hauler is a good idea but I think time and the weather are working against me today. I have the Weather channel on and it looks like the gulf is about to send the Houston area some rain today and I don't know if I could round up a wrecker before the bottom falls out.

The truck that is going to move the buildings belongs to a contractor that my neighbor saw working on the side of the road. He had the bed tilted down and was digging up someone's yard with a backhoe. My neighbor just stopped and asked him and he said he would do it and to give him a call when the ground dried out and give him a couple of days advance notice. I called him on Friday and the middle of the week is as soon as he is available.

Today I am going to make the 30 minute drive over to the lot and check out the buildings and see exactly what will be involved in getting them moved. I wish the timing and the weather would have cooperated a little better but what the heck. A tractor project is what I bought a tractor for./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Thanks again to all for the suggestions.

 

[KYFARMER]

Cstocks, it is important that you make sure that there is enough braceing to prevent the two skids from closing up when you hook to them. This would only apply to the end you hook to.
It will supprise me if the tc33 will pull them. I guess it really depends on how heavily they are constructed. Only you know that. Good luck.