Moving 16x12 shed on car trailer.

[Ryan03]

I have the opportunity to purchase at a very cheap price a 16ft long x 12ft wide and 10 1/2ft high nice used wooden shed. Problem, no towing companies want to move it due to the combined height of the slideback bed and shed being over 13.6 ft.

I am pretty confident that I can carefuly haul it the 2mi to my house on my 18ft car hauler. My tentative plan is to jack up one end and block it up high enough to get the dovetail on my trailer under it, slide a couple schedule 40 4 in pcv pipes under it, and winch it up on a wooden 2x8 platform 7 1/2in high the length of the trailer between my trailer fenders to allow the shed to just clear my fenders.

The trip would consist of a slow drive just under 2mi of rural township road with very very light traffic. I would have my 27hp 4x4 tractor with FEL to assist with loading where needed. I am not interested in the legalities, just the feasability of doing this. It would cost me 2k to build one like it, and I can purchase this for under $500, so I have room to pay a few hundred dollars in traffic fines if needed.

 

[SPIKER]

If you do I would say plan it for very early morning on a Sunday or Saturday at just past sun up to start the move. maybe have some one driving a chase car or two...

Mark

 

[DanD78]

You don't say what kind of botton the shed has if it has skids or if it was stick built on a slab. I have moved both on my goose neck trailer. The one on runners we rolled it up the bever tail on pipes and pulled with a come a long. I tied the shed to a tree and drove the truck away to pull the shed off. The one off a slab was a 14X20 grage. I took out the other end and backed my trailer thorugh the door and out the other side. I put several 2X10across the deck nailing to the studs on the walls. I jacked it up and put blocks under the cross boards to get it off the ground. Moved it acorss town early on a sunday morning. This kind of stuff is not usually an issue in our small community.

Dan

 

[irwin]

I'm not so sure your 27 hp tractor will lift the shed very high or very easily.. a shed that size weighs about 3000lbs. I can lift an end of mine with my 35 hp L35 but it wasn't a snap.
I'm very surprised no one will tow it..However it might be doable with your trailer..here's a link describing a across the yard move. Moving A Small Garden Shed Across The Yard With A Pickup Truck

and here's Connecticuts rules for moving sheds .Answers to common questions about moving sheds by Green Mountain Transport

I hope you'll find someone that'll move your shed, those professional shed movers make it look very easy and some are cheap..less than $500.

Good luck

ps: here's a picture of mine 12x16'..it was moved 30 miles through connecticut back roads and highways..the driver had to pick a route that had no overpasses that were less than what was needed..worked out fine.

 

[beenthere]

Have a pic of the shed?
Sounds like, if done right, moving it on the car trailer should work.

Question is just how you plan to go about it...which may just work fine.

I think I'd jack it all up straight, block it. Then move the trailer under it, and lower it straight back down on your decking, or on timbers. Pulling it up that high onto rollers may cause it to rack and fall into pieces. Keeping it straight and with braces inside will be helpful, IMO.

 

[Kernopelli]

I don't see a problem with doing this, if it has skids the pipe method works well although we always used metal. Sched 40 pvc is strong but if that's all you have be sure to use plenty to spread the load on them. In the early '90's a friend and I built quite a few portable buildings and moved them on a 20' flat bed trailer w/4' dove tail. We would use the same method to load them...jack up the front and push the dove tail under the skids, used pipes as rollers and a come along to winch it up. To unload we would use a tree or stakes as an anchor ( all pretty much as DanD described)and drove out from under it to pull the building off. When the end of the building got close to the end of the dove tail we would block it up and pull the trailer clear then jack the building down. We would get permits for oversized buildings but that was a different scenario than you are describing. If traffic is of any concern, get a buddy to drive a chase vehicle.

 

[2manyrocks]

Have you driven the route and looked at overhead power lines just to be sure?

I had a 12 x 16 shed moved on a rollback with no problems other than a few tree limbs hitting the side as it went down the road. Some of the rollback drivers are more fussy about the height than others.

 

[Mousefield]

Good luck with your move. Please take and post some pics for us. Good or bad we'll look at them.

 

[Reg]

Couple of things we found bringing a shed down from Maine on a car hauler.
They are very WEAK, due mostly to the big hole(s) aka DOOR opening(s), so brace those.
The other strength issue is that they CRUSH if you try to tie them down with 27 ft 3 inch cargo straps.
Just a big hollow box, we should have seen that coming (-:
12 ft wide is going to hang WAY over the wheels {think PERMITS} and have to be on top of the fenders.
It WILL be high, very high.
We were very close in a number of places, though I don't remember our total height.
Start by measuring the height of the tops of your fenders, then SERIOUSLY consider dismantling the whole thing and packing it flat.
You will still have side walls that are 8ft or more, but for the hassle we went through to jack that thing up and get the trailer under it, then position the damned thing and unload it, if I had to do it again I would DEFINITELY take it apart.

 

[magicheater]

I moved one at work a few years ago. Did not take it on the road though.

 

[sld]

Make sure you pick a day that the wind is light.

 

[SPIKER]

forgot to add the link to the shed I raised up 2 yrs ago.
shed raise pictures by WPSPIKER - Photobucket

Mark

 

[debo1683]

I just sold a 14x16 shed on Craigslist. The guy that bought it moved in about an hour from my location to his location. He cut it in half and just put big tie down straps on the trailer over the roof of the shed. When he came back for the second half, I asked him about the first. He said it made the trip fine. I would think you would be fine. This shed went on a 65 mph highway, cut in half.

 

[radioman]

I moved a slightly smaller shed then yours. Its 12 by 14 and its a gable roof style with the floor 2by4's as part of roof frame as well. I just used a floor jack and lots of shimming blocks. I used firewood stacked on each corner as I jacked it 6 inches or so at a time until it was high enough to slip the 8 by 16trailer under the shed and moved it's to a final location. Getting it up in the air and put trailer underneath by yourself took me most of the day. Keep in mind that I had to go higher then your flatbed trailer as I have built in metal sides that will not come off. I quit for the night and moved it in the morning with my kubota.

Your plan sounds fine, however I feel uneasy winching it. It could twist it in a way you might have problems later. I'd rather get it high enough to back the trailer in and then set down.

I would put a SVM sign on the back of the shed and use the tractor to drive it home with someone following you with the flashers on. This would look "more legal" going down the road. good luck!

 

[mlauk]

I moved a 10 x 12 shed on a 18 foot car trailer recently. Here is the link in "trailers and transportation" under "storage shed move"

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/trailers-transportation/159019-storage-shed-move.html

 

[beenthere]

mlauk
Only found one pic of your shed move. Any more?

Looks like you handled it quite well.

 

[Car Doc]

I did it once fact it was the first thing I did after I got my tractor and basically did it the same as you are planning to do it will work fine as long as you have enough weight on the rear of your tractor to lift it.

I first picked mine up at one end and rolled a piece of telephone pole as far back under it as the shed would balance on and then backed my car trailer under it and went around to the other end and shoved it on and away I went.

Getting it off was another story after we managed to get around all the power lines and trees but you may not have the same difficultys as me. good luck be safe

Steve

 

[mlauk]

mlauk
Only found one pic of your shed move. Any more?

Looks like you handled it quite well.

There were more pics of unloading the shed at the end of link. I didn't get any more pictures loading the shed on the trailer, but would have done more things like when I unloaded it if I had to do it over again.

 

[Ryan03]

Some more info, the barn is a gambrel style, and although the dimensions are 12x16, the shed is actualy 16 ft wide at the widest portion of the roof halfway up the side of the building. The shed was stick built on site, however it has a base made of horizontaly placed 4x4's and plywood, and it sits on concrete blocks. The owner jacked up one end and leveled it a couple years ago, and it came through that with flying colors. The road I would be taking it down is a roliling hill rural township chip seal road with a width of 18ft. My biggest concern is it has a small bridge at the bottom of a large ravine,that has gaurd rail on each side of it and no shoulder. The approach and departure of the bridge are opposite bends slightly less than 45 degrees. The length of the bridge is only about 20ft. This will be a tight bend to make. There are lots of overhead wires across the road, however they all appear to be plenty high enough.

I would be moving this on a weekend, preferably just after first light, I would have two escort vehicles, one in front to warn traffic in blind spots ahead of me, and one following me. One of my many day job duties is to drive 48ft carryall hauling all sorts of construction supplies and equipment. I feel confident I could handle it once I got it up on the trailer, it is just getting it on and off without destroying it that concerns me.

 

[Reg]

Some more info, the barn is a gambrel style, and although the dimensions are 12x16, the shed is actualy 16 ft wide at the widest portion of the roof halfway up the side of the building. The shed was stick built on site, however it has a base made of horizontaly placed 4x4's and plywood, and it sits on concrete blocks. The owner jacked up one end and leveled it a couple years ago, and it came through that with flying colors. The road I would be taking it down is a roliling hill rural township chip seal road with a width of 18ft. My biggest concern is it has a small bridge at the bottom of a large ravine,that has gaurd rail on each side of it and no shoulder. The approach and departure of the bridge are opposite bends slightly less than 45 degrees. The length of the bridge is only about 20ft. This will be a tight bend to make. There are lots of overhead wires across the road, however they all appear to be plenty high enough.

I would be moving this on a weekend, preferably just after first light, I would have two escort vehicles, one in front to warn traffic in blind spots ahead of me, and one following me. One of my many day job duties is to drive 48ft carryall hauling all sorts of construction supplies and equipment. I feel confident I could handle it once I got it up on the trailer, it is just getting it on and off without destroying it that concerns me.

With that "more information", particularly the 16ft max width and zig-zag for the bridge I'm going to suggest a trial run.

Tack some 2 x 4s to your trailer's floor in such a way that they outline the shed as you expect it to be when loaded on there, at least get the corners right.

Make your trial run at day break, have your chase vehicles, have your tools so you can break it down if/when caught (-:

It might reveal a real SHOW STOPPER of a problem - like the geometry just doesn't work, or encourage you to go ahead with it.

Personally I would probably do such a trial run before putting a deposit on the shed.