Moving a storage building

[Tractors4u]

Unlike dclymers building, I am taking mine across the county. It is about 8 ft wide and 16 ft long. Here is my saga. I plan on getting it on top of the rails of my 16ft trailer. First I jacked up one end and removed the blocks supporting that end. I stepped in the doorway and tilted the building so I could remove the blocks on the end that would go on the trailer first.

 

[Tractors4u]

Once I got the building pointed up ever so slightly I backed my trailer under it slightly.

 

[Tractors4u]

At this point I have the shed started on the trailer. A few weeks ago I bought one of these little dinky winches from a Homier tool sale for $29. It is rated at 6000lb rolling load, 2000lb stationary load, yeah right. I can't complain much for $29 dollars though. Anyway, it took 2 straps and 1 chain to get around the shed. I also placed a 4X4 under it to span the trailers width. I hooked up the winch and it pulled a little and stopped. My wife comes out and says, "too bad you don't have some grease to grease the rails with". Doh! why didn't I think of that? Got some grease and pulled a little more.

 

[Tractors4u]

Now the going is getting slow. I jack up the tail end and winch a little and jack and winch. I get to the point where I have about a foot of cable left on the winch and a bunch of shed hanging off the trailer. My tractor is across the county where the shed will be. My trailer has a shed on it so I can't run get the tractor. I go over to get my neighbors 48hp Deere and loader to finish the job and he has it at his other place. I ran out of time Sunday to finish the job so it looks like I will finish up Saturday. A buddy of mine is going to get my tractor with his trailer. I am going to try to use the 3 point to raise the shed up enough to get another couple of 4X4's under it and then we will push it the rest of the way on the trailer.

 

[JeffRey30747]

Brent,
You may want to make sure that you put some temporary cross bracing on the inside of that building before you get it on the road. We moved a building of similar appearance for my brother-in-law several years ago and it wasn't strong enough to withstand the stress of transport. The construction wasn't up to par with how I would have built it and there was more decay in the wooden building materials than we originally thought, causing some pretty extensive damage.

Jeff

 

[SPIKER]

Wow:

good ideas.

Though I think for the $ of the move it would have been almost as cheap to build a NEW barn on-site... But with the price of plywood now that is not a given.\
Mark /forums/images/graemlins/ooo.gif

 

[jinman]

Brent, it may be a little late now, but I'd suggest putting a section of pipe across the trailer rails under the shed so it rolls up into position.

I moved a building in two sections (12' x 24' each) to my property to use as a cabin about four years ago (see attachment). I rented a trailer that had a fixed roller at the back and a winch on the front. It was a "piece of cake" getting my cabin up onto the trailer and also getting it off. I used a combinaltion of the ratchet type farm jacks, a hydraulic floor jack, and a couple of specialty jacks made from old boat winches to lift the building.

I wouldn't expect your building to be nearly as heavy as mine. even schedule 40 plastic pipe might work as rollers.

 

[mikim]

ya might want to nail a tarp over the shingles - use strips of wood on top of the edge of the tarp and nail it into the trim on the bottom of the roof... 50 mile an hour wind can tear up some shingles. - be sure to nail it in front too of course

 

[Tractors4u]

The shingles are about shot on this shed but I still don't want them flying all over the place. Thanks for the tip.

 

[MarkV]

Brent,

How tall will the building trailer combination be? Will bridges or power lines be an issue?

Good luck
MarkV

 

[Tractors4u]

The total height will not be any higher than an 18 wheeler. Once I make it around my house and clear my TV cable I should be fine.

 

[Evasive1]

When I was reading this I was thinking exactly what Jinman said.
Maybe some 1/2" rebar on the rails of the trailer would be enough to act as rollers and be easy to remove and put back in when it came time to pull the shed off.

 

[Tractors4u]

Last Sunday I ran out of time before I went to church to finish getting the shed on the trailer, plus I thought getting the tractor over to my place would make things go much quicker. We went and picked up my 4310 this afternoon and start to work on the shed. Not having the tires loaded, I thought the tractor might be too light in the rear to get the building up. The only ballast was my 5ft landscape box. To my surprise the loader picked the low end of the shed up effortlessly. We then slid a couple more 4X4s in to support the shed and we were on our way. My buddy that helped asked me if we would take my tractor back to the new shed location. I told him no because I had some things at the house I wanted to do with it. Besides, I planned on using the dozer to pull it off of the trailer.

 

[Tractors4u]

We used to large ratchet straps to secure the building down and we were on our way for a 10-12 mile trip across the county and right through town our redneck trailer trailer. Bobby was following behind me acting as a spotter and blocker when I needed to change lanes. At about mile 3 I looked and he had stopped and was running to pick something up. I stopped to see if things were falling out of the shed. Nope, the rear 4X4 had came out and slid down the road. Oops /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif . Nothing we can do at this point. We checked the straps and went on. We didn't have anymore problems the rest of the way. I am planning on building a house this year behind my grandmother's place so I decided to put this building behind her house until I get the house built. Before we unloaded we needed to level a spot.

 

[Tractors4u]

OK remember I decided to leave my tractor behind and remember that 4X4 that fell out. Now both are causing problems. I was planning on pulling the shed off the trailer with the dozer. When we loosened the straps the shed dropped at the rear of the trailer and the end of the shed is on the ground and the cross members on the bottom of the shed are dragging on the trailer frame. Just so happens that I saw a buddy of mine heading to his future home site where he has a JD 1050 with a loader. The day is saved. He takes his bucket and lifts the end of the building off of the ground. We put a long round fence post under the shed. We play connect the straps and wrap them around the shed and hook them to his loader bucket and he pulls the shed off of the trailer. As it comes off we set concrete blocks under it.

 

[Tractors4u]

Now all that is left to do is come back and level it up some.

 

[ikline]

When My dad sold his house he gave me his 18' X 10' gazebo. I had to move it from Reading PA to Harrisburg PA (approximately 40 miles). I called around and had a guy with a flatbed come and pick it up and drop it off at the new location. Took about 2 hours and $100.00. I thought it was well worth it. But then again I did not have my Tractor at the time. Nothing wrong with more seat time. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[mrcaptainbob]

My younger son moved an 8 x 10 with a tow-truck! Moved it about 8 miles, I'd bet. He said the police passed him by with a 'frown', but kept on goin'....

 

[markct]

whats so wrong with moving an 8x10, the police shouldnt have had any reason to give him a frown if it was tied down, 8ft is well within legal, 8 ft 6 inch is the max width your allowed with no permit. i assume by tow truck tho you mean a rollback truck not a wrecker and just dragging it on the road, in that case i can see there dissaproval! my father told me once about a friend of his back in the early 70s who dragged a decent sized chicken coop thru town with a big IH tractor, said it wore the skids down a decent amount but got the job done and no one had a problem with it since it caused no damage to the road or anything

 

[mrcaptainbob]

Yeah, well, it was a wrecker. H slung some chain under it and through the windows, hoisted it up and drove away. He manages to do the outrageous. And is usually successful!! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif