Moving a storage shed

[clemsonfor]

Throw some ideas out there for me. My neighbor is giving me his old 12x16 shed. It's at least 35 years old. Frame looks and appears solid so pulling from the skids should be an option.

My plan is to wait till it's dry and put a chain or rope between the side skids and pull with a tractor. If necessary putting like a 2x8 onto the bottom of the skid perpendicular to them so it's like a ski so it may not dig in as far....or maybe even cutting small logs to use as rollers. He is adjacent to me. I will have to take down a portion of his fence but that's no big deal. Total distance to move is like 100 yards.

Throw some ideas I may not have thought about it there.

 

[bcp]

You need a brace between skids, or a spreader bar, to keep them from being pulled together.

Bruce

 

[Jstpssng]

I dragged my 6x10 foot chicken coop 1/4 mile on 2 skids, each made of (2) 2x6's nailed together. I nailed 2x6 cleats between the skids on front and back of the building similar to what BCP shows above, except that mine were on top to keep the building from sliding forward or backward.
If you have the material and skills you might weld a couple of brackets to go between the skids.

Then just take it slow and easy. If something doesn't look right, stop and reassess.

 

[pmsmechanic]

What I did once and it worked quite well was to put the skids onto 2x12's or so and then wet the grass just in front of the skids as I was moving the shed along. The water helped ease the friction and the 2x12's prevented the skids from cutting into the grass.

 

[4570Man]

As bcb already said you’ll need a spreader bar to prevent the skids from getting ripped off.

 

[Dale Binkley]

I helped a neighbor move a shed using my B2100 a few years ago. We had 4 or 5 8' lengths of 4" PVC piping (schedule 40?) that we used as rollers under the skids of the shed frame. Worked well for us but only had about half your distance to move it. I put a 4" X 4" timber at the rear of the shed and we ran a long chain from the timber under the shed and fastened it to the draw-bar of the B2100. A couple long spikes through the timber into the skids of the shed helped hold it in place.

 

[clemsonfor]

What I did once and it worked quite well was to put the skids onto 2x12's or so and then wet the grass just in front of the skids as I was moving the shed along. The water helped ease the friction and the 2x12's prevented the skids from cutting into the grass.

This is what I was talking about when I was referring to a ski.

 

[clemsonfor]

You need a brace between skids, or a spreader bar, to keep them from being pulled together.

View attachment 595073

Bruce

As bcb already said you’ll need a spreader bar to prevent the skids from getting ripped off.

Good call on spreader bar. I forgot about that.

This shed has double 2x8 or 2x10s on each skid and has 4 of those. There is one on the outsides and then one like 18"s inboard of those.

 

[clemsonfor]

I helped a neighbor move a shed using my B2100 a few years ago. We had 4 or 5 8' lengths of 4" PVC piping (schedule 40?) that we used as rollers under the skids of the shed frame. Worked well for us but only had about half your distance to move it. I put a 4" X 4" timber at the rear of the shed and we ran a long chain from the timber under the shed and fastened it to the draw-bar of the B2100. A couple long spikes through the timber into the skids of the shed helped hold it in place.

I thought about PVC. Glad to hear that it worked. I'm worried this thing will crush. But schedule 40 is strong as long as there is enough they should be ok.

 

[s219]

I've done this with rollers and it worked well. Used round fence posts. If you have 3-4 of them and a person to keep recycling the rollers back in front as the shed is rolling, it is pretty efficient.

 

[clemsonfor]

Yeah that's wife and or neighbor will be the roller recyclers. This is the plan I think I will use. It was my first thought. I am glad the spreader bar was mentioned, as I had not thought about that but seen it done before. My neighbor has some piles of stuff laying around, he may have some old fence posts even.

 

[Thomas]

The roll idea best,if up pull by skid have pull end lumber cut like ski so it doens't dig end when pulling.

 

[HillStreet]

I moved a 8 x 16 she’d 5 miles using a car carrier. He winched it up, drove it to the new site, and lowered it. Then I used bars and jacks to position it.

 

[clemsonfor]

I moved a 8 x 16 she’d 5 miles using a car carrier. He winched it up, drove it to the new site, and lowered it. Then I used bars and jacks to position it.

This would be what I would do as well if I was going farther than the yard right next to me. Plus I don't want a roll back in my yard. I don't think he could easily get back there anyway. I would probably still have to move it a little bit.

 

[oosik]

View attachment 595175 One of my out buildings is a log cabin. 16' x 24'. It was constructed in 1955 down at the far end of my little lake. When we moved down here from AK - we wanted to relocate it up near the house. I tried a skid system like bcp shows in post #2. It would not budge - even using the neighbors big IHCase monster.

Soooo....we took it down - log by log, numbered each one and reassembled it as shown in the picture.

Probably just as well that it went that way. I would have never been able to skid it to its current location anyhow.

 

[clemsonfor]

Anyone have an idea what a 12x16 shed might weigh? Just a low pitch A frame roof she'd, no loft or anything.

 

[oosik]

There were several reasons my log cabin would not "skid". #1 - I was using two LARGE Ponderosa pines under the cabin and with the bark still on - they weren't so very slick. #2 - the cabin weighed more than I thought #3 - even using the neighbors big tractor, simply couldn't get sufficient traction.

The "plan" was to skid and have the ground grind off the bark and expose the slick cambium layer. It never got that far.

Hind sight is still 20/20.

 

[zzvyb6]

What's it weigh (again). Pick it up from the center with your loader bucket. Clamp some steel square tubing on it and pick it up by the rafters. Heck it would fit crossways on a hay wagon or snowmobile trailer. Keep your speed under 30 mph and you will be fine.

 

[Jstpssng]

What's it weigh (again). Pick it up from the center with your loader bucket. Clamp some steel square tubing on it and pick it up by the rafters. Heck it would fit crossways on a hay wagon or snowmobile trailer. Keep your speed under 30 mph and you will be fine.

It's 12x16, it would take a pretty big loader to lift it.

 

[ruffdog]

I remember This Old House moved a dark green garage with a medium sized dump truck. The truck barely fit inside, they built a framework to the dump box, lifted, and drove.