Transporting a Shed

RayCo · May 14, 2008

I came across an old shed that someone no longer wants, and I might be able to get it for free as long as I can get it off his property. But, how does one transport a shed? Is there anything special I need to know? The shed is 6' x 12', and my trailer is 5.5' x 10'. My thinking is that I could get this shed with the following items:

A rented trailer that is big enough
A lever of some kind to pick an edge of the shed up
A come-along
Something that I can put under the shed after I lever it up that would allow it to roll. ?

Any suggestions? I know the other option would be to disassemble it.

Thank you

Robert_in_NY · May 14, 2008

Hire a tilt bed and have them back up to it, lower the bed to where it is just under the lip of the shed and winch it on. You might have to add a winch anchor point to the shed but that would be the easiest and fastest.

mlauk · May 14, 2008

I would lift the shed using a high lift jack (or a front end loader if available) and block it or use jack stands. You might need to use 2 beams under the shed to clear the trailer and then drive the trailer under the shed. Set the shed and beams on the rails of the trailer and strap it down securely.

Bird · May 14, 2008

My two brothers moved a 10' x 12' storage shed about 40 miles by getting a rented U-Haul trailer, used a single farm jack to jack up one side, put blocks under it, jack up the other side a bit, put blocks under it, go back to the first side, and repeat the procedure until it was high enough they could simply back the trailer under it, then let it down onto the side rails of the trailer.

Of course, there was no way it was legal, but the trip was almost entirely on farm-to-market roads and they didn't get caught.

Rara Avis · May 14, 2008

Robert_in_NY said:
Hire a tilt bed and have them back up to it, lower the bed to where it is just under the lip of the shed and winch it on. You might have to add a winch anchor point to the shed but that would be the easiest and fastest.

I like Robert's solution...that's the way the local shed companies deliver sheds around here...They back up to the gravel foundation and slide the shed off the tilt bed and they are gone...

AlanB · May 15, 2008

Depends an awful lot on the shed, and it's value, but mostly on construction.

Does it have a floor? Does it have runner beams under it? Was it built in place or moved there as a unit? Is it structurally sound enough to lift without collapsing.

For rolling a shed to final position rollers of 4" PVC work real well. For pictures if you look for the post AlanB's house rework on the project page you can see how I moved my box shed then we did it on a rollback.

For my little metal sheds about the size that you are describing, 2 of us lifted an edge and slid it over on the trailer on the one with no floor, for the one with the floor I lifted the edge with the Bobcat.

I think mostly the answer is, it depends on the shed, it's location, what you have available to work with and how bad you want it

RayCo · May 15, 2008

AlanB said:
I think mostly the answer is, it depends on the shed, it's location, what you have available to work with and how bad you want it

Very good point.

It doesn't look like I'll be getting this shed now anyway, but I'm filing away this thread for future reference for any time I do come across a "get it off my property and it's yours" deal again.

Thanks everyone.

Charlesaf3 · May 15, 2008

Bird, what's illegal about shed transportation? Curious, so I don't ever get myself into an oops, didn't even know that was illegal situation.

I've thought about moving sheds a lot. But never came up with that jack and trailer under idea. Wow, seems obvious now, great idea.

DANOCHEESE · May 15, 2008

here is how I moved mine.
YouTube - shed gives birth

Bird · May 15, 2008

Charles, the only thing illegal about it was the fact that it was 10' wide, so to be legal you'd need to get an oversize permit, which they did not do.

Charlesaf3 · May 15, 2008

D'oh!

Of course. Now why didn't I think of that? I was thinking over height, how do you chain a shed, etc...

firemanpat2910 · May 15, 2008

had a buddy that lost his hunting rights on family farm, had to have all his stuff gone on a sunday morning. We picked up his 10x 15? shed/cabin/poker room with a escavator, set it on a 20' trailer behind my 250 and hauled it 10 miles down the road. unloaded by draging it off with a backhoe. even left the tables, chairs and beer fridge in it the whole time

Bird · May 15, 2008

how do you chain a shed

Very carefully.

It was (still is) a pretty well built shed and I think they had both chains and ratchet straps.

EastTexFrank · May 16, 2008

Bird said:
Charles, the only thing illegal about it was the fact that it was 10' wide, so to be legal you'd need to get an oversize permit, which they did not do.

A minor detail. As an ex-cop Bird, you know that it's only illegal if you get caught.

Bird · May 16, 2008

That's right, Frank, and one of my brothers is a ex-cop, too, but he only did about 3 years on the Anchorage Police Department instead of making a career of it like I did.

Rara Avis · May 17, 2008

firemanpat2910 said:
even left the tables, chairs and beer fridge in it the whole time

Of course you did, you had to have some place to relax after all that work, didn't you?...

RayCo · Mar 14, 2011

This is an old thread, that I realized I never updated. I wound up transporting a 10x10 shed about 30 miles on my 5.5x10 landscape trailer. Feel free to scold me!

With the siding stripped off:

Pulling it on with the help of a couple of highlift jacks and a Craftsman FF20

Pulled it around to the driveway on the other side of the house, and the shed fell off. Oops. We needed a car (a cool Impala SS) to pull it back on.

Structurally braced it and secured it to the trailer.

After a 30 mile, uneventful trip.

timswi · Mar 14, 2011

Congrats...I don't believe I would have tried that one though.

Diamondpilot · Mar 14, 2011

I bet the weight was not all that bad once you got the siding off. Maybe 1,500#?

Only ooops I see is were you tried to move it before securing it fully.

Good job.

Chris

RayCo · Mar 14, 2011

Hey, thanks. Yeah, weight wise, it wasn't bad, although probably technically over the limit of my 1500# trailer, which is not a massless trailer. It was light enough for my tractor to lift half of it, so it had to be under 1500#, actually. Last photo: