Loading and transporting a 12x24' shed

I might have a chance of claiming a free shed, but I need to figure out how to move it.

Here is what I have available to me to use at the shed site:

1 Kubota L39 with pallet forks, 1 kubota L45 with pallet forks, enough trucks/trailers to get everything there, and a 22 foot deck-over trailer for moving the shed. The two kubota's together should be able to lift the shed, if we can figure out the best way. We are estimating the shed weight to be ~3500 lbs.

So, what is the best way to pick up this shed,and transport it across a lawn, and a flower bed and onto a trailer. Our worry is if we pick up both ends with the machines, it may flex to much, or even break in the middle. Has anyone ever used cable to tension corner-corner long ways/diagonal inside the shed?

Any ideas? I'm open to all options, since supposedly the shed is really nice, full vinyl siding and windows. I'm going to look at the site today or tomorrow.

I researched the overwidth permits, that part is actually cheap and easy from what I see in NJ. Let me know if thats not the case. At my house, I currently have a full size backhoe, so the unload is simple


thanks,

Joe

PVC pipe as rollers under the shed, lift side by side and place blocking underneath until you can get the 4" PVC underneath. With that size you may need to use one of the tractors to pull, but most can be pushed by 2 men while a third exchanges the sticks of pvc.

Sounds crazy, but I have done it numerous times.

Dan

Is it possible to jack and block up the shed and back the trailer under the shed?

Brandon_oma#692 said:

Is it possible to jack and block up the shed and back the trailer under the shed?

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Unfortunately there is no way to get the truck/trailer to the shed, mostly due to the home owner's wishers, and some because the ground is really soft.

Joe92GT said:

Unfortunately there is no way to get the truck/trailer to the shed, mostly due to the home owner's wishers, and some because the ground is really soft.

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If that is the case you won't likely get a Kubota back there either without tearing up the yard. Rollers is likely your best case assuming this isn't up some huge hill. The catch is getting it over the flower bed without damaging it.

If the Kubota can get back there, you can use 2x6s or whatever to brace the walls. Use both diagonal kickers going from the top of one wall down to the bottom of the other wall. Done to both sides, you'll form Xs that can be lag bolted at the intersection point. As added protection, you can then install horizontal braces from wall to wall. This assumes the interior isn't finished and you can access studs to screw the braces/kickers to. I'd recommend removing the windows prior to moving.

dismantle it and then re-assemble at your place.

How about a hay wagon of sorts. Would weigh less than the truck and trailer. The 2 Kubotas will tear up the yard, as previously said. Maybe back in the wagon, lift the shed in front onto the wagon, and then lift the read and slid onto the wagon. The wagons are usually road worthy. Don't know how far you have to travel...OR WHERE YOU ARE FROM!! The more tires or "trucks" you get under the shed the less yard damage, as you well know. Just my 2 cents.

Is this a flat roof shed? What would be the total height of the trailer, shed and any blocking in between the two? How far do you have to go and what is the route like? Day/Night traffic, police assistance, INSURANCE RIDER, zoning restrictions for your property, etc., etc.. All these things and more should be considered before taking this 'freebie' on.

Get a couple (dozen) buddies together and just carry it.

http://general-forums.com/t85957/

Joe92GT said:

Unfortunately there is no way to get the truck/trailer to the shed, mostly due to the home owner's wishers, and some because the ground is really soft.

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... Then how do you expect to get those Kubotas there without damaging the property?

ockie said:

... Then how do you expect to get those Kubotas there without damaging the property?

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The landscaper who told me about the shed insists its fine for a kubota, and mainly home owner not knowing any better refuses trucks. He does it for a living, and one of the machines is his and he saw the site.

Omphaloskeptic said:

Is this a flat roof shed? What would be the total height of the trailer, shed and any blocking in between the two? How far do you have to go and what is the route like? Day/Night traffic, police assistance, INSURANCE RIDER, zoning restrictions for your property, etc., etc.. All these things and more should be considered before taking this 'freebie' on.

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I need to measure the shed, but I'm pretty sure its going to come in under 13' 6" on the trailer blocked ect. That is a sticking point, over height is not worth dealing with.

I am from Northern NJ. The shed will need to be transported about 25 miles, all higthway, 4 lane, 2 lane, and then my house is 1 mile off the 2 lane state highway.

My property,and where I live there is no problems with zone restrictions. I am going to build essentially the same structure if this doesn't work out.

For 12' wide, plus roof I won't need police assistance. However, I can easily get it at the originating town, luckily my friend is an officer there. The highway is no problem.

Over width permits and insurance rider would be on my friends landscape business, again no problem. We have just never dealt with over width permits before, so that is one variable but it seems straight forward and inexpensive.

What about positioning each tractor so the forks are on opposite walls, under the shed. Lift both sets of forks at the same time, raising the building just a few inches. Then with alot of coordination, drive one tractor while someone is backing the other, and move the shed.

Or remove the forks, and run chain from each tractor under the shed to the other.

JamieK said:

What about positioning each tractor so the forks are on opposite walls, under the shed. Lift both sets of forks at the same time, raising the building just a few inches. Then with alot of coordination, drive one tractor while someone is backing the other, and move the shed.

Or remove the forks, and run chain from each tractor under the shed to the other.

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A tractor on each side is exactly what we were thinking. The question there becomes the structural rigidity of the shed, can it actually be point loaded this way.

The chain under is a neat idea.

As far as structural stability was this shed built onsite or originally hauled there?

If it was a prebuilt shed there should be 4x4 or 4x6 skids running the entire length of the bottom of the shed, and it is designed to be picked up on one end and support itself. Assuming that you pick up the shed by placing the forks under these skids, or at the least use a 4x6 beam to span the skids, it should hold up fine.

If you are too concerned and the building looks rickety, you can always use the suggestions listed above, and fasten diagonal bracing on the walls inside the building.

Joe92GT said:

The landscaper who told me about the shed insists its fine for a kubota, and mainly home owner not knowing any better refuses trucks. He does it for a living, and one of the machines is his and he saw the site.

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Tell the guy he can keep his shed... I had a deal similar to this the other week removing one of those wood playhouse/swingsets for a homeowner that originally said we could just tip it onto a trailer. I wanted it for my little girl and don't have the cash for a new one at this point so I drove an hour or so with a trailer to get there, only to discover this thing is in an upscale development and down a fairly steep hill in his backyard and he won't let me back the trailer anywhere close to it, had to keep it in the driveway...

I was pissed but at after driving that far, doggoneit I'm taking this thing home, so I decided to just tear the whole thing down, my brother came up to help, but had I know the hassle it was going to be I would have never bothered.

Not sure why the idiot told me I could just tip it onto a trailer if he wouldn't let me back the trailer up to it, I guess he was too ignorant to think further than his nose. LOL he even commented that I seemed like I did this professionally like I knew what I was doing... here's the irony.... I was flyin blind just tearing it apart in manageable sized pieces, I'm partially disabled, I run a computer all day, and have had little to no interest in tools much less building or fixing anything until the last year or so...

People that are too dumb to understand moving a large object like that are also going to be a p.i.t.a. about keeping their lawn nice and making you cleanup or fix any little mess that is made... a pickup and tandem axle trailer maneuvered properly will leave less of a mess than 2 kubotas trying to drag a shed... that's gonna leave a mark.

Good luck

I go with the idea of taking it apart and re-assembling it.
It is just too long and too wide to do it through a town otherwise.

Put in an extra stud at he mid point of the long walls.
Use your tractors to take off the roof framing.
(Your choice on how much carpentry you want to save.)

Cut through the walls at the mid point.
8 foot walls can be laid flat on a low bed car carrier trailer.
Otherwise stand them up with 8 foot side uprights on the trailer.

The trick is to keep the loads less than 8 feet wide and 12 feet high.
That is the usual through town limits.

Make use of these lifts you have on the tractors.
They make a lot of heavy work easy.
If you have the foundation ready at the far end you are talking less than a day putting everything back together.

we moved my 10' x 20' shed with some 3 " pvc pipe and a small tractor

My company regularly moves 16' wide (plus overhang) x up to 54' long (plus overhang) buildings up to 13' 6" tall (plus trailer) buildings. It's all a matter of getting the right permits, etc. A 12x24 is a piece of cake for our guys. This is in Texas so YMMV.

Hey! Just thought of something. Call your local storage barn companies. Ask them if they have a "Mule" to move barns with. Just call it that. If they have one they will know what you mean. If they ask what a "Mule" is, thank them and hang up. If you find one ask what they will charge to get the building out to the street for you. And ask what they will charge to move it to your property.

I would just take a leaf out of the books on the guys that move houses.... Make a track like a train, then put the PVC under and roll it..... A winch would be helpful, they usually have about 100ft of cable.
Me--- I would haul it late at night, less cars, less cops on duty. Make sure you tag the trailer with wide load and just have some one follow...

When I built my garage, I had the old 12 x 24 garage hauled away by a company that picks up old single car garages and resells them for use as storage sheds, gardening sheds and so on. What they did was lag bolt some 2X stock to each side wall, and then they put some 4x6s across the garage, underneath the 2Xs fastened to the side walls, and lagged them in place. Then, with a series of jacks they jacked up the 4x6s to lift the garage up high enough that they could back a flatbed truck in, and let the garage down so the 4x6s were sitting on the truck's flatbed. Finally, they fastened some temporary lights on the garage exterior, hopped in the truck, and drove away.

The garage was small enough that they didn't have any height restrictions, but they did have a wide load banner across the front bumper. They did the actual move at about 2am to avoid traffic.

The funny thing is one of my neighbors had just gotten home from the bar and was pretty buzzed...he was sitting on the couch when suddenly my garage drove past his window. For a second he thought he was hallucinating.

edit: Here's a photo of the garage all loaded up and ready to go.

You mention width and length but how about height? Do you have to go under any bridges? Measure height of trailer and shed, then check the height of any bridges or power lines you may have to go under. Just a thought.

I tool a look at the shed last night. Well, apparently 12x24 really means 10x16.

At first glance, its a straight run with the trailer right to the shed, but as soon as we stepped on the lawn that plan changed. While the rain for the past week hasn't helped, this is clearly a water logged area. On top of that, its an upscale development, with really nice landscaping.

I think we are going to go with plan D, dis-assemble the thing on site.

The shame of it is that the shed is located 2 miles off the main interstate highway, on commercial/empty roads, and I live 2 miles off another smaller highway. The actual transport of the structure would have been a breeze, couldn't ask for a better route.

MyKingdom said:

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I never seem to remember to take pictures.


If we do take it apart, I will snap pics of the whole process.

Any ideas of the best way to save the roof, if possible? I hate the thought of having to pay to get rid of shingles, only to but more shingles to put back on.

Getting the machine to the shed is not possible right now, or will need to put down plywood. But that is $$

I've been lurking for a little while, but this seemed like a good time to make a first post...

In preparation for building a larger garage / workshop, and being frugal and not wanting to waste or destroy a good shed, I recently moved mine.
I haven't seen if yours is all enclosed or something else, but here is what I did:

My shed was about 48x12 total, with the first 12 ft being fully enclosed with a concrete slab, and the rest (32ft) being open on the front. It was a post frame building. I first removed sheet metal and boards that connected the two sections, thus creating a 12x12 enclosed and a 32x12 lean-to. as you can see in the picture, it also had a roof connecting it to another 24x32 workshop. This roof made it quite a bit harder.



To make a long story short, I moved the 32x12 lean-to first, by driving my 24hp Yanmar up under it, and then building bracing down to the bucket and the 3pt hitch. After breaking it free from the ground, I simply (HUGE EXAGERATION) drove it out to the field where I wanted it.


For the 12x12 enclosed shed still remaining, I dug around all of the 4x4 posts sticking through the slab into the ground, and then cut them off flush with the bottom of the slab. With the help of a relative's much larger tractor, my plan was to drag it out to the field where I wanted it. Well, it actually would have worked well the first time if I had wrapped my chains around the back edge of the slab, instead of the middle. With the chains wrapped through the middle, we started pulling, and before we realized it, the slab had split down the middle and we started pulling the building apart.


I re-rigged my chains around the back of the slab, and we resumed pulling. Having to make a coupld of turns, the slabs eventually worked themselves into a bad position that made us have to stop.

At this point, I decided it would be easiest to remove the entire building, fix it where we had partially pulled it apart and damaged it, and move the slab separately.


I first repaired most of what we had torn apart of the shed so I could move it, used a sledge hammer to bust the concrete around each of the 4x4 posts, and then, similar to your idea, I used the FEL on both my Kubota and my Yanmar, one on the front overhang, and one on the back overhang, and slowly moved it (by myself!) off of the slab. At this time, my dad and other relative with the tractor showed back up, and we used chains to move the (now 3) broken sections of concrete slab into place. Once the concrete was in place and mostly back together, my dad and I, one on each tractor, moved the shed back in place on top of the slab.


After patching the concrete, resetting all of the posts, and re-nailing all of the sheet metal between the two sections, I'm honestly very proud of how it turned out and how perfectly usable it still is. It was a good experience and I learned a lot from it. I still need to replace or cover the window openings where the glass busted out.


Lessons learned -
I would have braced everything move before doing any moving
I would have started off more slowly and checked everything more regularly before damage occured.


I don't have any closer pictures of the final product:


If you haven't started dismantling your shed yet, I just wanted to try and convince you to save time and effort and just move it as it is, just brace everything much better than I did. Just wait until the ground is relatively solid so you don't destroy the yard and possibly dig ruts.

we have a 45 foot container box we move all the time, they have a trailer that lays down, winch up and leave, all of 12 minutes. we haul it hundred of miles at times. pretty cheap. last haul was fifty miles for $200, took less than 90 minute to pick up haul and lay back down. last site was muddy too.

My dad and I have done this 3 times in the last few years with sheds he bought off CL. A 12x16 hip roof Tough Shed, 10x12 gambrel roof Tough Shed barn and a 12x24 gambrel barn. Both Tough Sheds had the standard floor they do for sheds and the 12x24 was osb attached to 4x6 skids with the building frame attached to that. Both Tough Sheds made it fine without any issues. Both were transported about 12 miles. The other shed would have been fine had we set it on the ground right away. We screwed up and left it jacked up with no cribbing for about a week while the site was prepared. Without the floor to add some structural strength, it split and collapsed in the middle. One half was is still salvageable and will get a new front wall.

To jack them up, we used camper jacks (bought off CL) attached to the corners with 5/16 lag bolts. Raised them a little at a time and positioned the trailer underneath. Set them on the trailer, secured with heavy straps over the roofs and down the road we went. We did use timbers to support the floor on the trailer and clear the fenders.

We did it without permits and the PD around here never bothered us about load size and permits.

They have a road widening project in front of my house. It didn't get mine but it did the BIL. He had two metal sheds he gave me. I tried to pull the shed up on a skid but it started to deform it so I took it apart. A real PITA to do. So on the second I was determined to move it intact. So I came up with a plan that worked and worked really great. What I did was to make two rails that I could drag it on. On one end I cut a 45% angle of a 4x4 post. I drilled a hole about 8 inches back from the cut to put a bolt through. I then dug a hole in the center of the back to put a jack under the end. I also dug under it so I could put a 2x4 across the back. If yours is heavy you may want to use a 4x4. After the jack was in the hole and the board across I jacked up the building then put cinder blocks under the end. I then went to the front and did the same jacking process. With both front and back supported with blocks I then filled in the hole the jack was in and then jacked it up. I did that with the front.

Now that I had it 2 cinder blocks up I could work. What I did was make a sled using those rails. I put the rails about 4 feet from each other then I made a "X" across the two to keep it from swaying or comming in together when I pulled it. I then slid it under the front and pushed it all the way back. I then went to the sides and slid across 1x2 maple strips. I would suggest 2x4 or 4x4s if its a heavy building. I then let ithe building down on the skid by raising the jack a little and pulling a block off from each corner. After that it was on tops of the skid. The sheds floor was rotted out so I used a few screws to screw it into the skid. After I did that I moved it with a tractor at first. I used the tractor to get it spun around to where I wanted. I then went and got my underpowered 4 cylinder mazda pickup and pulled it to where I have it stored for now. I believe if I had to I could pull it with my riding mower. And it didn't mess up the field at all. The only dirt it messed up was a soft space on a slope I went over. It took about 2 hours to jack it up and move it this way and it took all day to dissasemble the other building. I still don't have that one back up.

I have a few pictures to give you an idea.
Here is the shed as iit sits now. I have the floor out so can get an idea.



Here is the outside of the shed now. You can faintly see the sled.