Moving a shed

[Kaizen]

interested to see how it comes out. my guess is it will dig in. I just did this with a 10x12 shed and my f150. It was working to pull it up a very little upgrade. had it in 4low. I used 3inch pvc. killed me buying 4 sticks for 100 bucks. a shed mover was going to just charge me 150. in retrospect I should have just paid him. good luck. this afternoon project turned into a 3 day nightmare. I would suggest cross bracing inside the shed and hopefully you unloaded it. I used a 4 inch tow strap wrapped around the base of the whole building.

 

[kinigitt]

interested to see how it comes out. my guess is it will dig in. I just did this with a 10x12 shed and my f150. It was working to pull it up a very little upgrade. had it in 4low. I used 3inch pvc. killed me buying 4 sticks for 100 bucks. a shed mover was going to just charge me 150. in retrospect I should have just paid him. good luck. this afternoon project turned into a 3 day nightmare. I would suggest cross bracing inside the shed and hopefully you unloaded it. I used a 4 inch tow strap wrapped around the base of the whole building.

I hear ya. I could be very wrong, but I assume the loft is adequate lateral bracing. It's not going anywhere, it supports a lot of weight without bowing. I emptied EVERYTHING out onto the lawn. Gives me the push to finally go through all the junk and reorganize. My wife is terrible for holding onto USELESS stuff for decades.

12' sections of 4" PVC at all the box stores and lumber yard around here are over 30$. Ugh.

Local tool rental place is useless and didnt even recommend anything for the job, even if they could have made money off it.

Luckily I have a friend who is a packrat and just so happens to have a whole trailer full of old pipes of various sizes. Yeeeeeehaw!

While I am genuinely curious about the ski idea (I think it would work), the money factor just shifted in favor of pipes.

 

[bczygan]

Please post photos, and maybe a video when you do it!

 

[Marctrees]

Hows this - The skateboard halves as you said, 2x4x on lawn, grease to make a bearing surface "track"

Helper adjusts 2x4s w sledgehammer left/ right as you slowly pull.

Even better, wider than 4"s, have more slop, not as likely for skateboard to slide off.

Spreader of some sort on side closest to your pulling vehicle, full width of building to minimize "squeezing" of the shed sidewalls.

Again, visualize the stresses in your mind.

Ya, sounds good to me, no need to spend $ on pipe rollers, if you don't have already. Marc

You got yer best answer.

Crisco is your friend. Marc

 

[Kaizen]

I hear ya. I could be very wrong, but I assume the loft is adequate lateral bracing. It's not going anywhere, it supports a lot of weight without bowing. I emptied EVERYTHING out onto the lawn. Gives me the push to finally go through all the junk and reorganize. My wife is terrible for holding onto USELESS stuff for decades.

12' sections of 4" PVC at all the box stores and lumber yard around here are over 30$. Ugh.

Local tool rental place is useless and didnt even recommend anything for the job, even if they could have made money off it.

Luckily I have a friend who is a packrat and just so happens to have a whole trailer full of old pipes of various sizes. Yeeeeeehaw!

While I am genuinely curious about the ski idea (I think it would work), the money factor just shifted in favor of pipes.

I found the two foot pieces of pvc did not collapse so if your buddy has any small pieces take them. The skate board will help get your runners over the pvc. I had to pry up the skid several times as the pipe went under one but not the other. Have the wife drive the truck so you can move the pipes. Several times my pipe did not roll right so I had to jack up the shed. Found the small pieces useful if the pipes bunched up under the shed I could use these pieces until the big ones squirted out.

When it got stuck I just floored it.




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[glider]

These would be the snowboard I mentioned. Most all my sheds were built with the same floor with the three 4x4 skids. If you think your structure is sound, go for it. Tractor jack and take your time.

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[kinigitt]

The job is about half done, as of right now.

This shed is way too heavy for the ski idea. Wouldn't budge. I can see that method saving a lot of time and tedium for smaller, lighter sheds though.

One advantage of it's beefy construction is that there was no serious damage inflicted. Me and a buddy moved it about 60 feet, jacking it up repeatedly to seseat it on the pipes. The vinyl end trim got beat up by the rigging, but I consider that acceptable losses. I need to do siding work on one side anyway.

I'm at a tricky stage right now. I need to rotate the shed 90 degrees, then finish the move by pulling it the last 30 feet to it's new resting place. Since it's so heavy, the suggestion I've read of 2 guys pushing on opposing corners is just wishful thinking. It started raining this morning so I have time to think this through.

Any suggestions? we have 4 12' sections of 2x10 planking that we've been using as tracks, and a motley assortment of steel piping, none longer than 12', along with rope, slings, and shackles aplenty. My little Suzuki has been the "tractor" so far and has done well.

I also got a free crash course in the use of a farm jack (hi-lift). Handy tool, as long as you remember that it is always trying to kill you.

Oh yeah, I will post some pictures once it's done, and I've found a way for my google nexus phone to co-operate with my pc.

 

[TractorJeff]

Rotate it on the pipes!

 

[kinigitt]

Rotate it on the pipes!

Picture this:

Shed is 16' wide, 12' deep.

The face of the shed is 16'.

I have 2 4x4" skids temporarily bolted 10' apart, centered, running parallel to the sides of the shed. Those skids are what we've been rolling on so far. Pipe sandwich.

4x4 skid bolted to shed
metal pipes
2x10 plank on ground

The metal pipes I'm working with are all under 10' long, except one. 2"-3" piping.

To rotate it on the pipes, should I take the skids off first, and let the shed rotate on it's floor? Or just try to center pipes as best we can under the skids and pull on one corner of the shed. I currently have the slings and rope set up to cinch from one corner. I'm just worried it will jump off the pipes and dig in. The pipes are NOT as wide as the shed.

 

[TractorJeff]

Pipes can go under your skids. Angle them 30 to 45 degrees in the direction you want to go. Move a couple of feet at a time, then reposition the pipes. Short ones will work fine for this.

 

[kinigitt]

Pipes can go under your skids. Angle them 30 to 45 degrees in the direction you want to go. Move a couple of feet at a time, then reposition the pipes. Short ones will work fine for this.

Thanks Jeff!

 

[Kaizen]

Yup pull from a corner. Jack and put in pipes. Pvc works a lot better then steel but your 4x4s will take the damage. Told ya it ***** lol


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[TractorJeff]

This shed was "Free"!
Its built out of 4x6" corner posts with 2x6" and 2x8" plank sides halfway up.
Tin the rest of the way and a shingle roof.
Went it was built, they sank the posts in the ground 3 feet. I put 4x8"s across the front and back. Then took the high lift farm jack and jacked the front 4" and blocked, then the back. I lifted and blocked till I could put the trailer under it and cut the section of post off that was buried. Hauled it home, jacked it up the same way, drove the trailer out, slid the floor assembly underneath, then set it down. I turned it on 4x4"'s and 2x4"'s with 2 and 3 foot sections of pipe and that 5 ton come-a-long. I pulled it up onto the 6x6"s with the 5 ton come-a-long in the last photo.
It can be done, anything can be done if you think it through!

 

[kinigitt]

Yup pull from a corner. Jack and put in pipes. Pvc works a lot better then steel but your 4x4s will take the damage. Told ya it ***** lol


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It does ****, indeed. I'm glad I did it, though.

I had time off, and my friend is semi-retired (works about 16 hours a week).

Learned a hell of a lot in the course of 2 days.

Shut my neighbors up. They told me it was stupid to try. Cut your grass again, assh*les.

 

[Kaizen]

It does ****, indeed. I'm glad I did it, though.

I had time off, and my friend is semi-retired (works about 16 hours a week).

Learned a hell of a lot in the course of 2 days.

Shut my neighbors up. They told me it was stupid to try. Cut your grass again, assh*les.

Well hell you should have said neighbor pride was on the line. I love when they say to me "you're going to do what?" . Glad you got it done pretty much for free


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[KMinAF]

I was lucky enough to be able to borrow a fork lift from work. All that was needed were couple of long chains and a spreader bar.

 

[sal_flip]

Needed to move a shed in my yard. Found a local guy with a trailer apparatus that was for moving sheds. $200 and he was done in 20 minutes. Best money I've spent.

 

[kinigitt]

Woops, forgot to update. On the 10th, I finished moving it into place. I promise I'll get the pictures sorted. I have some before and after pictures. Unfortunately, we had to boogie to get it moved, didnt have time to take pictures during.

All is well, I leveled it and put it back on the concrete pads, which sit on patio stones and gravel. No damage apart from vinyl corner trim. Next step, redoing the siding and critter proofing!

Thanks everyone for the advice and experience.

 

[bczygan]

Still looking for before and after photos....

 

[jackson1701]

Here's a link for the post I did last year when I moved my shed. Although I had to build a new floor, you'll see how I moved mine. Good Luck

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=313280

 

[kinigitt]

Here's a link for the post I did last year when I moved my shed. Although I had to build a new floor, you'll see how I moved mine. Good Luck

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=313280

Cool idea!

Here are some pics. I didn't take any since I leveled it on the gravel pads. It sits about 16' away from my house now, and the back wall sits about 4 feet away from the property line.

Decorations and junk are closer at hand, so no more trudging through a yard full of snowdrifts to get stuff. I can also run a short extension cord from an outside outlet for light and power for small projects. I built a crude workbench out of scrap lumber lying around the yard and a fluorescent light I wasn't using.

My friend Barry (the one who loaned me the steel pipes, the extra rope and shackles, and gave me a primer on farm jacks) did not consent to being photographed. Haha.

It took us about 8 hours of actual work. The rest was hemming and hawing and having lunch.

 

[-Brent-]

I would prep the new site for the shed, get the thing off the ground with some cribbing, and then throw whomever is prepping the new garage site a few bucks to move it with one of their machines. Hell even $250 is worth me not doing it.

I winched a shed over a few feet and ended up snapping a line. We put the shed on few lengths of black pipe so that it would slide on it. It hit a high spot of earth and snapped that cable like nothing.

Edit: I guess I should have read the last page. Sorry for an after-the-fact post.

 

[kinigitt]

I would prep the new site for the shed, get the thing off the ground with some cribbing, and then throw whomever is prepping the new garage site a few bucks to move it with one of their machines. Hell even $250 is worth me not doing it.

I winched a shed over a few feet and ended up snapping a line. We put the shed on few lengths of black pipe so that it would slide on it. It hit a high spot of earth and snapped that cable like nothing.

Edit: I guess I should have read the last page. Sorry for an after-the-fact post.

I didn't mind the work. But like I said I did have plenty of time off to get it done. It ended up costing me the price of the 2x4's and the carriage bolts, nuts and washers. All told about 40$ and a case of beer we split afterwards.

We used thick rope, some old hoisting slings, a few shackles and my trusty Suzuki to maneuver it around the yard. The key to making it go smoothly was 2x12 scaffolding planks underneath the pipes. Jacking and rejacking it to reposition the pipes is the thing that gets old.

 

[sean Buick 76]

Pics of how I un-loaded a shed a few days ago.... Went well and added some 6x6 skids:
Got the shed in place... We couldn't use the tractor to unload it off the rear as there would have been no way to drive out around the trees so we did it this way. I built a little dolly, will be handy to have around anyway.



Then we put two bottle jacks on it, secured them, jacked up the front... Found out that the weight of the shed can be held up by the 30 year old fenders of the beater trailer LOL! Built the skid, slid it under, lag bolted it down it was ready! We used the nice short jeep to back it in there and then strapped it to two trees and then drove away slowly and it slid right into place... The railroad ties came in handy to help it come down gently, then we removed them. I will nudge it around a bit tomorrow and level it out... Then I will run some power to it, lights, and a small heater as it is insulated. From start to finish was only 25 minutes, went very well.









Driving forward:



Dolly worked perfectly:







Just call me Sean of many sheds!!!!!

 

[kinigitt]

Just call me Sean of many sheds!!!!!

Awesome job! It looks so much easier with a beefy trailer.

Do you live next to Arthur Two Sheds?