# Moving a shed



## Golden view (Feb 16, 2012)

I have a major heavy construction project question here.:laughing:

I'm moving a 12x16 shed 50 feet, uphill about 4' higher elevation, so I can built a new, slightly larger art studio in its place. Initially I was going to mob a telehandler to the site, but then I thought that's just me using too much tool for the job. 

Do you think I can skid it along? It's on pier blocks. I can jack it up and lay it on skids and remove the blocks, but I can't pull it with a truck (Shed will move straight towards steep hill) unless I sink a sonotube or something to attach a pulley to. Shed probably weighs about 4000 pounds.
I can load my truck to a total weight of 9000 pounds or so and it's 4wd.

Any experience/suggestions?


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## MJconstruction (Jun 17, 2013)

Rent a trailer lift it onto a trailer and off into new spot.


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## SouthonBeach (Oct 18, 2012)

Put 2 4x4 skids on the underside length wise about 3' in with the tips angled some. Remove the blocks and lower on to 4" pipe have 4-6 of them a couple feet longer then your skid spacing. When your rolling you'll want to keep at least 3 pipes under it. (If its rough ground lay some boards down to roll on) 
I'd put an anchor post in up the hill to winch it up with or something to push it with. Have some chokes for the pipes and a couple long "box car bars" to cram into the ground if you need to tweak its movement. 2-3 guys can have it moved pretty quickly.


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## mako1 (Sep 1, 2013)

I moved two about this size last fall.Got a guy out with one of those car haulers with a winch and a tilting bed.Did not have to put it clear up on the bed.Just enough to get the rear of the shed off the ground and drove it off to the other side of the property.


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## FRAME2FINISH (Aug 31, 2010)

I built a 12x20 at a place I rented, when I bought my land I had to move it!

So every day after work I jacked it up a few feet by myself!

So on Saturday was the big move day! Never once did a friend stop by too help!

I had a buddy bring by his dump and equipment trailer! I told him to take it easy when he said oh I'm not driving it , I lost my license and nothing's legal!!

What are you freaking kidding me!! About 10 mikes I have to go!!

So onto new plan, we burn up the day and wait for darkness.

At 9 pm I pull out with an entourage , these guys mind you aren't here to help they are here too watch carnage and I knew it!!

We take off and it soon becomes clear I keep hearing noises beyond the junk equipment I'm running.

We finally pull onto my road, and it's narrow so cars are pulling way off the road so I can get by!!

We finally pull into my new driveway, everyone is laughing, they say as I drive by they can see the tvs go to snow from taking out the cable wires.

As we're sitting there resuming the party it's real dark and then turns red!!

A fricken state trooper pulls a guy over right in front of my house.
Everyone is silent till he leaves, imagine him being one of the guys I pushed off the road lol

The zoning officer says I built a shed without asking him and I said the hell I did I brought that with me and showed him pics!!

Now as for you dragging it , I doubt you will with a pickup unless you lay down 2x and use 6 or so pipes to roll it on I lagged the chain to the frame when I did mine, 

My shed still stands 15 years later!!


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## Golden view (Feb 16, 2012)

Thanks for the suggestions. F2F, that's quite a story.


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## FRAME2FINISH (Aug 31, 2010)

That was quite a night lol


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## Roofcheck (Dec 27, 2011)

3" or 4" pvc pipes work well. drop the shed off the blocks and on the pvs pipes. Use many for a shed that size. 

Two of us moved a shed 1/2 that size across a lot by ourselves- as in no vehicles.


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## TNTRenovate (Aug 19, 2010)

Roofcheck said:


> 3" or 4" pvc pipes work well. drop the shed off the blocks and on the pvs pipes. Use many for a shed that size.
> 
> Two of us moved a shed 1/2 that size across a lot by ourselves- as in no vehicles.


Not up a 4' incline over 50' you didn't.


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## Dave in Pa (Oct 10, 2009)

Story time now, sorry! A friend had to move a shed, about 10 miles, at night, no permit, etc.! LOL got to know him? Cold dark night, about 1 am dragging this thing home, about 200-300 feet from his house was a underpass! He never thought about, mind ya he has lived there 40 years! To high to fit under, after 2 hours of taking the tires off, dragging on the axles, [email protected]*#g up the road, re-installing the wheels and tires, pulls it in the driveway! Just then the locals come by, see the road a mess, question him, as he said did ya see anything wrong, I am backing this out for tomorrow, some-ones picking it up! The cop just got in the car and left! THAT is a true story!


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## fjn (Aug 17, 2011)

mako1 said:


> I moved two about this size last fall.Got a guy out with one of those car haulers with a winch and a tilting bed.Did not have to put it clear up on the bed.Just enough to get the rear of the shed off the ground and drove it off to the other side of the property.





Sounds like a really great idea to me. I have a local tow truck guy move my shipping containers,(20') long from job site to job site for years. Always use the same guy,been charging me $ 200 a move for years. Of course,he does winch my steel container all the way up and secures it.


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## blacktop (Oct 28, 2012)

mako1 said:


> I moved two about this size last fall.Got a guy out with one of those car haulers with a winch and a tilting bed.Did not have to put it clear up on the bed.Just enough to get the rear of the shed off the ground and drove it off to the other side of the property.


That's what I was thinking ...Call a roll back!


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## EarthQuakens (Nov 6, 2012)

Moved my 12 x 24 shed after the neighbor said it was to close to her lot ... After a long heated argument we jacked it up slid about 6 4"schedule 40 under it and I pushed it with my truck with plow on the front of it. Moved pretty easy. Also moved a larger shed at my parents house we just put planks under it for skids and pulled it across the yard . Hope the move goes easy for ya


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## Seven-Delta-FortyOne (Mar 5, 2011)

I just moved a 12x18 two months ago.

Unlike some others, laughing, I hired a heavy-haul company, and picked it with my 10k lb Dyna-lift, set it on the low-bed, and moved it 50 miles, pilot car and CHP permit, everything.

This one has a structural ridge beam, and is heavy, (for a shed). Fork extentions were not quite long enough, so I ended up running chain binders over the ridge beam, and down to the rack on the forklift. Worked like a charm.

Wish I had pics of that one. Especialy when I towed a stuck Kenworth T-800 with a low-boy out of the mud with my F-350.  :thumbsup:

I would recommend a telescoping forklift. But you'll probably have to strap it in order to pick it.


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## builditguy (Nov 10, 2013)

If it were me, not seeing everything involved, I would do it one of two ways.
1. Jack it up. Throw some fence posts under it. Lower it. Use a cable to pull it up to the new spot. 
The fence posts are cheap, round, and will hold plenty of weight. As far as a cable to pull it up the hill, I would probably just have a wrecker come by and winch it up, as long as he could get past the new spot. You might be able to pull it with your pickup. A skid loader would pull it easy. Just go slow and rotate the fence posts to the front when the shed rolls past them.

2. The last shed I moved, I called a flatbed tow truck. He backed up to the shed, winched it on the bed (only 8' wide shed), moved it to the new location and set it down. Cost me $50. Didn't make sense to me since they charge $100 to pull a car out of a ditch, but I didn't argue. Took about 30 minutes.
Of course he had plenty of room to manuver.


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## fjn (Aug 17, 2011)

builditguy said:


> 2. The last shed I moved, I called a flatbed tow truck. He backed up to the shed, winched it on the bed (only 8' wide shed), moved it to the new location and set it down. Cost me $50. Didn't make sense to me since they charge $100 to pull a car out of a ditch, but I didn't argue. Took about 30 minutes.
> Of course he had plenty of room to manuver.




Probably made sense to him,on his time frame,when he was in general vicinity,during his slow time etc. + he new you had time to shop him out. A guy in the ditch does not have that luxury.


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## builditguy (Nov 10, 2013)

Probably true. Moving the shed was no emergency. It could be done anytime within a few days.


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## MarkJames (Nov 25, 2012)

I moved an 8 x 12 wood "Amish" shed by myself with 3 PVC pipes and a come-along. Flat ground, though.

I bought it used ($1000) and had it delivered on a flat-bed. He backed the truck down our side yard (we didn't think it was much of a slope at all), and he got stuck after he dropped it. With the truck facing the street, he thought he would winch his way back to the street with his rear winch cable. Not a good idea. This meant the wire would rub against the side edge of the steel barrier behind the cab. I told him it wasn't such a good idea, but he just got more confident. Since he was operating the winch from the left rear of the truck, when the cable snapped, the truck rolled and got him in the gut before it ran into the chain link fence. Caught the fence at a shallow angle, so thankfully it stopped the truck. BTW, the snapped cable nearly took his head off, too. I ended up pulling him and the truck out of the yard with some extra help from my pathfinder. I just wanted him out of there before his boss found out. I had visions of death and destruction in that 3 seconds after it snapped.


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## FRAME2FINISH (Aug 31, 2010)

Always throw a blanket on a winch cable it can save your life!!


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## smalpierre (Jan 19, 2011)

MarkJames said:


> I moved an 8 x 12 wood "Amish" shed by myself with 3 PVC pipes and a come-along. Flat ground, though.
> 
> I bought it used ($1000) and had it delivered on a flat-bed. He backed the truck down our side yard (we didn't think it was much of a slope at all), and he got stuck after he dropped it. With the truck facing the street, he thought he would winch his way back to the street with his rear winch cable. Not a good idea. This meant the wire would rub against the side edge of the steel barrier behind the cab. I told him it wasn't such a good idea, but he just got more confident. Since he was operating the winch from the left rear of the truck, when the cable snapped, the truck rolled and got him in the gut before it ran into the chain link fence. Caught the fence at a shallow angle, so thankfully it stopped the truck. BTW, the snapped cable nearly took his head off, too. I ended up pulling him and the truck out of the yard with some extra help from my pathfinder. I just wanted him out of there before his boss found out. I had visions of death and destruction in that 3 seconds after it snapped.


You probably could build an 8x12 for a grand brandie new :laughing:


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