Advice on moving a garden shed

[RealJimmyJames]

Sometime this summer I'm going to need to move a large garden shed for a relative of mine. The she is quite large, maybe 16'x10' or even slightly larger. It's been sitting in the current location for nearly 20 years, and it has sunk into the earth somewhat. As far as I know there is no foundation or pilings under it, I think it was just set on the ground. Also, to make things even better, there is no vehicle access to this location, although maybe we could squeeze a bobcat back there.

I only need to move it about 40', but the ground is very soft dirt the entire distance. We're looking at putting down some kind of foundation in the new location to prevent it sinking.

I'm thinking I can pull it with a 12V winch, which seem pretty common. I think I will need to jack it up somehow onto some kind of lumber to act as skids.

It needs to make about 30 degrees of turn too.
Anyone done anything like this? Once it's up on the skids, any idea how strong of a winch I would need to pull it?

[revelations]

If it was anything like ours, once we got the base out of the ground the wood was completely rotten at the base - so the structure might be suspect already.

You might need to add some reinforcements to the structure and just use a come-along and a bunch of straps attached to a tree or a ground anchor.

[BerserkerCatSplat]

If you have access to some sections of pipe of sufficient length, jacking and rolling would make things a lot easier than just dragging it. A couple of Hi-Lift style jacks should get each end up at a time, just be very careful with them.

A come-along or any ol' 2000lb 12V utility winch should pull it fine, assuming it's anchored properly.

[RealJimmyJames]

Have some very stout trees to anchor a 12V winch to, so that's not an issue. The fact that the lower structure is probably rotten, along with the issue of jacking it is my main worry. The property owner has a habit of getting himself hurt, so I suspect the hi-lift jacks are a bad plan.

If I could get a bobcat in there, with some pallet forks, that might be a good way to lift it and put some skids underneath. Or is that stupid?

I don't currently have access to any steel pipe, and suspect buying that would be prohibitively expensive.

[HomespunLobster]

Also, you could look into how well it's built, maybe dissasembly might be the way to go and rebuild a base

[revelations]

It sounds like moving an old, rotten shed may end up being more work than building a new one / buying one off the shelf. :dunno:

We had a 30 year old shed that was cut into 2 sections with a sawzall , each was lifted by 6 people. I replaced that with a metal/fabric shed.

[BerserkerCatSplat]

Originally posted by RealJimmyJames


If I could get a bobcat in there, with some pallet forks, that might be a good way to lift it and put some skids underneath. Or is that stupid?


Provided the bobcat is rated to lift the weight of the shed, that sounds like a very solid plan to me.

[mr2mike]

Toss some round fence posts under it and push it. Done that with horse shelters.

Hard part would be raising that thing up. Lag bolt some short 4x4 posts onto the existing studs and get a bottle jack and hope for the best.

My way is cheap. Bobcat, unless you have a friend will be a few hundred.4VWZXvop79g

[RealJimmyJames]

Originally posted by BerserkerCatSplat


Provided the bobcat is rated to lift the weight of the shed, that sounds like a very solid plan to me. What do you figure that shed might weigh?

[revelations]

post some pics of the existing setup and the move location

[schurchill39]

I helped a neighbor move a shed last year. It was about half that size and we used heavy duty PVC pipe to roll it across the yard. I just dug down and used a regular car jack on the corner, propped it up with wood then worked on the other side. Once we got it on the pipes it was super easy to move.

For your size shed 4x4 wooden fence posts would be your best bet and probably the cheapest although it might be a little slow so expect a full afternoon. It would be cheaper than renting a bob cat and dragging a potentially rotten shed.

[mr2mike]

Yes, you'd be surprised how easy it is to push a massive shed or shelter when it's on something that rolls.
No way could I pick up even a corner of some of these sheds but pushing it was no problem.
Then bang the pipes or fence posts out with a large hammer.