Moving my dad's shed. (Advice? Roll on pipes? Furniture dollies?)

[Xist]

Right, I did not expect the dirt to be ideal for wheels. I need to get back up there before I will really know what I am doing, I would just like to plan this the best that I can, although I claim that not failing school is a priority...

I just had an idea that I wanted to run by wiser minds.

Harbor Freight has two-ton winches starting at $18.99, but the only trees in their backyard are runts. I would not know where to anchor it.

I do not burn much here in Arizona and I have tried to stay away from fire since burning down my apartment.

[P-hack]

or move the fence back another 18 inches, see if the neighbor notices

[Xist]

I just think that it is weird that I am building a wooden fence in front of a chain-link fence, making the yard three feet narrower, but my neighbors would have had my autistic brother wandering into their yard since last summer.

[P-hack]

One other approach might be to build the new fence on the same line as the old one, and just remove the old one as you go, leaving a flap of chain link to screw to the new one when it is time to take a break. Or some other similar derivative. Maybe next time

[Xist]

Well, it is a wooden fence, it will not last forever. Dad had me purchase pine stringers, although I bought pressure-treated posts. I bought a gallon of Thompson Seal, which Dad insisted that we did not need, although I did not use it, so, depending on how much sunlight a section receives, it has faded proportionately.

However, I would rather re-use the same posts in the same post holes.

[P-hack]

then you can move the shed back , jk, your a good son by any measure!

[basjoos]

Build a sledge under your shed, that is the way I move structures around my farm, especially where the ground is too rough or soft for rollers to work. And you don't have to worry about having to keep feeding rollers under the front end or the structure rolling out of control on a slope. Cut two 4x4's or 2x4's (depending on the building's weight) to a length 1 foot longer than the side of your building and then cut one end at an angle. Jack up one side of the shed at a time, slide a 4x4 or 2x4 under it with the ends protruding equally out from under the building and with the angled end facing the direction you want to move the shed. Position them under the side wall of the shed and lower the shed onto the board. Repeat for the other side of the shed. These will be the 2 sledge runners. Cut two 2x4's to the width of the building and attach one to the front and one to the back of the protruding runners on the outside of the shed so the shed is now boxed front and back by the cross 2x4's and the weight is supported by the 2 runners. Drive a nail into the center of the flat (back) end of each runner, then take a rope (or chain) and wrap it around the shed with the rope resting on the 2 nails so when you pull, the pulling force will be pulling on the back of the runners. You can also add a pair of nails at the front outside end of each runner to keep the rope positioned at the runner level as you pull. Especially if you are moving a flimsy walled metal shed, you'll want to keep any lateral force of the rope centered on the runners rather than riding up and squeezing in the walls of the shed. At this point I would hook it up to a tractor, truck, or winch and move it. In your case, since you are going a short distance and don't have a tree or heavy object to attach your winch to, drive one or 2 tee posts deeply into the ground and attach your winch to the post(s) close to the ground level and use that to pull from.

[Xist]

Basjoos! I think that I got that!

I just do not understand the part about wrapping the rope around nails on the back of the runners. Do I want to make a U-shape with the rope, from the back corners, around and to the front?

Thanks so much!

[basjoos]

You make a long loop of rope that runs from your pull/tow point in front of the sledge and wraps around the sides and back of the sledge frame. The rope just rests on the nails. The nails are there to hold the loose rope in position so it doesn't drop to the ground until you can get the tow tension put on the rope to hold it in position. The idea is to put all of your tow tension on the sledge frame and not on the building the frame is carrying.

[Xist]

According to Home Depot, an 8x12-foot wooden shed weighs 1128 pounds. Of course, runners on dirt have a fair amount of friction. How strong of a winch do I need?