Moving a building

[Baumholder]

I need some help from the brain trust here.  Please give me some feedback and ideas on my plan below.  I plan on moving an old garage about 50 feet to a different place on our property.  It is a wood frame building, 16’x19’ with a deteriorating rock foundation.   It was built in the 19 teens or 20s, and overall, not in bad shape.  I can’t get rid of it since we’re in a historic district, but I can move it where it will be useful and out of the way.   I have no idea how heavy it might be, but it is solidly built, and it has roof sheathing and asphalt shingles under the metal roofing. 

The framing is exposed on the inside of the building.  I plan on jacking up the building to reinforce/replace the sill boards and add some temporary 2x10 “skids.” I will add some reinforcement and bracing inside to help prevent racking and hopefully keep it from falling apart.  I will probably take off the hinged wooden doors to reduce weight, unless I need to keep them on to help with reinforcement and bracing.  I can get 6” round fence posts at the local farm supply.  I think these will work as rollers, probably cut in half.  I will lay down some 2x material as a “track” for the rollers.  It will be moved across a yard and garden area.

I am thinking about using towing/lifting straps to loop low around the building and then connect to a come-along attached to a tree.  I have trees in the right place to use as an anchor.  Another thought is to use a heavy pulley or block and tackle off the tree and pull it most of the way with my truck, and finish with the come-along. 

Thoughts about the plan?  I've moved smaller, lighter sheds using similar methods, but nothing this big and heavy.  What am I forgetting?

What can I use to pull the building?  Do I need steel cable or will a winch rope work?  For either option, what size cable am I likely to need and what do you recommend? 

Any suggestions on a decent come-along?  I will have other uses for the come-along, but I’m not sure about a block-and-tackle.  I also haven’t found a block and tackle I can afford that might work.

Thanks for any help,
Michael

[Admiral]

Sounds ambitious, but clearly not for the faint of heart. You seem to have a plan that might work, I'll be interested in seeing how this progresses, so take lots of pics!!

[daddo]

The 12 x 16 old wooden building I have was moved by the previous owner who I knew to a new location on the property about 40 feet. He braced it then jacked it up and used doubled 2 x 12's to set it on his jeeps bumpers and drove it to it's new slab. It was fun to watch a building seemingly moving along all by itself.
Sounds far fetched, but in your case, perhaps, careful and thoughtful planning and the use of a tractor might produce the same results?

Other than that, I got nothing but bracing and rolling it onto a huge trailer.

[Bob10]

If I were doing it I would jack it up replace the rotten wood as you are doing.  Then run 2x 10s or 12 from side to side to keep them from spreading or pinching together run some 4x the length of it and that is where I would rollers but they would be a bit wider than the building probably 4' which gives you some room to turn it if you need to.  You might be able to get away with some 4" schedule 40 PVC and I would run those over some 2x10 or 12 so they have enough surface not to sink or tip too much.  I used to move machinery in a similar manner just used black pipe for the rollers and keep in mind size of pipe determines speed of move in most cases

[Stwood_]

If you have a 16' flatbed trailer, back it in the building, jack it up and place a couple of wood or iron beams front and back on the trailer, then let the building down on them.
Pull it where you need it.

I saw a guy do this with a D-4 dozer that had a loader bucket on front, and a root cutter on the rear. He placed beams front and rear, then lifted the building by raising the bucket and the root cutter on the rear.

[Cecil]

Just pick it up a carry it.  Brace it well inside first.




Aside from a smart-alec response, you are on the right track.  The idea of laying some planking on the ground to put the rollers on is a good idea.  If you reduce the rolling resistance, you can move the garage without extreme force.  A good rope should work.  However, I would stay clear of any rope or cable.  If they break, they whip hard enough to do some real damage.

[srv52761]

......A good rope should work.  However, I would stay clear of any rope or cable.  If they break, they whip hard enough to do some real damage.

You have had some suggestions on the cable/rope to use to pull. I will not address that. But should you decide to use a tree as your anchor I would suggest you use the widest flat tow strap you can get to attach to the tree. Google "choke knot" for winching.

You will be exerting considerable force. No matter how well you align things the odds of your winching set-up being in the most advantageous plane is slim to none. Your cable will try to adjust itself and try to slide up or down the bark of the tree. It can easily strip the bark and you will watch it slowly die.

You need to use an attachment method that will counteract that force.

I believe JosephP is arborist. Shoot him a message. He probably has knowledge of the appropriate way to anchor to trees.

[JosephP]

First, I was going to suggest checking Wesspur for clearance rope.  Looks like they have a 120' piece of Nystron (13,200 lb ABS) for about $112.  Probably about as good of a price/ft for rope that strong you'll find.  Or, if you don't think you need that strong and want longer, Knot and Rope has some 12 strand rope rated for 7300 lbs for $0.74/ft. or a 16 strand Arbor Boss rated at 7000# for a little less.  (both shipped for free)

Heck...here is 100' of rope and 2 double pulleys for $125 on ebay.  not sure I'd rig big pieces out of a tree with that (I've more than that for 1 good quality pulley...).  Of get one of the longer ropes and a couple of pulleys to bulid your own.

As to tying to a tree.  Yes..especially this time of year, you can easily pull the bark off.  Especially something like a tulip-poplar.  They are know to slide out of their bark on a log truck in the spring.  A wide strap is going to be your best bet for a temporary anchor.  You said "treeS"  I'd distribute that load to as many as you can and be darn sure they themselves are anchored well enough to take the load.  Even if the bark doesn't slip, you could kill cambium with the pressure.  Are the trees protected but the historic district rules or just the (replaceable) buildings?  I'd avoid using the trees if you have other options.

I'd be more inclined to rent a tractor and pull it.  Possibly still using the mechanical advantage of pulleys and certainly some kind of rolling force.  I rent a 45HP tractor on a 16' 6 ton trailer for $250/day.  Then you got your trailer and you can go back to the suggestion from @Stwood_ of pulling the trailer into the garage, jacking it up onto the trailer and pulling it with the tractor.


You could probably use the Jeep to pull it as you described using the block and tackle systems as well...

[crokett™]

I've moved a couple buildings albeit none that large. At least not in one piece. You're going to need to dig down to provide room to get jacks under it. You will also need room in the hole for something solid to set the jack on. I would lift it with 10-ton capacity or greater bottle jack. Rollers will help tremendously. A come-along should work but will be slow going. if you can push it to help the come-along that will help a lot.

[Bob10]

I've moved a couple buildings albeit none that large.  At least not in one piece.  You're going to need to dig down to provide room to get jacks under it.  You will also need room in the hole for something solid to set the jack on.   I would lift it with 10-ton  capacity or greater bottle jack.  Rollers will help tremendously.  A come-along should work but will be slow going.  if you can push it to help the come-along that will help a lot.

If he ran 2x across the width to keep it from spreading or closing in on itself he could set them at a height to get rid of the need for digging.  If the ground is flat it shouldn't take much to move it once on pipe if it's down hill use smaller pipe to keep it from going to fast once moving.  You can do it alone but it is better if you have help to keep running the rollers to the front as you pull off of them.  My nephew moved a 20' sea container alone a bit up hill with a come-along and 
1-1/2" pipe