|
| Author |
Message |
TWOhunter
Member
|
# Posted: 7 Dec 2016 12:13pm
Reply
What do you think the per s.f. weight is on a cabin on skids ?
My research says anywhere between 30 - 50 pounds per s.f.
I am looking to build a 12 x 35 cabin on skids for my hunting property and want the option to be able to move it when the time comes and wanted to have a feel for the overall weight of a cabin like this.
Thanks in advance !
|
|
sparky30_06
Member
|
# Posted: 8 Dec 2016 06:59am
Reply
when I built mine first question I asked myself if how far am I going to move it and how? Dragging it with a tractor or putting it on a trailer?
|
|
Littlecooner
Member
|
# Posted: 8 Dec 2016 08:21pm - Edited by: Littlecooner
Reply
well, first off, what species of wood are we talking about using for your cabin? there are google weights for you on line. Calculate the weight of your 12x35 cabin. what is the "footprint" of these skids you speak of? you double the width of your skids and you cut that pounds of square foot down pressure in half. You want answer but do not provide information for the math. your cabin built out of balsa wood would be greatly lighter that one built out of dense heartwood green pine lumber.
|
|
TWOhunter
Member
|
# Posted: 8 Dec 2016 08:44pm - Edited by: TWOhunter
Reply
Good questions and info.
The cabin will have four 6x6 treated skids that will run the full length of the cabin as part of its foundation.
Materials would be normal pine lumber materials with metal r-panel exterior and roof.
My thoughts are that I would want to be able to move it with a heavy dusty trailer that you would haul heavy equipment on. My father in law said that his 35 foot heavy duty trailer can haul 35000 pounds. I'm figuring the weight would be max around 20,000 pounds for the 12x35 cabin.
Thoughts ???
|
|
sparky30_06
Member
|
# Posted: 9 Dec 2016 06:37am
Reply
Another question is how far are you going to move it? You should be fine with that trailer provided you have a truck big enough to pull it and enough trailer brake to stop it. It's always that stopping part that gets you in trouble. One think to also consider is maybe two additional runners that will end up being just inside the edge of the trailer so you will have a good stable base when it's on the trailer. Also how are you going to get it on the trailer?? In the state of Texas you will need a temporary building permit to move it on the roadways. I think the permit is $25 or $50 only
|
|
TWOhunter
Member
|
# Posted: 9 Dec 2016 07:03am
Reply
I am not sure how far it would need moved. My plan would be to move it a short distance of 1-5 miles just to get the cabin off of the property I'm leasing if I lost the lease. Then make decisions on where I would move it after that.
The middle runners is a great idea for support for sure. My plan would be to move it by pulling the cabin up onto the trailer with a winch that's mounted on the trailer To get it onto the trailer for transport. My in laws have lots of equipment to do this type of move.
In Texas the key measurements are no more than 14' wide, no more than 14' tall with cabin/trailer, and I think 75' overall length. After that you get into some more costly permitting.
|
|
Littlecooner
Member
|
# Posted: 9 Dec 2016 07:04am
Reply
I though you were looking to size the skids based on ground pressure. sorry on that one. You want to put it on a trailer and move long distance. sparky is correct, there are some items to consider on building and transporting over the highway system. He correct that a 12 foot wide structure will require permits, possible escorts and only move in the daylight, etc, think mobile homes and check your State requirements from moving a 12 wide mobile home over public roads. Hunting property, think posted bridges between where you construct and final resting place, most hunting properties are on back roads and a lot of weight restricted bridges are out there on those super low volume roadways. I would think that your 35,000 pound trailer and compatible truck to move this would suffice. One would be prudent to check for low hanging wires leading into your hunting property and think before construction the final height of you building sitting on this trailer you have access for the move. Rural areas on low volume roads, well there are wires sometimes in the 12-14 foot height range and in my part of the world, many places to look a low hanging limbs over the roadway. And, are you borderline on being required to have a CDL to move the building? If you have access to 35,000 trailer, it appears the driver already has his CDL's. Things to ponder. Me thinks I would build this in modular style and move pieces to the hunting camp and construct as I would think this would be less complicated because Murphy's law is always around the corner on my projects, just like the law of gravity, just waiting to mess up my best plans. Final answer, go were they sell these prefab building and start talking to the vendor and just ask what each particular building weighs and factor that into what you want to construct, simple way of obtaining that ball park number.
|
|
TWOhunter
Member
|
# Posted: 9 Dec 2016 11:35am
Reply
I have really good access from the state highway system onto my hunting property and the roads are very good with no overhanging wires or limbs to my camp area. There are no bridges on the property that I would have to cross.
I've talked with a "contractor guy' about building this cabin and he said that he would rather build it on-site rather than building the cabin and moving it down to my hunting camp. We have electricity, water, etc.... I am about 20 miles to the nearest hardware store/big box to get supplies as needed as well.
|
|
|
sparky30_06
Member
|
# Posted: 9 Dec 2016 12:37pm
Reply
When you classify it as a portable building you have a lot of room with the law and a BIG gray area. hopefully you won't have to move it off your lease. All these are questions I've been dealing with myself over the last 2 years. one year planning and one year building. My master plan is 3 building in a U shape. I didn't want to go much wider than 10' just to make it easier to move down the road if needed. My skids are 1" narrower than the inside rails of a pipe trailer and I built it high enough that I should be able to darn near back the trailer under it, have to cut the vertical supports out as we move back or winch it on. But I think it will work.. Hopefully I won't have to find out. I like my lease. I have built everything on site one weekend at a time. With a hardware store 20 miles away you are golden. I've got over an hour drive, BUT water and electricity is a BIG plus right at camp
|
|
Malamute
Member
|
# Posted: 10 Dec 2016 06:01pm
Reply
I did a weight work up based on my materials list and info from the lumberyard on bulk materials as they are shipped. 12 x 20 cabin with 6' porch. All 2x6 walls, log siding inside and out, all built like a regular house as regards framing, including kings and trimmers for windows and doors. Floors, walls, all on 16" centers, 2x8 rafters, 5/8 ply roof sheathing, metal roofing, log porch posts and rafter supports for porch. 2 6x12 skids. I came up with approx 13,000 lbs
|
|
TWOhunter
Member
|
# Posted: 12 Dec 2016 02:32pm
Reply
Thanks Malamute... I think it's safe to say the high end would be 55 lbs per sq foot. I have seen estimates from 35-55 lbs per sq foot. Would appear that my 12x35 cabin would weight around 23,000 pounds and I'm seeing heavy equipment trailers that can haul up to 55,000 pounds so I am sure I can get use of a trailer when/if I need to move the cabin.
Another question.... It appears that most of these heavy equipment trailers are 8.5 feet wide. My cabin would be 12 feet wide. Question is I wonder if the 2 feet off of each side would be adequately supported while moving. I think it would be as I would design the skids so they are resting out to the edge of the 8.5 foot wide trailer.
|
|
sparky30_06
Member
|
# Posted: 12 Dec 2016 03:18pm
Reply
your floor joist are running perpendicular to the trailer so 2' off each side isn't to bad AS LONG AS they are large enough to handle the load. I would use 2x10 floor joists if it was me. you could get away with 2x8 if you had enough supports but seeing that moving it is high on the priority list bigger is better on the floor
|
|
TWOhunter
Member
|
# Posted: 12 Dec 2016 06:28pm
Reply
sparky.... I would agree. Using the larger material for support with the priority of being able to effectively move it would be worth the larger material in the floor joist.
|
|
sparky30_06
Member
|
# Posted: 13 Dec 2016 06:42am
Reply
I've worked on houses that have the second story cantilevered 4' and finally over 40 years they have bowed down. so 2 foot on a trailer for a short move I wouldn't worry about. How's your deer season going?
|
|
TWOhunter
Member
|
# Posted: 13 Dec 2016 08:10am
Reply
Thanks for the feedback. I think if I adequately brace the width part of the foundation on top of the skids the 2 foot or so of overhang should be adequately supported for a short move in a 8.5 foot trailer.
Deer season has gone really well. We have a special place that I started about two years ago. Goal is to keep our high deer density, allow the right bucks to get to full potential, and have a good group around us. So far so good the last two years.
|
|
PA_Bound
Member
|
# Posted: 13 Dec 2016 08:59am
Reply
I can't add a lot of technical expertise to this thread, but I can add what may be a helpful picture. Below is a picture of the underside of my cabin. It was moved by the company that built it using, as you can see, a specialty-built trailer. But this cabin is 14' wide, and was moved over 30 miles on roads ranging from two-lane state highways to rough and eroded dirt. I'm not 100% certain, but I think the floor joists (those running perpendicular to the trailer) are only 2x4's.
Underside of 14'x40' cabin
| 
Cabin offload
|  | |
|
|
TWOhunter
Member
|
# Posted: 13 Dec 2016 12:14pm
Reply
Thanks for the info PA_Bound... The skids and floor joists design is interesting in those pictures. Appears to be 4 skids that are 6x6 that run the length of your structure.
Do you know what the cost was to move your cabin or was it included ? Do you know what it would have cost to move it the 30 miles should you need to move it again ?
|
|
PA_Bound
Member
|
# Posted: 13 Dec 2016 04:48pm
Reply
I think those skids are actually 4"x6"'s.
That 30 mile delivery cost me $500 in 2011. But that included a 2nd person on the delivery (needed to help navigate and halt traffic for certain turns), some tree trimming on the dirt road back to my property, and a premium fee for a "tough delivery" (which it absolutely was). All-in-all I was glad to pay it- given the overall complexity.
To do it again, I would expect it probably closer to $1000 now. But even at that it would still be worth the cost to not have to do it on my own.
|
|
Mgibb
Member
|
# Posted: 14 Dec 2016 12:16am
Reply
I am thinking of building a 12 x 20 cabin to go on a barge to be parked at my dock. I am getting a price from a local supplier, who is also providing weight as we have to make sure we have enough flotation to support it.
|
|
TWOhunter
Member
|
# Posted: 14 Dec 2016 10:41am
Reply
Good deal Mgibb..... Would you please post on this thread once you get a weight number from the local supplier please ?
|
|
Mjb
Member
|
# Posted: 29 Aug 2019 09:33am
Reply
TWOhunter
I saw your post today. Did you build your cabin? Were looking to build a 12 x 40 with loft on skids and are looking for good information.
|
|
Brettny
Member
|
# Posted: 29 Aug 2019 10:03am
Reply
I think a good starting point of any building you may want to move is to talk to a local shed mover and ask things like skid placement and max width and length of a move able building. Even if its plan B to pay someone to do it.
We got a 10x14x8ft tall building delivered on a shed trailer and there are some real limitations on where these trailers can fit. The guy could even shift the trailer sideways but its a trailer thats designed to be on the road so a old logging trail or steep hills can be a no go.
Even on our 10x14 shed we payed a but extra for the 2x6 PT floor joists and 6x6 PT runners. Good thing too beacause they could only deliver it to the end of our driveway. I had to pay a guy with a large 4x4 tractor and logging winch to drag it another 500ft up hill to its current location. That tractor moved that shed around like it was an empty cardboard box. We just drug it on the skids and it really didnt do much dammage to the skids.
|
|
KinAlberta
Member
|
# Posted: 29 Aug 2019 08:17pm - Edited by: KinAlberta
Reply
In the past I’ve chained up and quite easily dragged two of our little old boat houses* hundreds of feet on grass with my SUVs. Once with a rather gutless early 90s 4Runner and the most recent move with my Excursion.
They were old and the wood had completely dried out so they weren’t/aren’t very heavy.
Standing seam metal roof on one without any underlying sheathing meant one was light but strong.
I can very easily jack them with a 2 ton farm jack.
* sizes are about 7x15 and 8x14
|
|
snobdds
Member
|
# Posted: 29 Aug 2019 08:24pm
Reply
I just moved my grandpa's old cabin this past weekend. I used a 12k mini ex and and a 24k chain winch. It's built on skids, so it was just a matter of getting rollers under it and moved. It was built in the 50s and has survived 70 years of very deep snow each winter, so I assumed its built solidly. We were able to Jack eack corner with a 3 tone floor jack with reaalitive ease. I bet the 12x15 cabin weighed 6k pounds.
20190714_100206.jpg
| 
20190823_172634.jpg
| 
IMG_0355.JPG
| 
20190825_121521.jpg
|
|
|
redneckpaul
Member
|
# Posted: 29 Aug 2019 09:47pm
Reply
My 14X26 weight in at 19,000 lbs.
|
|
Brettny
Member
|
# Posted: 30 Aug 2019 06:09am
Reply
Nice cabin snobdds.
Where you able to use the ex arm to pull the cabin? I have a mico ex 3500lbs. I built a 4.5x6ft out of 2in thick slabs and was only able to skid it this way. I had to dog the blade in and pull with the arm. Worked well though. I built it at home and towed it 3hrs to our property, unloaded it at 10pm in the middle of the road.
|
|
sparky30_06
Member
|
# Posted: 30 Aug 2019 09:10am
Reply
one thing to keep in mind when you are building and dragging a shed is to angle cut the leading edge of the skids so they don't dig into the ground and if possible pull up in the front of the skids when you pull to help from digging into the ground and adding extra resistance.
|
|
|
