Anyone move a trailer house themselves?

[Erin]

As in, not hiring someone to do it for you.

We recently bought an older 14X70 trailer to live in while building but now need to move it the 25 miles to our place.  It's really solid, so I hope it'll make the trip with no structural issues.

The plan is, we're going to use one of the tractors over at the farm and just hook it on the 3pt. 
Neither of us has crawled under it yet, but the owners said it still has the hitch and it's on the axles, but the wheels are gone.   I think we have a line on wheels so what next?

We're going to be entirely on gravel roads except for two miles on a minimally traveled highway.  We'll have a flagger front and back and there are no permits in either county.  (And we're just hoping we'll go "fast" enough on the highway that no one notices.  )

It's mostly flat except for two pretty big hills where we'll rise out of the river valley.   Five corners, all except one of which are pretty wide and sweeping.  The fifth worries me, but they got it IN there I keep thinking...


Anyway-- some advice, words of warning, thoughts....?

[325ABN]

How big is the tractor?

[Erin]

As big as we want, really.
Up to the big dualled field tractors.  (Which are bigger than we'd want because they aren't as maneuverable.)

[glenn kangiser]

I helped move a couple in a couple years ago.  Watch the swing way out to the sides on the corners.  Think of where the pivot point is.  The tail could swing 30 feet or so if the tractor turns sharp wiping a lot of stuff out on the sides.  

Also - watch dips - ditches - creeks etc.  You could hang it on both ends and be off the ground with the axles.

For the bad stuff a trailer moving co. brought in a special small remote control tractor - at the creek crossing where the was also a sharp turn.  There  - now you know all I know.

[glenn kangiser]

Also - you may want to check and pack the wheel bearings - check bearing adjustment etc. before embarking.  Easy to lose one if the bearing goes out due to lack of grease.  I doubt you will need brakes - Nebraska is all flat from what I hear....

[Minicup28]

Watch out putting a ball on a bar thru the 3PT hitch. That's above the centerline of the rear axle and you can flip the tractor over very easily with all their torque and a sudden resistance to forward motion. Use the drawbar under the axle for hauling. Check the tongue weight for a house trailer that big. You can use a set of boogie wheels to carry the weight, but I've never seen them used for over the road moving, only local relocations.

[MaineRhino]

[Erin]

Somehow I have this idea that that house is a smidge larger than our little 14x70 single wide...   

And this is one of the few times when I wish Nebraska actually WERE flat.  lol

Also - watch dips - ditches - creeks etc.  You could hang it on both ends and be off the ground with the axles.

We had this idea we're going to hook it to the 3 point so that the hitch can go up or down to adjust if we need. 
But someone mentioned on another board, as well as minicup here, that we probably want to go with the drawbar, instead...  Hmmmm....

[glenn kangiser]

Maybe drawbar, then for emergency, switch to the three point until you get out of a tight one.  Possibly prepare for both?

I had to dig the creek banks down a couple feet and regrade on the two we did as it would not have made it....

and you're just funnin' me about it not being all flat, Erin, right?      ......

[Sassy]

Nebraska is NOT flat    Just drove back & forth through the whole state - also remember all the hills as a kid when we'd go there to visit relatives... 

[glenn kangiser]

Surely you jest...

"The name Nebraska is from an Oto Indian word that means "flat water"

Nebraska is NOT flat    Just drove back & forth through the whole state - also remember all the hills as a kid when we'd go there to visit relatives... 

Key words here are back and forth.... if it wasn't flat you would have said up and down..... [ouch]

[Sassy]

I just showed Glenn a bunch of pictures all over Nebraska with hills - and his answer "I cannot be wrong, if I say it's flat it's flat."  See what I have to live with?   

[ChuckinVa]

I think Glenn was very clear that Nebraska meant "flat water". The land might be a tad hilly....

[JRR]

Years ago I relocated one that I bought from my brother-in-law.  Next door, less than 1/2 mile away ... but the single lane country road required that I go about 2 miles to find a turn-around spot.  Some tough hilly driveways were involved at both locations.  Used a 1970 F250 (6 cyl) 4x4.  Burned out the clutch in the process ... but saved money overall.

Be careful.  Those things look ugly on their side.

[Erin]

Used a 1970 F250 (6 cyl) 4x4.  Burned out the clutch in the process

Holy cow!  You're probably lucky that's ALL that burned out, eh??

Yes glenn, Nebraska does indeed mean "flat water."  And the flat water it's named for is called the Platte because it means "plate" (as in, flat as a) in French.  Very convenient location to put our interstate, too.  Right there in the Platte valley.  No leveling to be done!  lol

However, you can always tell people who have only seen Nebraska from the interstate.  Because they have this idea the entire state looks like that.    Chuck is right.  The water is flat.  The land, not so much... lol

Better than that is where we have to go in Kansas.  

Most of Kansas is literally, flatter than a pancake..  (From the findings:  we were able to estimate that Kansas's flatness is approximately 0.9997. That degree of flatness might be described, mathematically, as "damn flat." )


Our corner, on the other hand, looks like this:  

[rick91351]

Yes glenn, Nebraska does indeed mean "flat water."  And the flat water it's named for is called the Platte because it means "plate" (as in, flat as a) in French.  Very convenient location to put our interstate, too.  Right there in the Platte valley.  No leveling to be done!  lol

Sort of the same story for southern Idaho.  They ran the interstate through the Snake River Plain.  Twenty or thirty miles in either direction you run into these beautiful mountains and white water rivers.  Just out of curiosity as many trailer toters that are out of work now with their trucks just sitting, have you put out any feelers?  A couple hundred cash might just do the trick.  They have the tires, wheels and all.

PS Looks like big buck country, love it!       

[considerations]

Overhead power line heights, overpass clearances, and sudden changes in road slope that can slam and drag the rear end of the trailer on the ground are also worth scoping out in advance. 

[Erin]

No sweat!!     
It's done!  Now we need to get the wheels off and attach services.  But the hard part is done and no one died.
Anyone remember "Moving day" in the movie, The Secret of NIMH?  When the rats dropped Mrs. Brisby's house/cinder block on Nicodemus?  That ran through my head repeatedly, every time we'd talk about "moving day." lol

As a recap:
We heard about a trailer house earlier this fall and thought it would serve our purposes perfectly.  A decent place to live while we built our house.  The owners were asking $3500 though, so we hemmed and hawed trying to figure out where to scrape up the money.  It's a good thing we did, too.  In the time it took us to get ourselves organized, it came down to $500 and we jumped on it!
This is our $500 trailer house:


Picture of the kitchen just to give an idea what it looks like.  Everything is tight, clean and solid, but *definitely* 80s.

[Erin]

First thing to be done was disconnect the services.  No pictures since Trap did most of that in the dark, under the trailer, with about 2' of clearance.  He said it had to be a lot like what spelunking is.  Very crowded and dark.  I would have lost my marbles from the claustrophobia.

But this is a shot of the tail end of our moving crew, jacking things up:


Oh wait!  That's the *entire* moving crew.  He looks suspiciously like my better half...



This is how he jacked everything up, though.  Bottle and floor jacks and a LOT of cribbing in strategic locations.

Finally hooked up and ready to go, so we took a break for lunch



Then it was time to get moving!!

A little squeaking, scraping and groaning and it was ready for the road.



Most of our 28 miles were on gravel.  We had two bridges to cross, but a 14x70 trailer house is considerably lighter than a fully loaded grain truck, so we didn't worry about weight.  It's also considerably shorter than a cattle pot, so we didn't worry about high lines, either.

[Erin]

A mile and a half of pavement/highway, and then the climb up the hill out of the valley.  As you can see, the trailer really isn't any wider than a dualled tractor (with 'dozer blade!)  Though we really didn't WANT a tractor with duals, that's all we could track down this time of year.  Beggars can't be choosers!


We're here.



This is why we didn't want duals, though.  Trap stripped the siding off below the kitchen window when making a couple of tight corners.  That was my job--  I drove behind, flagging.
...And picking up pieces when they fell off. 

But we made it.
And, check this shot from the inside.  It's been dragged 28 miles, through two pastures, wash-boarded gravel roads and up a couple of pretty steep hills.  My mover is so good he didn't even bump the pop can or coffee pot off the counter!


When we were done, and driving over to pick the kids up, I asked my best friend of 17 years, "Is there anything you CAN'T do??"

He looked at me completely deadpan--"Nope.  I don't think so." 

[Redoverfarm]

Way to go Erin and without incident.

[glenn kangiser]

Erin, that was way cool.

I like the way you were able to identify your hero just from the backside photo.

That is a great tractor - no worries about it's abilities - if the trailer got stuck it would just rip it in half...

... and lastly ...when you are married to a guy that is in the perfect man's club you really don't have to ask if there is something he can't do... getting him to do it might be a bit of a task sometimes....

We have a club here - not officially organized, that our wives like to call "The Perfect Man's Club."

Good Job, Erin and company.

[Erin]

... and lastly ...when you are married to a guy that is in the perfect man's club you really don't have to ask if there is something he can't do... getting him to do it might be a bit of a task sometimes....

We have a club here - not officially organized, that our wives like to call "The Perfect Man's Club."

Is your wife AWARE of this??     lol
So far as waiting on the myriad of things he's capable of doing, when he gets around to it...  I take it you heard our discussion clear over at your place about the trailer house...Still hooked to the tractor.   

[glenn kangiser]

Ahhhh Erin.... She is very aware if it.... I tell her how good I am nearly every day, and the perfect man's club...

She is the one who named it that, out of frustration, I think.

Tell your hero that I think he is on the right track..

[glenn kangiser]

PS, he knows best... I'm sure the trailer is still hooked to the tractor for a very good reason... proper location... proper preparations...heavy thought about getting things right in the best and most proficient manner... mustn't hurry things.. do it right once.. lots of things a lady may not immediately pick up on...