Greenhouse Move

Do-it-yourself projects such as greenhouse or shadehouse builds and related topics.
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daiv
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Greenhouse Move

Post by daiv »

Here is another way to move a greenhouse. 8)
mover.jpg
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I used a two-wheeled cart under the back of it and slowly pulled it in reverse. Turning was very difficult. This method would have been a breeze with the bolt on wheels used on the one above.
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DaveW
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Re: My little green house project

Post by DaveW »

I could carry that Daiv and I'm 71, all you needed to do is to screw a 3" x 2" across those horizontal bars at the centre of balance, pick it up and walk with it! Or put two bars on and get a friend to lift it with you. Try moving a glass one, polythene structures should be no bother! They could not whistle up a tractor when they built the Pyramids, they did it all by manpower. :lol:
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Re: Greenhouse Move

Post by daiv »

Split this topic out so I didn't hijack the other thread...

Anyway DaveW - I think you are kidding me right?

It was hard enough to lift one end of it by myself. It would be possible to move with 3 men, 4 would be pretty doable. 2? well it would be a serious struggle. Especially trying to keep it from tipping over. The bulk of the mass is in the roof. So if you are holding it at waist level, the BOTTOM of the roof is 8 feet above that!

Especially over the distance and terrain - it was up and down hills and around the corner. Here is a map. The greenhouse which measures 8 x 14 is visible on this satellite image - just under the "s" in the word start.
greenhouse_move.jpg
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While the Egyptians accomplished great feats by manual labor, I didn't exactly want to dedicate that much of my life to this move. The tractor was not the only possible way to do it, but I got the job done by myself in a minimal amount of time. I like tools! :P
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DaveW
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Re: Greenhouse Move

Post by DaveW »

From the size of it compared to the tractor Daiv it does not look that big, so it must be constructed from pretty stout timbers to be that heavy since the polythene weight would be minimal? I have moved a 10ft x 8ft aluminium greenhouse just taking glass out of the sides but leaving it in the roof on my own with no bother. I also moved a one ton summerhouse on my own using pipe rollers with a bar for leverage to another spot when I was working in order to save dismantling and re-erecting. Admitted I did nor realise you were moving your greenhouse so far.

You would not even need wheels using a tractor, you just put it on a couple of planks as skids like a sledge and tow it into place. My dad had a job to move a full size cricket pavilion weighing a few tons to the other side of a field. They were going to dismantle it and then re-erect it, but he just jacked it up and put it on some planks as skids then as the firm who owned the cricket field made diesel road rollers he just got them to use one to tow it around the outfield into the new place, therefore it was moved within half a day instead of the week or so they had allowed for dismantling and re-erecting. The Egyptians and Romans discovered these methods long ago, where we still tend to overcomplicate things.
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Re: Greenhouse Move

Post by Tony »

WOW! I didn't realize it was moved so far either. :shock:
Had this been a government job, it would have been taken apart by no less than five workers, the wood would have been taken to an off site inspection facility, then sent to get heat treated and then returned in crates. The plastic sheeting and screws would have all been replaced despite being brand new. Then It would have all been reassembled on a re bar reinforced, two foot thick cement slab. But only after the area it was being moved to had past an environmental inspection. :P
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Saxicola
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Re: Greenhouse Move

Post by Saxicola »

I understand that it may well be possible to drag it by hand, but why? Daiv has a tractor, why not use it? Mechanization does not necessarily mean complication.

Daiv, I assume you are showing us something you did last summer right? I can't imagine Minnesota looks that lush and green right now!
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John C
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Re: Greenhouse Move

Post by John C »

That is quite a ways to move your greenhouse, Daiv!
Tony wrote:Had this been a government job, it would have been taken apart by no less than five workers, the wood would have been taken to an off site inspection facility, then sent to get heat treated and then returned in crates. The plastic sheeting and screws would have all been replaced despite being brand new. Then It would have all been reassembled on a re bar reinforced, two foot thick cement slab. But only after the area it was being moved to had past an environmental inspection. :P
So true! :lol:
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daiv
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Re: Greenhouse Move

Post by daiv »

@DaveW - I hadn't thought of skids vs. wheels. That would definitely been the way to go in the winter. Anyway, the greenhouse shown is 8 feet by 14 feet. It consists of

four 4x4 @ 8feet
six 2x2 @ 8feet
nine 1x4 @ 8feet
five 1x4 @ 10 feet
six 1x4 @ 14 feet
Plus some more 1x4's used in the door.

If all those boards were stacked in one place, it would prove a feat to lift all of them together, but trying to lift a top-heavy structure like this and move it is another thing altogether!

@Tony - ha! This is strictly a private enterprise!

@saxi
Yes, it is my spring project seen here:
http://www.cactiguide.com/forum/viewtop ... 30&t=26282" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

this summer would have been brown actually because of the drought. This is how it looks now:
greenhouse_winter.jpg
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DaveW
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Re: Greenhouse Move

Post by DaveW »

" Daiv has a tractor, why not use it? "

True Saxicola and it was being moved further than I first thought, but why not just drag it with the tractor rather than try and lift it. It would have been easier to steer and probably quicker? A couple of skids under it and a cable to them, or chain from the rear off the tractor and off you go!
daiv
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Re: Greenhouse Move

Post by daiv »

I had no such apparatus readily available. If I had, it would probably be easier to do that, but the method I used was easier than building something to move it with. I just set one end up on the bucket of the tractor and lifted the back end with a two wheeled cart which I wired into place. Done!
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Sharpy
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Re: Greenhouse Move

Post by Sharpy »

When I saw the tittle I thought you were moving it again, lol. Like others have said, I had NO clue you moved it that far :shock:

You may want a taxi/shuttle service to get to and from the house :lol:
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daiv
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Re: Greenhouse Move

Post by daiv »

Sharpy wrote:You may want a taxi/shuttle service to get to and from the house :lol:
Ha! I actually live 9 miles away from it in town. My brother lives at the house near the original spot. You can see the mass of trees just south of the original greenhouse and to the west. This was making way to much shade in the evenings in the fall. There also was not a good place there for expanding it the way I wanted - and my brother is a bit... well... I don't have to deal with him where it is now.

So I put it out on my dad's land and have free reign to set it up however I want and have my own access from the road to it.
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Peterthecactusguy
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Re: Greenhouse Move

Post by Peterthecactusguy »

lol considering I just took apart a structure to move it with my truck, it's sorta funny. However If I had a 20 foot long trailer and three guys I could have moved it.. but the trailer would need to be 10 feet wide ;) 17 X 10 X 10 is a pretty good sized structure ;) I had to move it about .2 of a mile by road. ;) reality I moved it about 400 feet or something from where it sat before. And yeah taking it apart and putting it back together will be easy.. IT only took me 2 hours with a broken wrench to take down 3/4s of the structure. With the new socket driver I got it will take around 20 minutes with help for me to rebuild it.
Here's to you, all you insidious creatures of green..er I mean cacti.
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