I’m having my backyard extended to take advantage of a nice view, and am concerned about my leechfield being able to withstand the pressure from a frontloader driving over it several times…
Are there any “rules of thumb” in these cases? I am in Ct., and my house was built in 1983, so I am guessing I’ve got concrete and PVC down there, but even then… am I asking for trouble?
The job’s a little big for a Bobcat to do alone, so I think I am stuck unless I want to try and spend a lot of weekends trying to do it on my own with smaller alternatives…
Also – I thought you might find this funny, as I did – I’ve got a shed that’s 22’x14′ that I need moved. I had a guy come over tonight to look at the job. When I asked him how he’d move the shed he looked my straight in the eye and said “I’ll cut it in half, move it, then assemble it back together.” I thought he was kidding. He wasn’t…
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You can probably have the shed moved by a small mobile crane. Cutting it in half is silly. As far as the drain field goes, avoid compacting it.
Septic vs. Heavy Machinery, Septic never wins!
If you restricted the heavy equipment traffic to one confined area, you will have less to fix when it's over.
Re the shed, depending on how it's anchored, that thing could probably be dragged with a (real) truck, piece of heavy equipment, or maybe even a good sized come-along. You could maybe even roll it on some logs. Don't forget to unload it first though :-)
get you a good car trailer with 7k axles. you need 2 hi lift jacks and maybe a 50 2x4 x 12" long. jack up the back side on each side maybe 6",put blocks under sill,and go to front and do the same. if your going to move this just in your yard get it up about a foot all around. back the trailer in and run 2x10x14' across the trailer and bolt to studs.hook on and drive away. if no overhead door you'll just need to jack up high enough to clear the trailer with the tires flat and air them up once under the shed.larry
hand me the chainsaw, i need to trim the casing just a hair.
I moved my shed (10'x16') with my telescopic forklift. I spread the forks out as far as they go, and put a couple 2x10 16'ers across them as the forks would be parallel with the joists. I got under it, and lifted the fork just snug to the bottom of the frame.
We then went around the shed twice (once up high, once down low) with chains and load binders hooked to the fork carriage. We padded the cornerboards of the shed with folded canvas drop cloths, and then I just picked that puppy up and drove over to it's new home.
It was quite a site. Anyway... just another option to think about. Telehandlers can be rented easily enough.
We moved my brother's shed once on lenths of 4" schedule 40 PVC. That was fairly painless too, but his shed was a bit smaller than mine.
I've seen some garages about that size moved on farm trucks. The shed is jacked up and the (flatbed) truck is backed into it.
Some 2X lumber is laid across the bed and nailed to the studs. The jacks are let down, and you just drive the thing down the road.
Works real slick........most of the time.
About the septic sytem:
Partly depends on how deep the lines are and the original construction. Shallow lines constructed with clay tile are more likely to be damaged than deep lines constructed with Schedule 40 PVC. Wet soil is more likely to result in damage than dry soil. I've seen a number drainfields destroyed this way, including one shallow system that was destroyed before it was ever used, when a moving van backed over it in wet weather.
Tracked, as opposed to wheeled, equipment will help because the weight of the equipment is distributed over a larger footprint. Something like a Bobcat is seldom a problem, but obviously the larger the equipment, the more likely to have damage.