Ancient Technology

Yep. You read that right.  Ancient technology.  We used it this weekend and got 'er done.

What did we do?

We moved a shed.

 

Here it is in its old position.  We built this a good 20 years ago, well before we thought we'd put runs on all the stalls.  Once we started adding runs, well, it's in the way.  So, for the past 5 years or so, we've been thinking about how to accomplish this task.  Many theories were floated, many dismissed.

Finally, we decided what to do.  Dig out the entire foundation, put skids on it from front to back, brace and cross-brace, cut the posts (which were sunk 3 feet into the ground) right below the skids, and then put up on round poles and roll and pull.

Larry spent a good three weekends digging out the foundation, with occasional help from others.

Once the entire foundation was dug, we braced and put the rollers under it.

Then, Larry cut the posts off right below the skids.  Sawzalls are really cool.

 

Next, we hooked it up to the truck and the tractor.

There is a whole story about getting the truck here - what you can't see is the VERY tight space I had to navigate to get it where it is here.  I am now qualified to dock starships.

Then, we pulled, slowly and carefully, jacking up the shed to put new rollers under it.  The kids helped out and while they weren't exactly excited, they did the work. You can just see Alex, here, helping Larry.  At this point, the shed is almost in its new position.  Here we were taking out a fencepost that was in the way.

Here is a view from where the shed used to be.  It will get some fill and end up being a paddock, until we put runs where it was.

 Here it is, in its new position.  We later put up temp fencing and will end up putting in permanent fencing to make 3 paddocks.

Here is where the shed used to be.  That pile of gravel will end up being the flooring of the shed in its new home.  Maz (the horse looking at me) was very interested in what the crazy humans were doing. 

So, now we need to finish the shed, including the floor and a patio outside it, take down one line of fencing, put up a few more and wah-la, done!  Then, it's on to the next project, which is finishing up the 3 runs in progress. 

All in all, the actual moving time was about 7 hours total, but that doesn't count the prep or the hours of discussion on how to do it without trashing the shed.  We all did decide that we now know how they moved the blocks of stone for the pyramids though...so, ancient technology plus a lot of modern horsepower and lots of muscle power.

After we were done with moving the shed, we went and picked up 100+ bales of hay.  Ahhh...farm life!

We don't need to go to the gym today.