Moving an old shepherds hut - A nightmare!

[dig dug dan]

had an unusual job this week

Some friends of the wifes brought a house about 7 years ago and inherited a shepherd hut. (the owner left it in the garden)
Anyway, the only way to get the thing out was to take the back fence down, cut a couple of trees down in the council land, and drag it up through a tight gap, and onto a waiting lorry.

Having sold the hut to a purchaser in hampshire, the next task was to seek permission from the council.

the jobsworth said no on the phone without even looking. They eventually persuaded him to come out and look, and when i showed him that all we needed to do was fell two dying hawthorns, he was happy. especially when i offered to clear some dumped concrete for him.

permission sought, the day arrived, and a deadline of 1pm had to be met as that was when the lorry was arriving.

Perfect dry day, and the hut was jacked up and boards placed under the wheels. it had sunk in the ground about 6" over the years, and the steering axle was seized.

here is the hut ready to go




none the less, we set about it with a manual winch and began slowly inching the hut up and through a tight gap.

the fence part proved tricky and was tight, i had to cut a notch in the posts to ease it through!


then once we were through, it was time to hitch it up to the tractor and pull it at a speed of no more than 1/2 mile and hour though.

It was now impossible to steer as the axle was collapsing and the wheels were rubbing on the body.

for some reason, the sent a curtainside lorry to collect it, and the hut would not fit into it, so they had to go and get a recovery lorry to do the job.

it took several attempts to winch it on the lorry, and once it was on, it looked pretty precarious to say the least. I wouldn't have wanted to drive the lorry with that load it looked unsafe.

I have just had news that it made it to its final destination in one piece.

now the land needs clearing ready for a concrete base and an outbuilding!



Edited By dig dug dan on 1215103279

[Dave_L]

Those huts fetch serious money!!!!!!

[Tony McC]

Terry Pratchett started that craze for knackered owld tin huts. Before that book of his, they were worth nowt.

I wonder if I can get him to write a book about purple-and-rust Ford Escort Cabriolets with only one mad-as-beans lady owner?

[dig dug dan]

Those huts fetch serious money!!!!!!

in tip-top condition, £8000

This one made £3000.

if they couldn't have got it out the garden, it would have been cut up for scrap.

[Dave_L]

Sheesh Dan! That's serious money! What is the bloody attraction in them for gods sake?? :0

[dig dug dan]

don't know. I was looking forward to scrapping it with the cost of metal these days

Took a load of old metposts and various offcuts in to the scrapyard today. Had half a tonne and got just over £67. not bad for a bit of rubbish

I reckon the scrap on the shepherds hut would be over a tonne

[Suggers]

Dan, you're a philistine :p - a lovely bit of the past - we've smashed up so much of our history - look at what they did to Watford in the 60's - ie fantastic Benskins Brewery in the lower High St - let's smash everything up for a quick buck.
All hail the motor car & the one-way system.
Lovely old Bucks boy down the road has old timber gypsy caravan (similar in design to your hut) totally overgrown & has almost become part of the hedge.... "I'll pull it out one day lad, don't fret"
You can't help likin' him...

[Dave_L]

Took a load of old metposts and various offcuts in to the scrapyard today. Had half a tonne and got just over £67. not bad for a bit of rubbish

It's just gone stupid hasn't it? Who'd have thought the price of scrap metal would get to over £100/ton?

We take all manner of crap to the scrapyard once in a while, pipes, covers, barells etc etc and come away with good money for it - last visit was £77/ton.