Move Joes Cabin 2: Electric Bugaloo
Sitrep Camp Even Dummer Aug 20-21
Joe asked me to write up the trip for lack of computer. He also asked during the trip how I made all of the decisions pertaining to building the cabin.
A few weeks ago joe asked if I would take a look at the Yellow Submarine Cabin. The floor was slightly warped. It was from a rain cycle that would pool the water and make rot the floor. the floor was constructed of 2x6’s that were on the sides going the long way bolted to dead tree’s. across those on fourish foot centers were 2x6’s holding up flat layed 2x6’s that supported the floor. Above that was two layers of 1/2 inch plywood and then another layer of 1/4 inch luan. All was rotted pretty bad. I did not take measurements and only vaguely looked over what needed to be done when we came up to do the work.
Then comes the fun part, figuring out how to lift the cabin, remove the old floor, construct a new one and then lower the cabin onto it. I cadd’d up what I guessed would need to be made for the 8x12 floor to hold up the cabin. I then went through all of the different permutations of lifting the cabin, moving the cabin, sliding the floor underneath. So lets look at all of the choices.
Disassemble the cabin build the floor and put it back together. the cabin had many features that were built on top of the previous which would make this a hard task to accomplish.
Build the cabin floor next to the cabin and slide the cabin over. This would require surring up the cabin, lifting it and making tracks to roll it to the new platform. This would require making an entire track set. and moving the cabin in it’s widest state. The cabin did not have much as far as structural support so this would be a gamble when under motion.
Build the floor and just slide it under the cabin. This would require a flat surface and the ability to lift 1000 pounds and position it. Neither of which exist at Dummer.
So build under the cabin was it. My original plan had me jacking up the cabin and removing the original floor supports, build up the new and drop it down. I was also going to use the original plywood but after conferring with Joe, we opted for new plywood. I had created a cut list so when we got to the camp site, we would not have to cut anything aside from the 6x6 when we got to camp. My confidence was boosted when I handed the cut list to the guy at the lumber yard he said he knew exactly what I was doing. With some lumber all cut up we drove back towards dummer and had some breakfast. Joe had the worst coffee, and I had corned beef and hash(dog food). we then drove back up to camp and let the festivities commence.
Joe and I Both grabbed a miller high life, the champagne of beers, and looked at the banana jama shed to try and come up with a plan. Joe came up with the idea to make the platform six inches lower. This allowed us to work from underneath the cabin and build the entire platform then just lower the cabin onto it. what could be simpler?
joe and I removed chunks of floor and slowly and systematically dismantled the outside floor. we then built up the floor frame and installed the joists. as Joe nailed on the outside sills, I moved through the inside carefully removing the floor by smashing it with a hammer. We ended up replacing all of the bottom plates with 4x4’s since the 2x4’s were all rotted out. We then jacked it up bits at a time to remove the remaining floor. The back end with no support started to “shift”. Joe showed some concern, I could have showed more. I shored up the back wall with some cross braces and bazinga! we then lowered the cabin using a pry bar onto some rollers I had machined and using a tie down strap slide the entire cabin over a foot. From that point, we had nothing left to do but clean up the site and go home.
The things left to do on the hit list are,
Fasten the floor down
seal the roof from bugs
fix the propaine line
put braces on the legs
build a porch
fasten the cabin to the deck
put new trim on the bottom of the t 111
I am now trying to find some material to build my own cabin I think the annex would be a nice place to put it.
Sitrep Camp Even Dummer Aug 20-21
Joe asked me to write up the trip for lack of computer. He also asked during the trip how I made all of the decisions pertaining to building the cabin.
A few weeks ago joe asked if I would take a look at the Yellow Submarine Cabin. The floor was slightly warped. It was from a rain cycle that would pool the water and make rot the floor. the floor was constructed of 2x6’s that were on the sides going the long way bolted to dead tree’s. across those on fourish foot centers were 2x6’s holding up flat layed 2x6’s that supported the floor. Above that was two layers of 1/2 inch plywood and then another layer of 1/4 inch luan. All was rotted pretty bad. I did not take measurements and only vaguely looked over what needed to be done when we came up to do the work.
Then comes the fun part, figuring out how to lift the cabin, remove the old floor, construct a new one and then lower the cabin onto it. I cadd’d up what I guessed would need to be made for the 8x12 floor to hold up the cabin. I then went through all of the different permutations of lifting the cabin, moving the cabin, sliding the floor underneath. So lets look at all of the choices.
Disassemble the cabin build the floor and put it back together. the cabin had many features that were built on top of the previous which would make this a hard task to accomplish.
Build the cabin floor next to the cabin and slide the cabin over. This would require surring up the cabin, lifting it and making tracks to roll it to the new platform. This would require making an entire track set. and moving the cabin in it’s widest state. The cabin did not have much as far as structural support so this would be a gamble when under motion.
Build the floor and just slide it under the cabin. This would require a flat surface and the ability to lift 1000 pounds and position it. Neither of which exist at Dummer.
So build under the cabin was it. My original plan had me jacking up the cabin and removing the original floor supports, build up the new and drop it down. I was also going to use the original plywood but after conferring with Joe, we opted for new plywood. I had created a cut list so when we got to the camp site, we would not have to cut anything aside from the 6x6 when we got to camp. My confidence was boosted when I handed the cut list to the guy at the lumber yard he said he knew exactly what I was doing. With some lumber all cut up we drove back towards dummer and had some breakfast. Joe had the worst coffee, and I had corned beef and hash(dog food). we then drove back up to camp and let the festivities commence.
Joe and I Both grabbed a miller high life, the champagne of beers, and looked at the banana jama shed to try and come up with a plan. Joe came up with the idea to make the platform six inches lower. This allowed us to work from underneath the cabin and build the entire platform then just lower the cabin onto it. what could be simpler?
joe and I removed chunks of floor and slowly and systematically dismantled the outside floor. we then built up the floor frame and installed the joists. as Joe nailed on the outside sills, I moved through the inside carefully removing the floor by smashing it with a hammer. We ended up replacing all of the bottom plates with 4x4’s since the 2x4’s were all rotted out. We then jacked it up bits at a time to remove the remaining floor. The back end with no support started to “shift”. Joe showed some concern, I could have showed more. I shored up the back wall with some cross braces and bazinga! we then lowered the cabin using a pry bar onto some rollers I had machined and using a tie down strap slide the entire cabin over a foot. From that point, we had nothing left to do but clean up the site and go home.
The things left to do on the hit list are,
Fasten the floor down
seal the roof from bugs
fix the propaine line
put braces on the legs
build a porch
fasten the cabin to the deck
put new trim on the bottom of the t 111
I am now trying to find some material to build my own cabin I think the annex would be a nice place to put it.
