Monday, May 4, 2015

Moving Fy Nyth


So when's the last time someone said, "we're ready to move now" and you had your whole house packed up and moved in an hour? I mean, moved the whole house, not just your stuff obviously. It's kinda cool to be able to do that! Fy Nyth moved up the hill to be in a slightly larger clearing, near the garden, and a little more secluded. This process, despite the speed of the actual move, took a good bit of work.

First many many many tractor buckets of rock were dumped into the little lane leading up there to make it wide enough to hold the house's wheel base. This rock was first acquired by prying it out of the ground that is now my garden. Everything from large pebbles to 200+ pound boulders. Then many many many loads of smaller rocks were added. And then many many many loads of dirt. Finally some trees were removed from the edges to further widen the surface. 

After all of this, I packed my house as you can see above. Moved all the glass stuff off of shelves, set plants down, taped drawers and doors shut, and generally set anything heavy down on the floor.


When we took her off the jacks and moved a few feet, we realized Fy Nyth had developed a flat over the winter. This was remedied after multiple trips to retrieve an air compressor and then find a generator that was large enough to run it.


Finally she was headed up the hill. It is steeper than it looks, I promise. And the dirt/new road surface was probably a bit too damp and soft still. My house is heavy, over 10,000 pounds dry, and probably more like 15,000 with all my stuff inside. 


So she decided to stop right here. Too much weight, sinking into the ground far enough to cause a lot of resistance to being pulled. I was having visions of having to live in a house at a slant forever. Thankfully my friend had the foresight to think that this might happen and already had a second tractor parked at the top. With one tractor towing the other, she started to move again. There are no photos of this as I was driving that second tractor, but let's just say they were both working hard.


When she finally crested the hill, I started to breath again. I hadn't even realized I was holding my breath. And at least ten minutes later I was still shaking a bit. Have you ever wondered if your house was going to tip over sideways and fall down a hill? It's kinda not cool to be able to do that. And thankfully that is not how this ended!


We moved her into her new home on the ridge and the only casualty she suffered was breaking a tail light. It hit the ground on that corner as she headed up hill. This is no big deal, especially as she should be staying right here for a very long time now so no tail lights will be needed.



Here you can see just how close the tires were to the edge of that lane. And the right hand track is at least two full feet past where the lane edge had existed earlier in the day. It also gives you some idea of how much her weight sank into the dirt.


But she did make it to her new home safe and sound and it is an even lovelier location that where I lived all winter!

19 comments:

  1. Hi! Do you have to drive that same "road" to get back and forth, or is their another route?

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    1. Yes. Unless I just want to park at the bottom and walk up the small foot path I cut into the hill. And that is what I'll do every spring and fall for sure when it's really muddy. In between, all summer and winter, I should be able to drive it pretty easily once it dries out a bit and we smooth out the mess from towing the house up it. ;)

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  2. I may be confusing your house with another, but hadn't you painted/stained her a darker shade over the winter? Also, what is the length of your house?

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    1. Yes. This is an old post from just over a year ago when we moved her up the hill. A few days later, I stained her dark grey and she is still that color. My house is 24 feel long.

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  3. WOW, my heart was in my mouth viewing this slideshow, you must have been on edge throughout this move. Glad you and Fy Nyth made it safe and sound.

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    1. I sure was! It took a while for my heart rate to return to normal.

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  4. Ariel did you prefer blue to the wood brown I am just curious?

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    1. The dark grey stain on the exterior? I guess it does look a bit blue in some light. Yes, I do like it. But mostly I stained it so that it would blend into the surrounding woods better.

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  5. Something you could of done was get 4 wide planks and use them under the wheels a bit slower but less the second tractor you could have the wheels on the planks and when you move forward take the next planks and put them in front of the wheels and move forward bringing the trailing planks up which would act like snow shoes if the ground was more firm then it would not be necessary to do it that way.

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    1. Thanks! Hopefully if I ever need to move it again, the lane will be a little drier. ;)

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  6. Ariel...have you ever felt comfortable talking about the make (e.g. Tumbleweed) of house you own? If so, who was its maker?

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    1. Sure! Yes mine was built by Tumbleweed. It is a modified Cypress Overlook 24.

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    2. To me the Cypress Overlook is the best design of all the tinys. I have used it as the basis of my tiny I am designing. It will be on a 34' trailer and will have approx. 576 sq ft. Bath is 6x8, kitchen 8x12, I was going to have the great room at 12x16(expanded) but am looking at 8x14, loft will be 8x18 with 6.5 headroom. out from loft a 8x12deck with storage after. appliances are fridge full size, stove, dishwasher, stackable dryer/washer natures head compost toilet and looking at special shower with steam and massage jets. I am planning off grid with solar and wind and water turbine if close enough to creek. I know lots of water usage and hopefully final place will be permanent like you and have water generator for 100 to 200 gals a day. still in design.

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    3. Tom, sounds nice! I'd love to see it when you're done!

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  7. Hi love your site and have not been here for a long time. I was here not to long after you got to the first location. You might want to pick up a new tail light if you haven't already. Sometimes the older lights get changed to newer styles and you could need to replace all. You don't need to install just purchase.

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    1. Not a bad suggestion! I'm no vehicle expert, if I don't care if they match, would I run into any issues with just putting a different tail light on the one side?

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  8. Ariel, did you buy the land your house sits on? My wife and I enjoy your YouTube videos, we are happy you are living as you wish to.😁

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  9. Ariel, your videos are so informative and I enjoy them so much! You have given me the courage to try the tiny homesteading life; keep the camera rolling!

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  10. is moving the house part of the temporary shelter rules?

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