Community Forums

MistyMan22 · 04-09-2021, 09:14 PM

Hi, I am looking at buying a property to place my tiny house. It is 26' long and weighs somewhere around 10,000lb, +/- 1000lb or so. The property I am looking at is at the top of a gravel road that sustains a grade of 13-14% for about a half mile. The road is well maintained. Is this even physically possible? What would it take to get the trailer up there? Should I even bother? If I got it up there, it would likely stay put forever, so I only need to do it once. I don't have a truck, so I will be borrowing one or hiring someone to do it.

Again, it only needs to be done once, so just about anything is on the table.

Thanks for the help.

kdauto · 04-09-2021, 09:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MistyMan22

Hi, I am looking at buying a property to place my tiny house. It is 26' long and weighs somewhere around 10,000lb, +/- 1000lb or so. The property I am looking at is at the top of a gravel road that sustains a grade of 13-14% for about a half mile. The road is well maintained. Is this even physically possible? What would it take to get the trailer up there? Should I even bother? If I got it up there, it would likely stay put forever, so I only need to do it once. I don't have a truck, so I will be borrowing one or hiring someone to do it.

Again, it only needs to be done once, so just about anything is on the table.

Thanks for the help.

Sure, I've pulled 13 000lbs up 23% grade a few times, once at a standing start. 4WD highly recommended, lo range, good tires and a good, calm driver. There is a very recent almost identical thread in the 5th wheel forum.

tuffr2 · 04-09-2021, 10:08 PM

Yes, it is definitely possible. The gravel road and incline will make it a challenge though.

How far is the total distance? Any highway?

Do you have any idea of the tongue weight on your tiny house? I have watch HGTV Tiny House Nation - it seems they move tiny houses with a 3/4 ton truck.

Going up a steep gravel road will require a 4x4 truck. A locking rear axle will help. I would worry about the truck/tiny house sliding sideways off the road and into the ditch if the gravel is loose.

MistyMan22 · 04-10-2021, 09:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tuffr2

Yes, it is definitely possible. The gravel road and incline will make it a challenge though.

How far is the total distance? Any highway?

Do you have any idea of the tongue weight on your tiny house? I have watch HGTV Tiny House Nation - it seems they move tiny houses with a 3/4 ton truck.

Going up a steep gravel road will require a 4x4 truck. A locking rear axle will help. I would worry about the truck/tiny house sliding sideways off the road and into the ditch if the gravel is loose.

The total distance is about 120 miles. The last mile is the steep part. Most of the rest is on highway.

blueridgedog · 04-10-2021, 09:14 AM

Should not be an issue. An experienced hauler may have a second vehicle up the hill already for assist if needed.

deserteagle5 · 04-11-2021, 12:41 PM

Depends on if there is any loose gravel - "marbles" - on the road surface in the steep part. Been there - done that. Hard to get traction when all those loose pebbles roll around under the tires. Make sure you have plenty of tongue weight pressing down on the rear of the truck. If no "marbles" on the road then you should have no problem.

TMyers17 · 04-11-2021, 02:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by deserteagle5

Depends on if there is any loose gravel - "marbles" - on the road surface in the steep part. Been there - done that. Hard to get traction when all those loose pebbles roll around under the tires. Make sure you have plenty of tongue weight pressing down on the rear of the truck. If no "marbles" on the road then you should have no problem.

Exactly. No worse feeling than the bounce when it starts to spin. Forward progress is done and a 10K pound trailer will drag you back down the hill. It is common for mobile home movers to use a bulldozer to place a mobile home in the mountains. I'd consider hiring someone for the last leg of the journey.

MikeRP · 04-12-2021, 02:06 AM

I agree TMyers. I’ve seen some of this done. Do you have the final destination leveled off? Is it large enough to turn the truck around after unhitching?

If you don’t have a large leveled area, you’ll need a bulldozer to level you a pad, place large gravel for a base like # 2’s and #57’s, get that packed in, then add B19 (has dust which kinda glues it all together) then #8 gravel for the final topping.

Then the dozer will pull it up and place it on the prepared level spot and then it will go up or down the site and then back to the road.

The other thing is water, sewer and electric to the pad. We built a small cabin last year, and added two rv pedestals to the parking lot for our RV’s when we have a large gathering. They work great and the RV sewer connection tie right into the leach bed for the cabin.

None of that work is cheap and a steep site while beautiful cab be very expensive to prepare. Even a level site is not cheap. I think the min leach bed now is a two bedroom house. Water you need a tap which can be expensive. And if there is not electric near, that’s even more.

tuffr2 · 04-12-2021, 07:52 AM

Most tiny houses are not self contained like an RV. The ones I see do not have holding tanks. I will say they are insulated a lot better and probably built more solid. I have recommended a tiny house a few times when people want to keep them in a RV park and not move them.

I also don't see then depreciating like an RV. Nothing depreciates like an RV.

In the right set-up I can see advantages to a tiny house but getting it set-up is a challenge.