House Moving Truck Query

[Cobra]

Hey Guys, i Watch a Show on TV called,"Texas Flip N Move". on the Show they Use some Good Sized Truck to Haul Houses, Has Anyone Built such a Subject? What Would be a Good Choice for Trying to Recreate such a Truck? What Say You? Thanks for Looking. Dan

[Hobbes]

I haven't built one, but moving trucks/vans are usually based on a normal truck chassis/cab with a large-volume body. These days the body consists of flat panels, so it'd be easy to scratchbuild on top of an existing truck kit.

Older moving trucks sometimes had more elaborate coachbuilt bodies which included a cab, those would need a bit more effort to scratchbuild.

[scooter]

Dan's referring to something like this:


Wherein a crew jacks the entire house up, structurally ensures its sound, and moves the entire structure to a new foundation.  Literally house moving.

Hey Guys, i Watch a Show on TV called,"Texas Flip N Move". on the Show they Use some Good Sized Truck to Haul Houses, Has Anyone Built such a Subject? What Would be a Good Choice for Trying to Recreate such a Truck? What Say You? Thanks for Looking. Dan

Probably wouldn't be all that difficult, depending on scale.  A tractor, a s--t ton of double wheel bogies, Plastruct/Evergreen H or I beams, and the subject of the move.

[kitnut617]

You'd need a good aftermarket supply of wheels, those trailers have anything up to 100 of them.

See that sort of scene a lot around where I live.

[loupgarou]

I'd suggest 1/87 scale, both for size AND for a big choice of houses of every style.
Also, there is an enormous assortment of trucks of every age and type.  German modellers are very fond of special and oversize transports. In the catalogues of (for example) Herpa and Kibri you'll find a lot of multi-wheels trailers etc.

[rickshaw]

I don't think you'd see that very often in the UK or Europe - the roads are generally too narrow and too twisty for a house to easily fit on a truck travelling along them.   Works in North America/Australia 'cause we have long, gently winding roads which are wide and which can fit a full sized house on them.   Even there, though, they have to avoid most towns/cities.   Downunder, they generall cut the house in half before moving it, to make it narrower.   Usually only done with timber framed houses - something of a rarity in many parts of downunder 'cause of the white ant problem we have.... 

[zenrat]

How about using a Tamiya 1/14 RC Truck and Barbies Dreamhouse?

[kitnut617]

I don't think you'd see that very often in the UK or Europe - the roads are generally too narrow and too twisty for a house to easily fit on a truck travelling along them.   Works in North America/Australia 'cause we have long, gently winding roads which are wide and which can fit a full sized house on them.   Even there, though, they have to avoid most towns/cities.   Downunder, they generall cut the house in half before moving it, to make it narrower.   Usually only done with timber framed houses - something of a rarity in many parts of downunder 'cause of the white ant problem we have....

When we were looking for an acreage we wanted to just buy the land and build a house on it. The option we went for was what is called a 'modular' house over here, basically a real house (timber frame) built in a yard somewhere and then trucked to the site. the ground floor level had re-enforced floor members built into it. When we were going through the project with the design staff, we were told we could ship anything up to a maximum of 32 feet wide and what ever length we wanted. Anything wider and it would have to go in halves.

As I said earlier, I seen complete houses being shipped many a time, sometimes I've had to drive into a field entrance to get out of the way.

[loupgarou]

I don't think you'd see that very often in the UK or Europe - the roads are generally too narrow and too twisty for a house to easily fit on a truck travelling along them.   Works in North America/Australia 'cause we have long, gently winding roads which are wide and which can fit a full sized house on them.   Even there, though, they have to avoid most towns/cities.   Downunder, they generall cut the house in half before moving it, to make it narrower.   Usually only done with timber framed houses - something of a rarity in many parts of downunder 'cause of the white ant problem we have....

Also because european houses are usually built from brick and stones, or concrete, not from timber! 
For me it's difficult to think of a wood cabin as a "real" house.

[jcf]

I don't think you'd see that very often in the UK or Europe - the roads are generally too narrow and too twisty for a house to easily fit on a truck travelling along them.   Works in North America/Australia 'cause we have long, gently winding roads which are wide and which can fit a full sized house on them.   Even there, though, they have to avoid most towns/cities.   Downunder, they generall cut the house in half before moving it, to make it narrower.   Usually only done with timber framed houses - something of a rarity in many parts of downunder 'cause of the white ant problem we have....

Also because european houses are usually built from brick and stones, or concrete, not from timber! 
For me it's difficult to think of a wood cabin as a "real" house.

Yeah, well come over here to the Pacific Rim earthquake and volcano country and ye'll be singing a different tune. 

Why do you think the Japanese became such masters at wooden construction? Earthquakes.

[Hobbes]

I don't think you'd see that very often in the UK or Europe

It's done occasionally, even for brick buildings, but it's expensive enough that it's only done for buildings with some historical significance. Buildings in the Netherlands are not built to be movable, so the house is permanently attached to its foundation when it's built. If you want to move the house, you'll have to dig down to expose the foundation, then cut through brick/cement/concrete. Then insert a steel frame to support the house.

And we use self-propelled modular transporters instead of a bunch of independent dollies.

[PR19_Kit]

Yeah, well come over here to the Pacific Rim earthquake and volcano country and ye'll be singing a different tune. 

That's one reason WHY we live over here, that and to get as far away as possible from Starbucks HQ anyway..... 

[jcf]

Yeah, well come over here to the Pacific Rim earthquake and volcano country and ye'll be singing a different tune. 

That's one reason WHY we live over here, that and to get as far away as possible from Starbucks HQ anyway..... 

Ah, Starbucks, I remember when it was a single, and somewhat quaint, coffee shop at Pike Place,
used to get an occasional coffee there when I was selling jewelry at the Market, although personally
I preferred Stewart Brothers. Down the Pike a bit was Louie's on the Pike a specialy grocery store
with an amazing beer selection, that's where I got my intro to 'good' Brit beer (some so-so major brands
were already available in a few restaurants/pubs in Seattle in the early '80s) and brilliant Belgian
lambics. Of course this was the period when the PNW micro-brew beer rennaissance was starting so
I wasn't lacking for choices.
I had some good times.