Jackleg cabin installation

[astro_al]

How do, I've decided to replace my crapbox freecycle-sourced caravan 'office' with something more adequate and less smelly.

Top of the list is a 'jack-leg' cabin. Does anyone have any experience of these, I'm semi-planning the steelwork (it'll be up in the air as a kind of gantry office). Do they need a solid base, or can I just sit them on 4 legs as discrete support points only?

Are the floors reasonably solid, I guess anything is better than my caravan...?

Ta, Al

 

[pedrobedro]

Years ago a steelyard I worked at had one delivered (Portacabin type) and the driver was dismounting it by jacking up a corner at a time to clear the lorry bed then jacking it down a corner at a time to reach the floor. I put the fork extenders on the fork truck and held it up while he took the jack pins out and lowered it in one move and held it while he levelled the corners and he gave me a tenner for saving him a couple of hours. The floor was certainly solid on that one, about 15' long and only held up by the corners

 

[astro_al]

Cool so it sounds like I just need 4 steel columns to mount it on rather than a complete gantry platform.

Any idea how much the 16 footer weighed? (how big was the FLT?)

Ta, Al

 

[pedrobedro]

I was on a 4 ton lift truck and the bare cabin was under the truck capacity, I don't know the actual weight of it though.

 

[Welderpaul]

They are designed to stand on just their legs. We made a gantry once for a construction site to support their cabins above a footpath. It was originally designed with beams passing under the cabins..the cabin company said they had to be supported by the legs, and not underneath..they said the cabin would sag over the beams unless we put them at very close centres.

 

[astro_al]

Magic! Ta.

 

[tigler]

We used one as an office in our warehouse, standing on a concrete floor. It was so the warehouse guys had a warm refuge for breaks and lunch etc. Very solid floor and with a small electric convector heater was very comfortable in winter.
I think standing it on four heavy paving slabs would be fine.

 

[astro_al]

Good to hear - that's exactly the plan tigler! Except the paving slabs. Unless they are floating 2.5m above the ground...

Al.