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General purpose mobile farm shelter design

 
Posts: 27
Location: Maple Valley, WA, USA - Zone 8a, 500 ft elevation
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Hi folks!

I have a dream of building a general purpose/modular mobile farm shelter that could be used for nearly all types of livestock. I've built several temporary cattle panel/t-post/tarp shelters for pigs and goats, and have one replica of Harvey Ussery's Chicken Ferrari racing around my hilly pastures. I'm sure I'm not the first person to have this dream, and certainly others have attained it. Have any of you done so, and may I blatantly plagiarize innovate on it with you?

Here are my ideas of design goals, in descending order of importance:
  • Mobile, can be moved by one person
  • Provides shelter from precipitation and wind
  • Able to walk around in without severe head trauma (I'm 1.9m tall)
  • Able to install things inside, e.g. nest boxes, feeder, roosts, waterer
  • Ventilation
  • Sunlight
  • Wheels retract and/or lock, for use on hilly pastures
  • Durable (e.g. plastic or other fragile materials not exposed to animals)
  • Good value (i.e. not necessarily cheap, if it lasts forever)
  • Lightweight, yet won't blow away


  • I'm thinking of starting with one of:
  • A FarmTek grab bag shelter
  • Port-a-hut
  • Something I'm not thinking of


  • And then adding a base frame, and attaching wheels to the frame, like from this mobile chicken coop, or a modular wheel assembly (originally from this mobile hoop house), or maybe four of these. Then, adding some supports along the walls/ceiling to which could be attached feeders/waterers/nest boxes/roosts.

    These would be designed to be used within paddocks surrounded by electric fence, so predator deterrence is less important than with a standalone shelter, though I suppose it would not protect perfectly against aerial predators.

    What do you all use for temporary/mobile shelters?
     
    Tony Flint
    Posts: 27
    Location: Maple Valley, WA, USA - Zone 8a, 500 ft elevation
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    I'm going to talk to myself here as I evolve the design. Let's just hope I don't start publicly disagreeing with myself.

    I've been running across a lot of great ideas online, like this hoop coop which has an awesome looking pop up wheel assembly and dolly-mounted hitch for moving.

    Also, I had never run across www.billboardtarps.com, but they sell heavy, UV-stabilized vinyl tarps for cheap. Has anyone used this or similar material for shelters or other projects?
     
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