Dragging a Chicken Coop

To make a long story short, I’m new to trucks. I’m trying to ask something of my Tacoma I think it should be capable of.

We have a ~5x6ft Leonard chicken coop on skids that the wife wants moved. Can’t find a weight on it through Leonard’s site, but it’s essentially built like a barn style shed with nesting boxes; all on skids.



I imagine I shouldn’t have an issue dragging it across my yard to where the wife wants it, but this seems like a slightly different task than your conventional tow. I have young adult memories burned into my brain of a guy who had a chain snap and hit him in the jaw, and also seen my share of back windows broken out that have kept me from doing yeehaw things for many years.

Toyed with putting it on wheels on the cheap at one point but shelved that idea as clearances were posing their own challenges, and it was turning into a more expensive ordeal than it needed to be.

It’s ok to tell me don’t do it. If we acquire more of the land we’d have a more proper, older, dedicated diesel farm truck.

 

I bet it'll slide real easy. Just get a tow strap and a couple of clevises to hook it up.

 

Won't be a problem, the dirt has less adhesive force than something buried such as a tree trunk or a fence post with five feet and cement under the ground. Plus the skids will make it more of a problem for you to not go too fast tbh..remember that "horsepower" equates, roughly, to 1hp = 1 live hay-eating horse, and that means you will have nearly 200 horses all strapped to that little chicken coop and pulling at the same time and that ain't hay mister lol.

 

Sounds simple enough.

I tried to get an ai generator to visualize that image just for my own amusement.

 

The kids say yeet these days. So,
That have kept me from yeeting it for so many years.

 

Part it out if it cant pull that...

 

I pulled one with a surly mule.

 

Hard ground is your friend. The harder, the better.
If you drag it, do it slowly. With eyes on the leading edge of those skids. Digging in will be bad, real bad.

Looking at a close up pic on the Leonard website... the corner posts look to be toe nailed to the skids. Is there any other mechanical attachment between those two elements?

The wife may want the coop moved, but I guarantee she doesn't want a pile of lumber.

 

I try my best to keep up. Around COVID I processed a kid for a DUI, and he kept saying “cap” and I was so confused. That’s when I discovered “bussin” “on god” “dog water” and realized I was aging way too fast.

I’ll just let my wife run me over if I can’t make it work. Call it an accident.

 

They’re pretty much toe nailed in. Seems like they used whatever wasn’t par for shed construction to do everything on the bottom. Mostly why I gave up on the wheel idea. I considered reinforcing the bottomed components before attempting. I could get a better look when I find myself in the mood to fight a rooster.

 

As has been said on other posts, put a heavy jacket or a blanket on the tow strap about 4’ (or so) from the truck. If the strap breaks, the jacket/blanket will keep the strap from whipping a hole in the truck. Maybe someone who has done that trick before can give clarification.

 

Pretty sure a riding mower could pull that

 

If you get all the chickens to start flying at the same time that he starts pulling then all the weight will be off of it

 

I think my dog could pull it