I KNOW I am not the 1st guy to think through this so I'm trying to save myself some time and energy.

I have drawn up plans for a 12x20 building that will house my hunting stuff AND have doors that I could swing open and allow me to park my ATV inside when I am not in the camp.

1) Assuming I can even build it for $1,000 in materials, can you build something sturdy enough that you can take down ever few years when you leave a lease?

2) Would the material weigh too much and I would spend $400 in gas every time I hauled it down I-20?

3) Has someone built something like this and can they share their experience?

4) How much does Plywood and 2x4s weigh?

I love the idea better than just buying a RV/travel trailer. I designed this thing to work with my generator. Has a bathroom, custom shelves for "my stuff," storage for air mattresses, TV, etc. And like I mentioned... hold 2 ATVs when I'm gone.

Please give me good news.

I think you'd be better off buying an old con-ex box/shipping container and converting it. The thing would last forever.

Might want to check property laws. It's my understanding that if you attach it to the ground, it becomes the posession of the land owner.

X2....just need a trailer to move it.

I've seen a few advertisments on craigslist for built on site storage buildings, but i think the cheapest was 1400.

Just a thought. Have it built and haul it out to your place, or have it built on site.

My brother, father, and 2 uncles had a deer lease and had this dilemna. Initially, my 2 uncles would bring their travel trailers (like 28-30 fters) to the lease Sept 1 and leave them till the end of hunting season, then take them back home (they were newer models and they hauled them all around for camping trips). They decided a more permanent structure would work better so they built a 12' X 20' bulding. My brother wired it in. It had a refrig, 4 bunks, small table and a sink with a propane stove on the countertop. Worked great! They fully insulated it so it was very windproof and warm. A small electric heater warmed it up nicely and a small window unit cooled it. When they built it they took into account it might need to be moved one day so they attached 2 skids to the bottom of it. They were basically 2"x12" boards placed together to make 2- 4"x12" skids. The house sat for at least 15-16 yrs and about all they had to do was give it an occasioanl coat of paint. Eventually everyone was leaving that lease and my cousin and uncle bought their own property. They took a flat bed trailer to the lease and used a winch to pull it onto the trailer. They hauled it from close to Evant to their new place near Ranger (not sure how far that is). They've been using it there now for the past 2 yrs, it handled the trip just fine.

My bro-in-law built a little workshop like this at his house. He used 4" pipe to build a skid base, then framed it in with 2x4's & covered with sheet metal. Works great, all you need to move it is a trailer & a good winch/come-along/chain fall.

X2

And a trailer could haul a container or cabin easily? And I assume a winch could easily lift it? (I'm doubting that part)

I want windows so the container isn't sounding all that good.

Plus I need water and electric in and out.... Plus how do you open a container from the inside? I need a door.

Got a torch or a saw with a carbon blade? You can cut in a door and windows. Then the end opens to serve as a garage for ATV's and what-not.

No way your going to build something for $1,000 bucks. And if you do build, you have to take into consideration the height, width and length for when you do move it. Requires permits on anything over 10ft wide and has height restrictions of max 13ft on the trailer.

Just for example I built a 10x18 (totally finished, liveable) for around $6,000 then added on 12x18 for another $4,000. Nothings cheap anymore.

This works.

+1 for the connex container ive lived in several and even in some instances worked out of the one i was living moving it might be a pia maybe you could winch it up on a trailer but they are fairly heavy.

We built an 8x16 cabin the way the OP describes. We built all of the walls by framing 4' wide panels. The front wall panels are 8' tall, and the back wall panels are 7' tall. The end panels taper one height to the other. We pre-installed the windows and the doors. We built 4' wide by 10' long roof panels to get a 1' overhang front and back. Once on site, we put roll roofing on it, but barn metal or something similar could be used as well. The floor panels were built the same way, 4 of them 4'x8'.

We skinned the exterior with 1/2" plywood, and skinned the inside with 1/4 plywood. The floor has 3/4" on it. Being in the A/C business, and having a bunch of 1.5" ductwrap left over from several projects, we doubled that and used it in the walls and ceiling.

We pre-assembled it all at the house to insure fitment, work out any kinks, and label everything for re-assembly. We had to leave the inner skin off of select panels so we could screw them together, then install the insulation and skin once on-site.

When we got to the deer lease with it, three of us got that thing assembled in about a half a day. We bought deck support blocks from home depot to put it on, and used scrap pieces of wood to level everything out.

The whole cabin stacked up nicely on a 16' trailer, and towed very great. It's hell for stout, but not god-aweful heavy either. it's been up for over 8 years now, and other than a coat of paint now and then, it's been pretty much maintenance free. We put a lean-to roof along the front side, and my BIL even built a kitchen shack off one end of it. Storms have damaged the porch and kitchen a few times, but the cabin stands strong.


We had put a bunk bed at one end of it, installed plenty of shelves and a table in it. Of course, we installed a window unit in it too. The thing is like a walk-in cooler. Once you get it cooled down it will stay cool for several hours in the summer heat.


I would not hesitate to build in this manner again. I no longer hunt the lease the cabin is on, but my BIL still does. I will be building another cabin on the family land I now hunt. Tenting it is getting kinda old. I don't think I'll do the panel method on this cabin, as I don't see why it would ever need to leave the property again and I want the beds to be in lofts to keep the floor space 100% usable. When we built the panel cabin we were concerned about possibly having to relocate it if we lost the lease. Fortunately for my BIL, it's been a great lease, and he's gotten several more years of use out of the cabin since i left the lease. I chose to go back to family land hunting when we had our first child 4 years ago.

As for keeping it as light as possible, you could use 2x3's in place of 2x4's. You'd loose 25% of the frame weight that way. I use them for my deer stand builds, they work great. The only problem I'd see with that is the doors and windows maybe not fitting correctly in a 3" wall. But for a hunting cabin, it'd probably be just fine.

I vote for the camper. Its what they are made for and they can be found for that price. You could always cut a door out of the front or back and frame in a ramp/door for your atv's to fit. Also for thec cost they often have showers, stoves and beds in place. I actually saw one one time where they gutted the rear and made a ramp. It was really cool.

Camper !!! You can find nice one's cheap if Ya look hard. Buy a cheap Home Depo utility shed tp park Your atv in. We just bought a 1996 Dutchman 26 ft camper Very nice for $1.200.00 Awesome ! And they are easy to move.

I have a 32' camper at the lease. I chain my EZGO cart to the frame and cover it with a tarp.

In a recent issue of Fur, Fish & Game magazine there is a good article describing a low-cost way to modify a cargo trailer to transport a mule and to serve double duty as a camper.

A $1000 no way on the building if you did I would have to say it would not be safe in 20 mhw and you would be wet every time water came down. A $1000 on a camper much better way to go. I would save another $1000 and get a camper. Go price just the 3 21' 4x6 you need you will see.

Have you guys ever heard of a thing called a tent?

You know i was going to suggest that route, but i didnt want to be the "ahole" of the thread lol...

what about a pop-up camper?

Are you smoking crack?

Hardly, but you can stay at a Holiday Inn too. What a great commercial for them.