Updated- Troubleshooting making a heavy coop into a chicken tractor

UhaRugger

In the Brooder
Hi Everyone!
We are first time chicken people and building a chicken coop with an attached run. We wanted to make it a chicken tractor. I didn't want to have to clean a run area and I want to be able to move it daily. It does need to be able to be moved by one person, as my husband travels for work a lot. But we did make a huge mistake and used 4x4s as the posts, which adds a ton of unnecessary weight. At the time we were thinking stability since we live in Florida and hurricane season is on its way (we also thought it would be easier to attach hurricane tie downs to the 4x4s). We have created the "wheel lifts" with wood. They do work, but it's a lot of weight on the wood. The tires are 14.4" and can hold 300lbs each. We got these tires because the original tires we had were bowing out under the weight of the coop. The new tires don't bow nearly as much (it also doesn't help that our yard is not level). We think our coop is in the 500lb range (but we really have no idea). This is where we are disagreeing on how to handle the situation. I think if we add two more tires to it that are also "lifts" it would be moveable. My husband thinks if we just do some type of metal brackets that we wouldn't have to add two more tires. ( I would love to just add a third tire at the end to make it easier to turn, but we haven't figured that one out yet haha). It's so heavy to move with just the two tires, that I think that with the extra two at the rear (4 total) it would help it greatly.
The first image someone had posted in a different thread but we don't know what the tire brackets are called and aren't having any luck finding them ( I also can't find the thread to ask there). My husband thinks that if we just add two metal brackets like this one that we won't have the tire bowing issue and won't have to add two tires.



This is our chicken coop (still in progress). The wheels in this picture are the old wheels, not the new wheels.



When the coop is lifted by the two wheels it takes two of us to pull down the run to lift the back end. Then trying to pull it is extremely difficult. There will be a dowel that runs between the two end boards to make it easier. But since it is so heavy, I think just adding two more wheels would do the trick.

Just for reference, the coop is 4' x 4' and the attached run is 6' x 4' for a total run space of 10' x 4'

We need to get this done because the hubs could be going TDY soon and if we don't have this tire situation figured out before he leaves, I may be SOL. I can finish the coop and run myself (considering I did all the roofing, cutting, sanding, staining etc myself) but we need the "making this beast move" dilemma figured out.

If anyone has built heavy moveable coops or has any insight into our dilemma it would be greatly appreciated! We need to get this sucker done asap, our little chickies are going to be 7 weeks tomorrow and really need to be outside hahaa
 
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I thought I would update this thread just in case there is anyone else struggling with making a heavy coop mobile. We ended up putting 4 stationary tires on this coop. They are screwed straight into the 4x4's. each tire can hold up to 300lbs and are 14.4" in diameter. The coop is only about 1 3/4" off the ground at any given time. Our yard is not level at all and it's still able to roll around. I initially didn't want to do stationary tires because I was worried about the gap and potential predator problems but it doesn't seem like it will be an issue. When the dowel is installed, it will be easy enough for one person to move. We aren't done with it yet but here is an image of the coop with the tires attached.

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