Price list
| Campervan consulting | €90/h |
| Tiny house consulting | €90/h |
| Initial consultation | 30 min, donation-based |
| Hands-on work, per hour | on request |
| Travel to and from site | by arrangement |
Tiny House PRO | Tiny House knowledge
Trailer & Transport
The base for your tiny house
A tiny house has no cellar or foundation like a conventional house, yet it still needs a stable base on which it can stand safely. With tiny houses, many people think straight away of a trailer with wheels – similar to a builder's site hut. That, however, is only one of several options.
Which option suits your plans depends on the weight, the pitch and on whether you want to move again later. That is best clarified together before you buy, in the Consulting.
Choosing the right platform depends on a number of factors. How often and in what way is the house to be transported? Which matters more, greater headroom or greater flexibility? Should, or must, it also be movable without a crane? Is a gap between the house and the ground wanted? Here too, both the intended use and the pitch influence which base is suitable for your tiny house.
A tiny house does not always have to be built on a trailer – other solutions are often more practical and more durable.
Movable or immovable?
The platform is above all a question of transport. Even if the tiny houses do not travel on their own wheels from my workshop to their final location, it can make sense to opt for a substructure with wheels.
If the house stands on a platform trailer or turntable trailer, it can still be moved and manoeuvred on the plot until it is in the best position. That matters above all if the low-loader cannot drive right up to the spot where the house is to stand. If you opt for a flat platform without wheels, it must be possible to bring the house directly to its final location with the low-loader and to set it down there with a small mobile crane. If the house is to be moved rarely or not at all, I recommend not using a trailer. That also allows the house to be somewhat taller. Whether on wheels or not, a tiny house can readily be moved by a haulage company.
The weight of household contents and furniture is not insignificant. If there is a weight limit, furniture and belongings have to be included in the calculation.
Tiny House Transport
Transporting tiny houses yourself
For a house to be driven or towed on the road without special permits, it may be no wider than 2.55 m and no higher than 4 m. It must also not weigh more than 3.5 t , and that includes its load. Many tiny houses already weigh 3.5 t “empty”, that is, without household contents.
For a transport it therefore has to be cleared out completely, and all personal belongings have to be transported separately. Houses that meet these requirements can be registered as a caravan by the TÜV. A few additional rules have to be observed as well, such as glazing the windows with certified and stamped safety glass. On request I arrange the registration. Please note: these figures and rules apply to Germany. Permitted dimensions, weights, approvals and building regulations differ from country to country, so the conditions for your own location need to be checked individually.
It is also possible to tow heavier houses yourself if you have a suitable towing vehicle such as a tractor or a Unimog and the corresponding driving licence. They can then, however, only be moved at a speed of up to 40 km/h. For short distances that can still be an option. Loads over 3.5 t have to be transported on an air-braked trailer, at least on public roads. These trailers are very expensive, though.
Commissioning a transport
You can also have a house moved by a haulage company. For this it is usually loaded onto a low-loader.
The house must then be no more than 3.70 m high including the trailer . The transport may have a maximum height of only 4 m, and the bed of the low-loader is 30 cm high. In return, this also allows houses without a trailer to be transported as well.
With transport by a haulage company, a width of 3 m is easily possible, because haulage firms obtain the necessary special permit through a shortened procedure. In addition, an escort vehicle has to accompany the transport. Wider houses are still possible; they simply cost more to transport.
For quality reasons, my houses that are over 6.5m long and fully furnished always weigh more than 3.5 t.
Crane-lifted houses: Tiny houses without wheels
If the house is to stand on a building plot, it makes sense not to have a trailer underneath it. That gains more height inside, and it is even possible to add a second storey on site. The house does lose mobility, but when a plot is bought, a further move is often not planned anyway. Another advantage is that a trailer-less crane-lifted house on a building plot can be financed as real property, which means better terms.
My houses can also be mounted on platforms that are then placed on pad, screw or strip foundations at the destination. Although these platforms have no wheels, the houses still remain mobile. Moving them always requires a haulage company and a crane to load and unload the house. There also has to be enough manoeuvring space on the plot.
Another option are so-called swap bodies, which are mostly used to transport containers. They have no wheels but do create a gap between the house and the ground.
Tiny House Trailer
Wheels and headroom
In some cases it is necessary, or simply more practical, to have wheels under the tiny house. The height of the trailer does, however, reduce the maximum headroom inside the tiny house.
Platform trailer
Have two axles with the wheels in the middle. There are various versions and sizes; depending on that, they can carry loads of between 2.8 and 8t.
Length: up to 8.4m
Width: up to 2.4m
Height: 0.6 to 0.8m
Width: up to 2.4m
Height: 0.6 to 0.8m
Turntable trailer
Has wheels at the front and at the rear, with the front ones able to pivot. These trailers can carry 3.5 to 18t and also stand on their own without props.
Length: 5 to 10m
Width: 2.4m
Height: 0.7 to 1.1m
Width: 2.4m
Height: 0.7 to 1.1m
Also on this topic: Pitch: regulations, foundation, financing
Tiny House Jacking up
Tiny houses may be small, but even a small house is by no means light. The trailers therefore have to withstand a great deal. If the weight of the house rests on the tyres and the suspension of the trailer for a longer period, these can be damaged. In the worst case the trailer's axles bend and it becomes unusable.
To avoid that, the trailer simply has to be jacked up properly. This is done with axle stands of the kind also used for caravans or boat trailers, which have proven themselves for this purpose. The axle stands are placed under the axles and the trailer is raised with them until the tyres no longer touch the ground. Smaller unevennesses in the ground can also be levelled out in the process if necessary.
Ground clearance
Whether the house should stand somewhat higher or at ground level is partly a matter of taste and partly a practical question. You can, for example, plan a small raised terrace in front of the house that invites you to linger on sunny days and where muddy shoes and dripping umbrellas can stay on rainy days. And besides: the greater the distance between the tiny house and the ground, the better the house is
protected from splash water. Splash water damages the cladding, for example, and constant wetness can also take its toll on the trailer. In very poor conditions the trailer can rust, even if the steel is protected against rust by galvanising or paint.
A thick floor panel provides the necessary stability
Whether with or without a trailer, the floor panel is effectively the mobile foundation of the tiny house. It carries the weight and it is what you walk about on. It should therefore definitely be able to take a lot and be stable. In principle, the most suitable material is film-faced plywood. It is waterproof and weather-resistant, and since the floor panel is exposed to the weather from below, that is also necessary.
The panel should also have a certain thickness. A thickness of at least 15 mm is recommended, 18 mm is better still. Cross beams are screwed onto the floor panel. Both the timber of the panel and that of the beams moves over time. A panel that is too thin is not up to this in the long run. The screws that hold the beams to the panel penetrate halfway into it. There is a risk that they are levered out of the panel. A thicker panel can withstand that better. So these millimetres are not the place to economise.
Also on this topic: Pitch: regulations, foundation, financing