Inexpensive Small Cabin?

[Tilos]

Camper= flat roof/edge seams=leaks
Mice=Decon=dehydration=seek out water=hemorrhage/DIE outside/somewhere else

 

[Patocazador]

This won't apply here but I went on a plantation charity deer hunt once where the owner had an elevated stand that was ~30 feet high. It had steel girders for uprights and a multi-tiered staircase. It had a counter/bench facing a food plot with 4 swivel padded chairs along it. On the back wall was a couch, refrigerator, and gas stove There was a TV on a side wall where they could watch football games during lull times. There was a power pole and meter and it was fancier than the first house I lived in when I got married.
I dream about it occasionally.

I doubt it could be built for under $4000.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

I knew a fellow from Pennsylvania who used to haul a "cabin" to the Rockies for elk hunting. His "cabin" was 8X16, and made of particle board reinforced with 2X4s. It bolted together, and he put a blue tarp over it for a roof.

 

[Panfisher]

In MO there are lots of places that will sell you a 10 x 20 she'd on skids and deliver it. Set it on a gravel pad and enjoy. If you want to finish out the inside there are plenty of amish/Mennonites in most parts of the state you can hire to do the work. We built a cabin inside a barn, salvaged an old sink from a house, added a 55 gallon poly drum and bilge pump, a little plumbing and at the flick of a switch you can have water inside.

 

[RPZ]

Has anyone built a small, inexpensive cabin on their hunting property? I'd really like to get some kind of shelter built on my land this year so I'm not driving back and forth to hunt early every morning and late every night. I'm no carpenter at all, but I'm reasonably confident that I could finish out the inside of a some kind of building. I've got a budget of about $3-4k total for something about 250sq/ft. I know that's not a lot of money, but I'm not needing anything fancy or nice. Just needs to be dry, weatherproof, and reasonably warm. I've looked at the little portable wooden storage buildings, but in my area they are pretty dang expensive. Outside my budget for sure.

My latest possibility is one of those shipping containers, which are only about $1700 delivered. But it's basically a steel box with no windows. I have zero experience with metal work or welding so I would not be able to cut out any windows or doors. So while it sounds inexpensive, it starts adding up pretty quick when you look at converting one into a cabin type building.

I'm basically just looking for advice, suggestions, pics maybe of anything similar to my needs and that fits my budget. I'm thinking something small and cheap now because my son is only 2 years old so it will be several more years before he's big enough to actually start going with me and staying out in the cabin too. By then, I hope to be able to build an actual larger cabin. I just need something to get along by myself for say the next 6-8 years. I've thought about just getting a cheap little camper, but the wife says no. She doesn't want more stuff being stored here at the house. The critters would take it over if I left it at my property year-round. And she would certainly not agree to paying a storage fee somewhere for some cheap little hunting camper. As you can probably tell, I tried to pitch the camper idea already and got shot down!

Get a small RV trailer. You could easily find a decent one in that price range with ready to go kitchen etc. And it's mobile.

 

[ironworkerwill]

The company I work for buys used office trailers for job site offices fairly cheap. 2k or less, one in particular they sold to an employee for $600 so they wouldn't have to bother moving it.
They have wheels, break lights, axles, and can be moved with a full size pickup. ( A dually obviously would be better for a long haul ) They typically have an electric heater and are easily connected to a generator.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

This looks great for $3769. Complete with doors and windows. http://www.homedepot.com/p/Best-Bar...gclid=CJ_Csa-spNQCFdY6gQodeMoGxw&gclsrc=aw.ds

I've seen these used several times. You have to add insulation and paneling (or thin plywood) to the inside, but this idea works well. Most of the ones that I've seen and used omitted the side, double doors, but they were always the final structure, not a temporary one to be repurposed later for storage when a better cabin was built. Very simple to add a composting toilet, use bunk beds, and a wood stove.

There are lots of Amish shed builders out there, like the one in the link, and you can get a rather substantial structure and add windows and a porch. http://www.fredscustomsheds.com/construction-pricing/optional-features/

LD

 

[Varminterror]

A finished container building runs 14 grand. Not easily dropped in the boonies either.

I buy 5-6 of these each year, and rent 6-10 more for shorter projects. I've seen a ton of adds for "Conex cabins" for $12-20k, and I shake my head every time. I've never paid anywhere near that much for one, not even a third for most of them we buy - typically I'm paying in the $2500 ballpark for them as finished job offices. Depending upon area, a guy can even rent one for $150-300 per month; $15k is 50-100 months.

I've also bought unfinished containers to use as storage units on private property a few times, and dropped them in what most would consider "the boonies." If a truck has the physical space and sufficient terrain to get there - meaning no rivers to be forded and no cliffs or gullies to be traversed - they can put them almost anywhere.

 

[Armored farmer]

Here is a picture of me setting our elevated blind. The low water crossing that I built on the stream that cuts through our property was too icy to cross with the tractor and load. I had to go the long way around. About 7 miles.