building our retirement cabin

[MotorSeven]

FB don't cut them until the sap is flowing, Dave is right, then peel immediately. The longer you wait the harder it gets. However if you let them sit for 6 months off the ground then they are again easy to peel but it's harder then because the bark will be stiff as a board. I could knock a lot of the bark with a pickaroon when I had them on the mill since they sat so long.

[triangel]

You got that right we did work for it,and under tougher conditions than today still not as tough as our predecessors . I was a carman in Melville car shops as a welder mechanic for 25 years then I got on the road repair truck for the last 11 years. loved the job but Hunter made the rules unbearable so that at the end you could not make a move without Big Brother turning you in for any little thing. Glad to get out with my sanity . I have a friend who got axed in the 80's went to work for Cp he has my sympathy now that he both Hunter and Creell both. Hatchet men at their worst. Hope you have a good retirement, I working as hard now as when I had a job and a farm only doing the things we love now.

[triangel]

Well we got the walls started finally and it is long process. We built spine boards in the window and door frames to allow for log shrinkage .We milled all the lumber for the frames and the logs as we go.

[forgeblast]

FB don't cut them until the sap is flowing, Dave is right, then peel immediately. The longer you wait the harder it gets. However if you let them sit for 6 months off the ground then they are again easy to peel but it's harder then because the bark will be stiff as a board. I could knock a lot of the bark with a pickaroon when I had them on the mill since they sat so long.

Appreciate it I will work one at a time then. Thanks , Triangel sorry for hijacking!

[triangel]

Our cabin is 26' by 30' with a 14x26 loft. When we cut the logs flat on both sides we sealed them with two strips of a seal called EM Seal. It compresses and expands with the movement of the logs. We are still dealing with lots of rain and are used to working in the mud. We fastened the logs every 3' with a 3/8 12" lag bolt which was countersunk in the top log about 5 to 6 inches. Lots of drilling with a 1" bit to allow for a socket wrench to fit. We welded a 10" extension on the socket so it would come out of the hole without falling off when the bolt was tightened. we used an electric impact run by our portable welder to tighten the bolts saved a lot of time and energy. We then built the bottom bedroom inside to support the loft and to tie the walls together.

[rekees4300]

You guys don't mess around. Very few people now-a-days have the ambition to do what you are doing! How are you lifting the logs?

[triangel]

we lifted most of the lower ones with my t1510 fitted with log forks. easy with this because of the hydro transmission but when we could not reach higher we had to depend on old reliable my 730 case with a du al loader. we built log forks on the bucket to which we attached a 4x4" box tube about 8' long and made a jib so to speak so we could make the long reaches, worked very well however shifting gears and riding a clutch were not the same as the hydro .Once we got the walls up we started with the loft joists 7x7 just because that was the size of the logs. when they were down we used 5/8 tongue and groove plywood for the subfloor.As you can see my wife is really at home with heights,still don't how I convinced her to go up there. This as far as we got for 2 weeks as our second daughter was getting married . two down and one to go.

[triangel]

Finally got the second wedding done, another son in law to help, and away we go again. Got the last of the logs in place and started on the loft floor and building the rafters. For the rafters we purchased 18' 2x4's and 3/8 strandboard. We used the sawmill to cut the sheets in 1x8' strips . then we used the 2x4's for the upper and lower edge to the rafter nailing and glueing the sheets to the side to make a rafter. Lots of nailing about 7000 nails with the power nailer, Mike my son in law did most of the nailing and at the end of the day he sure felt it.the day we did this it was very hot and humid so we had to build a canopy over us to keep the sun off of us. My dad who was 80 was helping us as a forman.

[BoFuller]

Just read your thread. Great building project! I hope to have my permit in about a month and then I'll be stacking logs also. My hat's off to you. Yes it is hard work!

[triangel]

Finally got the rafters built and stacked on the loft floor. Could not have done it without the help of family and friends. We took a day off got on the quads and went looking in the forest for a ridge pole. After about 5 hrs of searching we finally found what we thought was the perfect tree. We had to take the quadrants back to the forestry branch get the okay and permits and back to the forest to cut it down. these are the pictures of cutting and hauling and peeling it.