Another new pole barn

[hookdrvr]

Short version of this story, I've followed a lot of post on here over the years and was inspired by "Steeldust" (http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/projects/110718-want-see-yet-another-pole.html) barn build several years back. After retiring from the military a little over a year ago and buying a nice 60 acre parcel of land in central Tenn, I decided it was time to start on a barn for the wife's horses and hopefully a cow or two later on. I hated the thoughts of purchasing all the lumber with so many popular, cedar and oak on my land. I've also followed along on the Forestry Forum for several years and talked with "Motorseven" (http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/projects/156451-log-house-project-begins.html) and after following his thread, and decided to buy a bandsaw mill and mill out my own lumber. I'll add some pics to get up to the current state of the project. Fair warning, I'm no carpenter and have learned a lot on this project to date, so if you see something out of plumb or notice a post not set quite right, the reason is probably lots of late nights or in the case of the post, solid rock and lots of broke grade 8 bolts and auger tips.

Heres the Timberking 1600 I bought to start on the logs. I was offered several acres of large cedar trees if I would clear out for a home spot. I'm cutting them down to 6x6x22' for the center post and 6x6x16 for the outer wall post. I'm putting them 4' in the ground, even though the frost depth is only 12".

 

[Walkin Horse]

Keep posting pics. I have had lumber sawed the last 2 years. I have gotten about 16000 bf so far. I'm building fence and sheds and remodeling the barn.

 

[wmonroe]

Nice looking 6x6! It would be fun (and plenty of work) to saw your own boards for a barn. Good luck and post plenty of pictures, we love pictures.

 

[hookdrvr]

The 6x6's came out nice, hard to mill a 22 footer on a 16 foot bed though, but I'm learning as I go. Here's a few pics of my machines, a TD9B that was my dad's and a Cat 933H I picked up cheap.

I've just recently replaced the Cat with a newer Dresser 175C. Its much more powerful and works faster.

Here's my start of several stack's of lumber........

And starting to set the post..........

 

[wmonroe]

Looking good.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

nice, can't wait to see the rest.

 

[EddieWalker]

Very ambitious milling our own lumber!!!! One day that's on my list of things to be able to do.

From your pics, it looks like you are using some good sized boards for your beams, but they look like they are attached to the sides of your posts. Bolts are not structural and shouldn't be used to support a load. You either need to have metal brackets designed for that load, or solid wood under your beams to carry the load. You can add lumber to the sides of your post that go from the ground/concrete, up to the beam just like it's done when creating a header in a house. Search jack studs and kind studs.

Eddie

 

[hookdrvr]

Eddie,

Thanks for the info on the bolts. I've not updated my pictures yet, however I do have 18"-24" boards, depending on location, nailed below each rafter at this point. I will also be adding additional bolts soon as I like those better than lag screws. I understand the concept of jack studs, but without pouring a floor or having something more solid to sit on other than the dirt floor, would a jack stud be as beneficial as say a 24" board nailed tight below the rafter?

Like I mentioned in my first post, I'm learning as I go, but not sure I'll tackle something this big by myself again.

 

[MotorSeven]

Looking good....a 16" ERC cedar 6x6 is a thing of awe since 90% here are too short with too much taper. Build and extension for that mill...you will never regret it.

Eddie's right, but he forgot you could notch those 6x6's and set your beams on the notch. "would a jack stud be as beneficial as say a 24" board nailed tight below the rafter?" I think that would work if you through bolted it and used some big nails.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

For the header that is holding another floor, then I would have solid wood under it. However, for other things, like the roof header can be bolted on the side of the pole. At least the inspectors here allow it. As far as bolts not being structural, most deck ledgers are put on with bolts, and the joists are hanging from joist hangers held on by nails. It all depends on the weight it is designed to hold up.

 

[EddieWalker]

The problem with bolts through a board is that you just never know when the board will split. This happens because all of the load is carried at the point of the bolt, which is usually in the middle of the piece of lumber. When the board is resting on something, the full width of the board is being used for strength. While bolts have been used for years and even decades without fail, some do fail and because you don't want to take a gamble that it will be yours that fails, you shouldn't use a bolt in a load bearing application.

Attaching a board to the side of a post or another board to act as a jack stud or support is done all the time and from everything I know, seems to be code in a lot of applications. I honestly don't understand why. In my opinion, the load should be carried by solid wood all the way down to the foundation. If it's something critical and I want it to last, I'll dig a hole and pour more concrete. Notching is my favorite way to support a load. Jack studs are the next best way, and if you can't do either, metal brackets designed for that load are well proven and code everywhere that I know of.

The secret to framing is imagining that every piece of wood you install is held in place by gravity. The nails or fasteners are just there to keep it in place, not support anything. So every board should be resting on top of another board. If there was no wind, you should be able to put them in place without a fastener. If it wont stay there on it's own, then you are either doing it wrong, or you are missing something that needs to be there.

Eddie

 

[GLyford]

I have heard of using bolts (or even threaded rod) with either split rings or spike grids

Shear Plates / Split Rings / Spike Grids On Cleveland Steel

Note that the rings need a special cutter to cut into the post and rafter, and the grids need a hydraulic clamp to become fully embedded. The bolts then are simply keeping these pieces together, and still aren't acting in shear.

 

[hookdrvr]

Eddy,

Thanks for the information and simplifying it. Explaining it the way you did about framing and gravity makes all the sense in the world. I also looked up what info I could find on the IRC website. It only mentioned about decks, but still not to use just bolts like I have. Either setting the boards on top of the post, notching the post or using jack studs to carry the load is the prescribed way.

As I mentioned, I have some 24" boards under some of the rafters, I'll be adding jack studs to help support the second story loft. If needed, I'll add additional concrete around the base of the post for the studs to sit on.

I'll add some more pics soon, I've been nursing a head cold and haven't gotten much done lately other then sheathing one "wing" of the roof. I need to mill out some more 2x6's so I can finish framing the other sections of roof and get that covered prior to winter.

Thanks for all the input so far.....................