Bebster,
I don't know why I didn't follow this thread from the beginning. Read through the whole thing tonight. What a marvelous building you have there.
The only other time I have followed a post and beam project was many years ago on This Old House and I have been facinated with them since. One thing that has surprised me is the time it has taken to complete this project. I would have thought that with the timbers being pre-cut at the factory (and I may be wrong with this assumption) that this barn would have been erected in a very short period of time. I thought the SIPs would have gone up faster as well. This is not criticism, just an admission of my ignorance. I know the weather slowed down the pouring of the footings and basement walls, but did you anticipate the project taking this long? Were the timberframers accurate in their estimated construction time?
In the end (if not already), I know you will be the envy of every TBN'er who reads this thread as well as of your neighbors. Thanks you for documenting this facinating project.