Long Purlins

[dail_h]

   I have the frame of my saw shed/shop up. 36 x 60 made from Perdue chicken house trusses,spaced 12ft. apart. Got to looking at my available logs,and they ain't too good  quality to make 2x6 purlins out of. Suppose I cut my stock 5/8ths x 6 ,cleaned them up to 1/2 in the planer ,then trimmed the bad knots ect out ,and glued three thicknesses together in 64ft long pieces. That would let me break the joints ,and better tie the building together.
   A good,workable idea,or do I need more ventilation when running the mill?

[logwalker]

Sounds like a lot of work Dail. And handling them after gluing would require more than one person. Have you run the calc program on your spacing? 12' is a long span for a 2x6. I think I would try to come up with better logs myself. I put my trusses on 8' centers and spanned with 2x6 on 2' centers. We have a 25 lb snow load here. How would you clamp something that long? I know you wouldn't try to do it all at once. LW

[timcosby]

what are perdue chicken house trusses?

[broker farmer]

It would work, but it's gonna be one heck of a lot of work!  You would have to glue them together up on the roof, otherwise I don't see any way to raise a 64 ft long laminated board.  I know you would like to use your existing logs, but there comes a time when you have to say, "These won't work".  You will be long term ahead by getting the right kind of logs and sawing something that you will have confidence in.  Is a "perdue chicken house truss" a fabricated clear span steel truss?

[DanG]

Dail, I woulda gone with the Starkist Tuna trusses on 8 foot centers.   How did Mr. Perdue feel about you using the trusses out of his chicken house, anyway?

[broker farmer]

DanG...................you sure you ain't been smokin' some of them collards?

[beenthere]

   ........... Suppose I cut my stock 5/8ths x 6 ,cleaned them up to 1/2 in the planer ,then trimmed the bad knots ect out ,and glued three thicknesses together in 64ft long pieces. That would let me break the joints ,and better tie the building together. .......

A good idea to laminate stock to gain strength by staggering the defects. Just making them 64 feet long seems a bit cumbersome unless you have several willing bodies to help carry each one to its place.

If the two faces are planed, dry (~12-15% MC), glued, and screwed with major defects removed and other defects staggered, then you should get some good quality purlins.  In short, I think it's a good idea (from where I stand    ).

[dail_h]

   Yeah ,clear span metal trusses. Around here ,they're all Perdue,in other areas ,Tyson ,ect. There are 12 purlons per side,I thought to use three long ones per side to use up the lower quality logs,and tie the whole thing together.
   Use ramps , and ropes to raise.