The Stump Ranch (Cabin Progress)

[jander3]

Beenthere,

Thanks. I am moving the logs on Thursday.  Leaves are falling everywhere; it's been raining for days. So the road I have to run the log truck down will be tight and muddy and slippery.  Oh yeah, I forgot to mention: to access my place, this tight and muddy and slippery road runs through 80 acres of Indian Property (another story) and I assured the band that I won't tear it up.


Don,

One more question.  I cut the Poplar I was going to use -- nice trees, 15" diameter; however, they were full of heart-rot (didn't notice till I cut them, and hauled them, and set them up for work).   I am not ready to get after the other Poplar on the property because I need to cut a road first.  After half a day of cutting and hauling trees that were crap and some internet research when I returned home, I now know how to identify heart-rot before cutting down the tree.

What size Oak do you think is needed for the main support beams?  I have plenty that are close by.  I have three 25' Oaks cut that I can put a flat on both sides and still have about 7"- 8" of tree (butt is about 11"-12"; top is about 8"-9").  The flat would be probably 5" on small end and 10" on the larger end.   The beam will sit on top of the stumps (about 12" diameter) which sit on the footings I dug earlier (3 beams, 5 piers on the outside beams, 3 piers on the center beam).  Floor joists (2" x 6") will sit directly on the beams.

I can certainly cut some bigger oaks and flatten them with my chainsaw.  However, if these work, it will save me a day or two. 


You can see the Oak and the stumps in the Portable Gin Pole thread.

Jon

[Jim_Rogers]

jander:
So, how do you think it worked for you?

Jim Rogers

[Don P]

I think we were assuming the beams needed to handle the floor load in bending and stiffness and the total building load on the perimeter in crushing. I haven't checked crushing, oak is good for 800-825 lbs per square inch there. I'll let you figure that on your pier tops.

I think the sides on 5 posts are ok, the middle is where to put the best, largest one. I'm thinking it needs to be at least around 8.5" diameter with the same skimming rules in good material. If you have to hunt a new one go bigger than that. Double check the joists, my gut says 2x8 but I haven't checked that.

Good luck with your project  .

[jander3]

I spent four days moving my cabin walls.  Grapple truck and pup trailer from the building yard up to the staging area.  Then, I moved the logs one at time back through the woods using two log arches and an ATV.  It took three full days of hauling to get all the logs back to the site.   

I cut the windows and doors at the building site.  Big mistake.  This probably cost me an extra day in hauling.  Dealing with the small pieces was very frustrating and very time consuming.

Using two log arches and an ATV allowed me to complete this work alone as my son (who was supposed to be helping me) ended up sick. 

 


The walls assembled in the building yard.  A logger moved these to the staging area.  Easy to load, easy to unload with a grapple (loading and unloading time was about one hour).
 


This is how the cabin currently looks.  Logs were marked and toted into the cabin site one at a time.  This operation was one big pain in the tail. 



Moving the log arches to fetch a log.



The log is supported on both ends to prevent damage.  I wasn't too sure about using the Logrite Junior Log Arch.  The arch was doing quite a bit of flexing on the sections of the trail that were full of rocks and stumps.  However, it held up.



I winched the log with a northern tool Note:Please read the Forestry Forum's postion on this company 1500# winch and then chained the log in place.  I was impressed with the winch as it has a brake.  The winch held up fine and with the brake there is no freewheeling on the way down.



The floor structure is started.  I probably have a week or so in peeling, flattening, and fitting beams and joists before it will be ready for the cabin walls.

[beenthere]

Jon
Good to hear the logs are moved.
I figured you were in for a lot of hard work, and real glad you didn't end up with breakage in the handling (or at least I hope not). That would be a big worry for me.

You're a trooper to tackle it alone.
How was the road going in?  You earlier mentioned it might be too wet.

 

[peter nap]

It's looking good.
I envy you! You know what your building and it;s moving along.


Mine started small until my wife got involved. It is now a 50X50 timberframe, rustic but elegant inside. a completely open space with on load bearing beams...etc

I named it the widder Naps place because it can't be built in my lifetime.

[jander3]

Beenthere,
Getting the loader to the staging area when very smooth.  No problems.  The driver had been in many tighter areas.  And, man, he was good with that grapple.

However, it rained for two days while I was moving logs with the arches and the path through the woods turned to muck.   When I needed to move the short pieces, the four wheeler didn't have the power to pull a skid loaded up with pieces and the trail was too slick to get the Oliver out to help.  I ended up lashing one piece to the front of the four wheeler and put one in the arch. 37 logs = 19 trips through the woods.  Getting a heavy duty trailer made up that I can pull behind a four wheeler just moved right to the top of my priority list.  I will probably talk to the welder this week, hopefully, I can make up a small trailer that will tow a four wheeler that can also be used hooked up to the four wheeler.

For the notches that were cut greater than 1/2 the diameter of the tree, when loading up  I nailed on some 2 x 4 scab boards.   When the logs got back to the site, I had all the pieces that we moved out of Red Wing (my main concern was misplacing a piece).  One notch had a pretty good crack that I will fix when we put it on the building. 

peter nap,
I too have a wife that thinks a cabin in the woods should be 2500 square feet with at least one whirlpool tub.  Well, she is getting 20' X 22' one bedroom and an outhouse, which is about the limit of my ability. 

[beenthere]

Still moving logs?
Hope your trailer idea worked out for the shorter logs.
And hope this warm air is helping you out too.
 

[beenthere]

jander3
Are you snowed in?

The weather has changed a lot from last week. 

[jander3]

A little bit of snow and sleet. Not too bad yet.  I'm hoping for snow soon, my snowshoes are ready.

A couple of weeks ago I got everything moved from the Indian land where it was staged back to my property.   Then, I spent a weekend and cleaned up the building lot I was leasing so I could take two weekends off.  I'm also trying to work out a long term easement deal with tribe, which is very slow moving.

I just ordered an Alaskan chainsaw mill.  Should be in this week.  I have to flatten quite a few logs for the support beams and floor joists.  I've been cutting these with a chainsaw freehand using chalk lines or a 2 x 4 as a guide.  Freehand flattening (cutting and cleaning up the log) takes quite a bit of time.  I'm hoping that Alaskan mill will speed up this process.

Today's project is cleaning out the garage and making room so I can work on a small timber frame over the winter in the evenings or weekends when it's too cold outside.  I've been cutting a few practice joints and reading up on timber framing (which really strains both of my brain cells).  By next spring I should be able to put together a small structure to cover our cooking area up at Hinckley

[jander3]

Based on Don's input, I did quite a bit of thinking and reading so I could decide on how I wanted to install the footings and foundation.  The foundation will be used to support a log cabin.  Because access is difficult and all work is done by hand, I really wanted to make the most of materials on hand and minimize anything that needed to be hauled in.

 



Hauling in materials.  I seriously considered dry-stacking stones.  In the end I decided on footings with posts.





Footings were dug by hand with a post-hole digger.  They are 46" deep, about 18-20 inches diameter, with the largest bell at the bottom I could dig.  I cut 6" pieces of 18" sono-tube for the top, this provided a nice level surface.   I installed a bit of rebar in the holes.  I decided to use 3 main support beams with 5 piers on the outer beams and 3 piers on the center beams.





Cut and peeled some Oak stumps to use as piers.  Drilled two holes in the bottom for rebar.

 



Piers cut level.




Peeled and flattened Oak support.




Laying out a tree for flattening.





Cutting a tree.  After two weekends of cutting freehand and using a lumber-maker, I decided to purchase an Alaskan Chainsaw mill.  This cut the time and effort required for ripping a log in half.





Cut a few Poplar for the floor joists; they are layed out on top of the Oaks for flattening.




Trees are flattened and peeled.   Next trip out I will cut some notches and use lag screws to hold things in place and then start cutting and peeling the floor joists.

[Banjo picker]

I just read your post, really enjoyed it.  My wife an I are planning to build a 16 x 20 in the near future.  It will be on our home place here, but about a 1/2 mile or so back in the woods by the creek.  Beautiful place esp. when the wild azaleas are in bloom.  My son and I have built an arch very similar to the one on you post for just such use--to transport logs from the mill to the build site.  Really like your use of the sono tubes.  I may change what i had in mind and do something similar. Thanks for the update.  Tim

[thecfarm]

Dry stacking stones you probaly would be carrying in a jack to adjust the stones every few years.But you may not get the cold temps like I do that makes every thing move every spring and winter.Looks like quite the project. Keep the pictures and the progress coming.

[beenthere]

thecfarm
The temps he has in northern MN are around (minus) -10° this morning...

But frost movement has a lot to do with soil type (clay is bad and glacial till is not so bad).

[Loghead]

So many details but eventually the logs start going up and you will be glad for all the back breaking work on that foundation
looks good so far keep them photos comin were all pulling for ya!

[jander3]

Foundation is finally finished and the logs are going on the walls.  Last fall, I figured a couple of weekends and I would have her wrapped up.  I was clueless.  I didn't consider that everything was manual, the site is located in the middle of nowhere, I have nothing but hand tools, and red oak is about the hardest peeling, ripping, nailing, and drilling wood I've ever run into. Oh, yea, it is heavy as heck too.

The support structure is a combination of Red Oak and Poplar.  In the end, the main driver for the type of wood was wood that was located close.   

 

[beenthere]

Lookin great.
Was thinkin about you today, and wondering how the foundation was coming along.
Thanks for posting and have fun with the next stage.

[jander3]

The Stump Ranch is located on McGowan Lake, which is a small remote lake that is on 40 acres about 25 miles east of Hinckley, Minnesota.  I do the majority of the work alone, so I, generally, have to figure out ways to accomplish the tasks with a single set of hands.   

I spent Saturday and half the day Sunday loading logs onto the foundation; the photos below show current progress: 

 
The lower level logs were lifted into place using a sky-line and chain fall.  This was a very easy system for one man to operate; the set up took about 30 minutes.  I just strung some 3/4" manila rope between two oak trees and mounted a chain fall on a pulley.  Next trip out I will need to install a proper set of lifting shears to get the logs higher on the building.



Log is prepped to put in place.  The black is a product called EM seal, which is a tar soaked foam tape that provides a weather tight seal at the notches and lateral groove.  The white is wool rope laid in the groove to increase the insulation value of the wall.  Both products are available at Schroeder Log Home Supply (http://www.loghelp.com/index.html).
 


A few rounds of logs installed on the building.


Saddle notches.

[Sprucegum]

  nice work 

What do you have set in the ground for posts/pilings?

[Gary_C]

Nice work. At 25 miles that must put you across the river.