The Largest Rafter is in!!

Maybe it was because we were tired? Maybe it was because we had to put in one last 27 foot rafter? But it took us all day yesterday to strip, cut, lift and lag in the longest piece below. It was cut two weeks ago--thus it is not dry.

Joni mentioned the other day, that in this ecosystem, the trees hold all the water. True. Since it doesn't rain for eight to nine months, the trees gobble up the moisture when they can---and hold it. All that water makes for some very heavy logs when building. Especially when you are relying on simple technologies (a tripod and pulley) to heft it into place.

We don't have a scale--so we can't really estimate how much it weighs.

Before the last long rafter:

Mike putting a "strip" on to help secure the building. These metal strips go over the rafter at the tallest point; they help to hold the rafter in place.

Mike lagging in the middle post (which will be in the middle of our bedroom).

Eight hours of work to get this into place. We got the rafter up on to the short side. We then pushed it to the middle. We put a rope on the front and then used the ATV to pull it up and over. We finally secured it with the tripod and finished putting it into place.