well the next project was to figure out a way to raise the 300 pound beam up fourteen feet in the air. we first prepared the posts. the front one comes complete with this nice little peace sign (too bad its gonna be inside the walls once all is said and done.) and the back post comes up from the floor.
the beam is 17 feet long and needs to be 21 feet so we had to make an extension. not that this was a hard thing to do it just took more time and with that time our beam started from a manageable weight up to the 300 pounds which was a lot less manageable. (keep in mind so far in the making of this cabin no one or animal has been hurt, other than really sore bodies) ((and even to this point we have only shed blood once, dad cut his hand on the measuring tape yesterday, but that was the least of our worries)
dad seems to cut a much nicer line on the skill saw so he did this one for me, we had to angle the top of the beam so that the 2X6's could line up to make the top peak on the roof.
the extension has been made and bolted together.
the next plan was to get the beam up onto the walls of the cabin, this we thought could be done simply by using the tractor and just raising it up. (i wrapped it in a blanket to protect the wood, which worked perfectly) the problem was we were about 6 inches short of make it up there, so we ended up building a ramp for the tractor to drive up and guess...
IT WORKED!!!! i would like to again add that this was the easy part.
once up on the wall, we were able to just slid the beam over to the posts and called blake to come and do our man handle work. (blake your the best!!!)
basically he lifted the front end of the beam (the part without the extension) up onto the top of his tall ladder (thank you ron for having this ladder still here in spokane, we could not have done it with out this ladder) ((i should mention that ron and phyllis our neighbors are away in montana at there other house and they have nicely told me i could use what ever i want in the garage, so ladders, air hoses, random other tools have been used in the making of the cabin, thanks again guys)
again this was a really hard thing, but not even close to what we were about to experience...
dad was hoping that we could then lift the back end of the beam up with the tractor and we very quickly realized that this was a really bad idea. so as we were all trying to figure out what we could do, mom brought us lunch over. (thank you mom, with out you so many days would of gone to hunger)
the next idea dad had (which he didn't say out loud at the time but i was thinking it as well was to not have a fourteen foot vaulted ceiling, just to cut off a few feet to make this that much easier.) in my head i was thinking yeah it would make it a lot easier but down the road i would be sad about it.
so he came up with the idea to use his hydraulic jack and a long post up to the beam to raise it a foot at a time, then make a brace on the back post to "SOMEWHAT" hold the beam and start the process all over.
i will say this.... it worked but not with out ALL OF US really stressed, really at any time any one of steps could of gone wrong and we might of had much more going on than a small bandage to fix. the good thing is it worked and we all were very very VERY happy to have it done.
you can see the ladder we built going up the post in the back, this is what we used to secure (or somewhat secure) the beam. blake you were AWESOME thank you so much. i tried to do that job, and i got the first two rungs done, but then my arms were pretty much shot. so he took over for me. mom and i switched off holding our post on top of the jack and dad was the brains of this operation. honestly we could not have done it with out each one of us, rons ladder, ricks airgun and all the support that has gone into this. im learning so much about the importance of building the right way.
dad putting in the hardware.
after we got the beam up and we rested our bodies for a few minutes, dad and i cut a couple support beams and got those all secured.
and there you have it. the beam is up and ready for the rafter and roof. i had a goal to have this done before i left for rabbit stick and saskatoon circle. dad, thank you so much. you and i both know this would not of happened if you were not able to dedicate a lot of your time to helping me this week. i really appreciate all your love, support, and hard work. not to mention the brains of the operation. blake your the best, thank you for your help and muscles, you also know we could not have done this with out you. thank you also for the friendship that we have. i love you brother.... mom i admire you so much, the sacrifices you have made for me my entire life does not go unnoticed. i have really enjoyed the time that it has just been the two of us over there enjoying being together. and to everyone else who has lent me tools, stumms, li, dixons, best's, ed, millers, and everyone who has given me a helping hand and all those who have lent advice and donated me supplies along the way, and to my grandparents who helped get me the last of the 2x4's that i needed for my walls. my dream is becoming a reality. and i thank you all.
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