Poppy's 16x16 timber frame cabin

[poppy]

Peg

Think of the stress-es that bridge is under, all twisted like that

  It's a wonder the county keeps it open.

Nice score at the auction, lots of old stuff still kicking around back your way.

Yea, I know that the bridge appears to be under great stress, but what you can't see is the extra concrete piers that they have placed under the span.  There are actually 2 sets of new piers under that thing and I'm guessing there were no piers when it was first built.

I continue to be amazed at what some people collect, never sell, and then the heirs get the spoils and folks like me get some neat old stuff that we can actually use.

If the truth be known, I sometimes wish that my grandparents had kept more of their old stuff, but they sold a lot of it to "pickers" before we knew it was happening.  For example, the flat irons that I picked up at the auction where like the ones my maternal grandmother used, but sold to pickers.

Here's another view of the bridge with a house in the foreground that you would probably appreciate Peg.

[poppy]

Glenn

I remember the moonshine...

Are you referring to that big round reflector up in the sky, or something in a mason jar.  

(If it were John or Don_P, it would probably be the latter)  

Poppy, the debarker is often called a peeling spud so may likely be the same thing.

Thanks for the link; I was searching on "de-barking" and came up empty.  

In my neck of the woods when someone refers to a spud bar they usually mean breaker bar.

[poppy]

Don_P

That's a fine example of a Burr arch covered bridge, nice pics
A couple of other names for some of your tools. I call the adze a "lipped adze" with the upturned edges. If it becomes a full curve like the one on your bark spud I call it a gutter adze

Thanks for the link on the N. European axes.  This doctor had several really old axes including one that looked like a battle ax but was probably a chopping ax. 

He had a small goose-wing hatchet that my new timber framing buddy said could be as old as 300 yrs.  It went for something over $100.  There was also a larger goose-wing head (no handle) that was more in line with what I see at other auctions.

For some reason there are a number of collectors of broad axes who attend these auctions and they normally out bid me, because I am just looking for tools to use, not hang on a wall. 

FWIW, I got the handled 12" broad ax for $55 and the head for $17.50.

Oh, and there was even a gutter adze; something that I had never seen before.

I knew you would appreciate the bridge structure.  And thanks for the compliment on the pics., so here is another shot, not of the bridge, but an Amish homestead near the bridge.

[TexstarJim]

What great finds at the auction poppy, congratulations on your treasures!

[RainDog]

If the truth be known, I sometimes wish that my grandparents had kept more of their old stuff, but they sold a lot of it to "pickers" before we knew it was happening.  For example, the flat irons that I picked up at the auction where like the ones my maternal grandmother used, but sold to pickers.

Yeah, those damned bluegrass bands just travel the country playin' music and buyin' up everyone's heirlooms. I hate it when that happens.

[Redoverfarm]

Here is one not far from the house.  It is still operational today




The Philippi Covered Bridge, at Philippi, WV, in Barbour County, spans the Tygart River and is a 285-foot-long "long" Burr truss. The Philippi bridge is the oldest and longest covered bridge in West Virginia and is one of two remaining in Barbour County. The Philippi Bridge has been severely damaged at least seven times. After a fire nearly destroyed the bridge in 1989, it was painstakingly rebuilt to approximate its original appearance and was reopened to traffic in 1991. See also: Carrollton Covered Bridge.

The historic covered bridge at Philippi, WV was the site of the first land battle of the Civil War

[Sassy]

Thanks for posting, Poppy, very interesting   

The covered bridge you posted, Red, is really nice, too!  I took some pics of one in Santa Cruz 2-3 yrs ago.

[poppy]

Jim, thanks.

Raindog, your sense of humor is extensive. 

John, WOW that is one big covered bridge.  I've never seen one that long or wide.  There are a bunch of them over in Brown County, Indiana, but nothing like that.

Sassy, thanks.

[poppy]

My winter schedule has been kind of nuts, but I did manage a quick trip out to drop off the new/old tools and stuff and do a quick test of the peeling spud.



It's going to work great.  This is one of those finds that doesn't come along very often around here, since it's not the kind of thing that people collect.

I have been walking and driving past this one white oak tree for over 3 years now and finally realized that there was no pic.  I think it is a freak of nature. 



This will be one of the views off the back porch of the cabin.

Here's the other side.



This 3-branch white oak will will provide a great tripod base for a tree house, if I ever get the cabin done. 

[ben2go]

Kissing sisters is what the old guys call those trees around here. 

[poppy]

It's been over 3 months since I have been able to get out to the farm to get any real work done.  This past week end was warm and dry enough to drive the pickup back to the rear property line to prevent toting the chain saw back there.

I decided it was a good time to cut the white oak for the cruck blades for the south gable end.



I took a video of the tree falling but it started out horizontal and fell to vertical.    Couldn't figure out how to rotate the file.




The base was from 26 to 28" across; quite a challenge for a 20" bar. 




The saw represents the center of the wall at floor level and the tape measure represents a vertical line to the gable peak.




This is from the top looking down.

The trunk at the top of the cruck is about 14" in dia. so the blades will have a larger cross section than I estimated.

I will be able to get a 6" x 8" cross beam out of the trunk above the cruck.  And there will still be enough log to make a couple of braces. 

[MountainDon]

Nice tree poppy. I've missed you here lately.

About the video...  If I understand correctly you need to rotate the video 90 degrees?  Go to virtualdub.org and download the free program. Look in "video" and then the "filters" section; there is a rotation tool, 90, 180 or 270 degrees IIRC. Lots of other effects available too like changing contrast, brightness, cropping the frame, etc. There's no installer, you just make a shortcut to the executable and run it.

[Pine Cone]

I'd been wondering what you've been up to, and now I know.

Nice looking tree with an interesting bend.  Is this going to be enough for a full gable end or is this just the first half?

So what are the building hopes/plans for this summer?  Are you shooting for a frame with a roof by fall?

[poppy]

Thanks Don, I will check into that program when time allows.  It's nice to be missed. 

Pinecone, yes, the cruck blades will frame the full gable.  Here is a rough idea of the layout.  The dimensions need some tweeking.




As far as constuction goals, I will be lucky if I get a good start on the timber frame assemblies.  They have to be constructed; then we have a raising party; then I work on the roof.  So no, I don't expect there to be a roof this fall; maybe in a couple of years. 

[Redoverfarm]

Poppy glad to see you back at it.  I made the alterations to the fireplace while you were gone.  Here is what I ended up doing. 

http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=3613.msg111572#msg111572

Subsequent pages show the finished product.

[poppy]

John, thanks for the update on your fireplace.  Glad to see it's working better. 

For a variety of reasons there has been no time to work on the cabin, but I have been visiting the farm to check on things.

Over the last week the loggers next door have now cut their road up near my back property line.




It's not a very good pic., but if you look closely you can see my cruck tree from the top on the left side and some bull dozer work on the right and foreground.

They have now entered the part of the neighbor's woods where I have identified some standing dead red oaks that I have been hoping they will leave for me to salvage.




This is one that they have already felled (it may be a maple).  You can see that it has been dead for a while, so hopefully it will be mine. 





These are some of the white oaks they cut last week and have yet to buck.

[poppy]

Just a quick update; sorry no pics.   The loggers next door are finished, but they only left me 2 of the standing red oaks.  There will be plenty of large limbs available for braces or short lumber stock.

Still no work on the cabin. It's a long story.    Will give a related update in the General section.

[poppy]

Had my camera this trip out so I could show you all some of the distruction from the loggers next door.




If you look closely on the left you can see a red flag marking my property line.  It's really sad how much damage the loggers did. 




On the left of this pic. you can see an 8" maple that was topped and left to die.  I should be able to get a good timber out of it. 

You may have heard about the heavy rains (about 5") and flash floods in southern Ohio last Friday.  Here are some pics of the bridge just down the hill from my farm.




The guard rail on the upstream side was pulled out of the ground and lays across the roadway.




Here's the downstream view.  The flood really scoured out the creek bed.  I may be able to salvage some shale pieces from the aftermath. 




This log was jammed between the guard rail and the bridge deck without the log breaking or the guard rail being bent.    The bridge is about 20' off the creek bed, so you get the idea of the volume of flow from the flash flood.  My guess is that this bridge had never been flooded before.

[ben2go]

A friend of mine is clearing some of his land for an in ground pool and building.Another friend and I have been logging out wood for us to use to build with, and we have been logging some for our friend the property owner.We are very gently on the land compared to most.One log at a time with a skid steer or small excavator.Both are sporting rubber tracks.We also wait for dry ground to work on.I enjoy small time logging. 

[poppy]

So I continue go to the farm and mow and check on things, but still no new work on the cabin.

Here are some pics. from my last trip out.



Some blackberries are coming in.



The storm on Mon. night brought down a few black walnut limbs.


I continue to check the aftermath of the logging next door.


This a 24" white oak that they left behind.  I'm not sure what the burrs or bumps are, but they must be the reason it wasn't harvested.



This is the base of the oak.



This is a 6' section of a 24" white oak that they left behind.  There's another bottom section of another tree in another location also.  Not sure what I would do with them, but they should have some useful purpose.



This is a large maple that they left; again with the bumps.



The bottom 6 or 8 ft. of the maple.



And this is a tree that I can't readily identify.  I don't have any like it on my land and it is not a maple.  It's not very clear, but there is a small limb visible on the upper left.

[MushCreek]

I would guess beech on that tree. Those lumpy trees don't make very good timber, but wood turners love them to make bowls out of. Really wild grain in there.

[mldrenen]

I would guess beech on that tree.

same here, though tough to tell without a clear shot of the leaves.

i would also say those berries are black raspberries. 

[poppy]

Here is a closer view of the leaves on the tree I was questioning.


They are toothed simple leaves, which would help confirm that it is an American Beech.  I should have taken a closeup of the leaves.

[MushCreek]

Looks like beech. Do the leaves turn brown but hang on all winter? Beech tends to do that.

[Squirl]

Definitely beech.  You can tell from the bark.  They are a third of the trees on my land.