He Todd,You done real good.  Glad you found this sight so that dad and I can watch your progress.  If we lived closer, I'm certain dad would be right along side you helping out 

google maps updated this week, however i removed the pictures because they were not working right

Got to the building site today and had some company


I cut all my 6x6 post to a general size put them in the brackets


i used the water level to mark all of them level to each other and cut them


after installing I fastened them with 16 galv nails and 10 galv nails because i didnt have enough of the 16s for all of them

great pics looking great son

Got 1 beam built today, it started good but the ending result looks to be 1/4th to 1/2" height different on some of the 2x12s in the beam,
i will put the best side up for the floor joist

That is a huge and HEAVY beam to transport to the jobsite!!  Why not just make it there?

Just curious...

You are right John_M, they are heavy.
I built them at my house because i work 2nd shift and can only do so much at a time.
my property is about 30 minutes from my house, so only an hr round trip but my house is closer to work.

im not real sure how we will get these loaded...

On almost all lumber there is a slight, or sometimes not so slight warp along the edge (called a crook I think) which should be positioned up in most cases. Depending on the pier spacing it probably won't make a difference but I think it would be good practice for future beams, joists, rafters, etc.

Thank you dug I will keep that in mind when im building #2.
your beams look flawless

Dug is right on...even the terminology  Crook is a hockey stick, bow is the side planking of a boat.
Put crown up on everything, if one person is cutting and others working we put an arrow on the face pointing up to the crown edge. Even walls laying on the deck are crowned all in the same direction so you don't end up with back and forth crowns down the length of the wall.

If you have one, I very often power plane the top edge of built up girders to get a truer surface to work from.

Quoteyour beams look flawless

Thanks! That's nice to hear, however while sometimes photos can expose things you never noticed, they can also mask flaws. Mine are not perfect, but will do.

If I had the full kit (power planer Don mentioned) that would have been real nice. Lumber may be sold as 8, 10 12 in. etc., but those numbers are just an approximation.

Sometimes I dream of a giant disc sander, 50 ft. in diameter that is mind controlled and can produce a perfectly flat plane on any surface. Should I be worried?

I've seen them tow huge steel beams before.  They attach an axle to one end and a tongue to the other.  Hmmm....   

If you ever get that disc sander worked out, let us know. Could be a helpful tool

Beam #2 Finished

While the beams look nice I'm envious of the green lawns.


Now I want to see how the beams get moved.

Im wondering how also, i will take pics...

loaded the beams today,we first put them on a industrial 4 wheel dolly

we wheeled them to the trailer and winched them up


they only had a little overhang...lol

we moved the beams to the cabin site, how will we get them off the trailer?
we will manhandle them, with the tractor




all of this was directed by my daughter Leilani

well now i believe you should have an easy time from this time on,., just kidding but you have a great start,.,.dad

Nice use of tools moving those beams! I don't think it would have gone so smoothly had it been me doing the job.

  i see who the boss is and she is so cute gota love her

dug it went smoother than we thought it would, i cant believe how heavy those beams are each.

Quote from: Mrdecatur217 on June 19, 2010, 11:14:07 PM
i see who the boss is and she is so cute gota love her

she rules the roost 

She certainly is a cutie 

Thank you Sassy

I have the beams temporary in place.