Ok, I was wondering if there is any reason I can't build my beams in place on top of my piers?
My thought process is to lay it all out, clamp together with blocks and secure in place. There's only two of us so this seemed logical. My buddy however feels it needs to be built on the ground and then somehow set in place.
They can be built in place. Try to get the majority of the joints to fall on the piers.
There's no reason to make things difficult for yourself. I clamped a 2x4 to the side of each pier as a guide and built our beams, layer by layer, right on the piers where they were going to be. Just ensure they are plumb before nailing layers together. I placed all the splices over piers. Got it all together with some excess materials sticking out the ends and then trimmed it all off to make a neat end right where I wanted it.
That's exactly what I had in mind. I've always tried to work smarter, not harder. Now to determine my base material in my holes and I will be off and running!
that's exactly what we did. There is just two of us working the 2x12x20's and that stuff got heavy! BTW I checked the map and it looks like you are in my Area. I'm in East Texas too!
(Canton)
That's how we did it too.