Log-and-Pin Framing

Enlarge Image Image Gallery FROM THE TOP: This log- and-rebar hoisting derrick is useful for such chores as butchering large animals... Log rail fence is pegged together with concealed rebar pins... A rustic swing set for the children... This pole-and- rebar hay shed was converted into a small barn by adding log mill-end siding.

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If you're long on logs but short on cash, consider these four practical homestead projects using...

Several years ago, my family's back-to-the-land dreams came true when we moved onto a chunk of rural acreage in Utah. There was a house on the property, but neither outbuildings nor fencing-both of which would be needed for the menagerie we planned to assemble. Fortunately, one thing the place did have was a large stack of peeled pine logs left behind by the previous owners. The logs were all exactly 24' long and ranged from 4" to 12" in diameter.

After getting settled into our new home, I began mentally casting about for ways to construct the fencing, outbuildings, and other homestead structures we'd need, using, as much as possible, the materials I had on hand . . . meaning that big stack of pine logs.

But there was one small problem: Although I had construction experience and was familiar with standard framing, those logs were round. Obviously, I'd either have to mill them into lumber—which was out of the question—or find some way to use the logs "in the round" to build the structures I needed.

I discovered the solution to my problem one day as I was driving through our valley. A neighbor had recently built a log rail fence, and the unusual method of construction caught my eye: The logs weren't attached to the sides of the posts, as I would have expected, but were somehow suspended between them.

I stopped for a closer look and was delighted at what my inspection revealed: My neighbor had drilled holes into the ends of his log rails and bored matching holes horizontally through the upright posts. He then used pins made of lengths of 1"—diameter galvanized pipe to peg the rails to the posts.

Since then, I've worked extensively with this unique log-framing technique, and I've found it to be both easy to work with and inexpensive. Once you collect a few basic tools—an electric drill or hand auger and bits, a handsaw or chain saw, a hacksaw or bolt cutters, and a sledge (or the back of a maul) for driving in the metal pins—you're in business.

Well, almost in business. First you have to get a supply of material from which to cut the metal fasteners. But not to worry, because virtually every construction project that involves concrete—which is darn near every construction project—is a potentially lucrative source of rebar (short for reinforcement bar); scrap pieces of this ubiquitous iron rod are therefore generally plentiful and are free for the asking. (And to help preserve the good reputation of your fellow scroungers, please do ask.)

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