Building the Traditional Hewn-Log Home

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When it came time to raise a log, the skids were leaned up against the side of the wall and positioned parallel and near opposite ends of the wall. The timber was positioned at the bottom of the skids and centered, then one end was slid up one of the skids to just past the first hole, and a peg was inserted to keep the end from sliding back down. Then the opposite end of the timber was slid up the other skid and pegged at a point about three feet higher than the first . . . then the first end pushed up another six feet to the next hole, and so on until the log was at the top of the skids and could be rolled into place atop the wall.

One muscular worker can bull a large log up pole skids alone, but a safer and easier method is to have a second person help pull the log up the skids from the far side of the wall via a rope tied at the log's center of gravity. Better yet is to have two workers pushing the log up the skids and a couple more pulling on two ropes. (These days, a mechanical or power winch-rather than muscle power-can be used to drag especially heavy logs up skids.)

Peter used pole skids to raise the walls of his own cabin—but these days he sports a portable winch and derrick rig of his own design. The winch, wound with 1/4"—diameter steel cable, is a hand-cranker he scrounged from an old boat trailer. The derrick is a tripod consisting of a 5 "-diameter hardwood pole braced by a couple of 2 X 4s. At the peak of the boom the cable passes through a pulley block. The toothy part of the rig is a hinged, double-pronged hook scavenged from an old timber carrier. The whole works is mounted atop a triangular 2 X 4 platform that rolls on heavy-duty casters. Since the subfloor decking is in place on most jobs before the walls-go up, Peter can roll the derrick around the floor as needed. When the job is finished, the rig collapses in minutes for loading atop his VW van.

But there's really no need to go to the trouble of building such an elaborate, portable derrick if you plan to build just one cabin. In most cases, a tripod of poles lashed together at the top and a double block and tackle make a lifting rig that's both safe and satisfactory.

CEILING JOISTS

The traditional Appalachian log cabin was one-and-a-half stories high. Often, a couple of winglike additions were tacked on later to cope with a growing family. (For example, see the photo of the Gott cabin that opened this article.) The ground floor had a low ceiling—7' or even less was fairly common—with the slanting underside of the roof forming the ceiling up in the loft. Assuming a 1' rise per round of logs, which was and is fairly typical, this worked out to about 13 courses, with the ceiling joists sandwiched between (and notched into) 2 rounds of wall logs, often at around the ninth course.

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