I just wanted to thank you for taking the time to put these videos together. In the previous video you mentioned how you did not have much to go by in the way of information when you first got started, so these videos and demonstrations go a long way in helping future generations. I'm planning to someday build my own log cabin along the blue ridge, and your knowledge and experience will be part of what helped achieve that, so once more - Thank you!
Thanks for the encouragements, I think a hewn cabin is much easier then a chinkless round log cabin. The new latex chinking is wonderful. but more expensive. I think sawn logs about 6 x 12 would be fun to work with for a dovetail cabin but probably cut them on site and erect the cabin using green wood. the dovetails and pins would keep them straight as they dry.
Great job Dave! You made it very simple, but at the same time very accurate. I’m a model guy myself, I have to really be able to physically see and feel what is involved before embarking on any project. I was really sold on a timber frame structure, until my continued research brought me to the dovetail hewn log method. I love everything about it! I look forward to more of your excellent teaching.Thanks again. Tim G.
Dave, thanks so much for sharing your wealth of knowledge! I retire from the Navy in 8 months which will begin a 2 year prep phase for finding my land in Appalachia and get all my ducks in a row to build a homestead. I will be building it by myself with nothing but hand tools and have been searching for answers for some time now and while I think I know enough to get me started, I continue to do research and practice before I retire and the fun begins. This video has given me some much needed inspiration and hope that I will be successful at going at it alone. There are some real nuggets in your lessons here that I will be cataloguing along with my other research for sure! The boom crane is genius, allowing for one to not only move the massive logs alone but with only one rigging apparatus vise having a set of gin poles rigged on each wall. I have been conversing with Josh (Mr. Chickadee) for some time now and the capstan design might come in handy in conjunction with the boom crane (what you call a truss). Another aha moment was the spacers in between the logs and lastly allowing for downward movement of the structure at the door casing (I think I have just the technique for that), will have to apply the same at all the windows. Anyways, thanks again, the demo was amazing! How old were you when you built your cabin?
Thank you for this video, I have harvested the logs for my own cabin and your video helped me figure some things out I have been struggling over. I love the idea for lifting the logs into place.
Read lots of books for years on cabin building In the last year I have watched many videos Thank you as you actually explain things and it's great You have the best visions out there on actually doing I am hopping to film my build so it can be shared as I was planning to show people like you are
What and where are you building? What species trees are you using? I have lots more opinions on what I would do NOW. I taught high school and I had a class or 13 students build a round log chinkless cabin. It turned out nice but would have rather done a hewn log style. Would love to brainstorm ideas if you have questions. dave
Dave thank you So much for this fantastic video and for sharing some of you experience and knowledge you have calmed several of my fears especially about using fresh cut timbers so many people make it sound like if you don't use seasoned wood your home will twist and rot...
Green logs are fine to use, you just need to allow for shrinkage. Doors and windows attached to splines set in grooves in the end of logs. Ours settled about 2 inches over the years
well done...love the crane lift concept for lifting the logs...i spend a lot of time looking and dreaming about making a small log cabin and often thought best location would have 2 big trees right beside cabin spot to run cables across overhead and use a hoist on the cable to lift things up into their spot
I thought about that at first But you need a pretty hefty cable if you plan to lift at right angles to it. You could snap a cable very easily by putting it horizontal and trying to lift things straight up under it. if you put the main cable high up in the trees and let it come down at about 45 degrees it would reduce a huge amount of stress. I watched a you tube about a guy building a off grid cabin using a horizontal cable and every time he lifted logs they were bouncing around and it seemed very hard to control. did not seem safe or effective. I got the idea for my post crane from looking at old hay stacking rigs used by folks out west long before tractors were around. As you plan your cabin you just need to plan ahead for the cable anchors. I incorporated hooks in the corner footings and it worked great. Be sure and include turnbuckles to adjust the pole plumb and tight. I would do things a little differently now. But at the time we did not have a dime to spend on building materials and I had this attitude about building the cabin by hand. I did break the rules a little and used a chain saw.
You can also build big log tripods to attach your lifting device, least that's what I do, then take em apart and use them for something else when finished
Those pieces of wood and rock that you found in the old cabin were, in fact, the chinking. They may have been there to keep the gap openings constant, as you said, but they were also in there to have something to push the daubing against. Nowadays, people use the word chinking to describe both the metal mesh and the mortar between the logs, but originally the chinking consisted of the wood scraps (the juggles) you got from the hewing process. Daubing was then put onto the chinking both inside and outside to seal all the cracks, and could have been clay or moss or lime mortar.
That was good info thanks. i think you are right about the way you built your cabin is close to the way the settlers did it. a lot of cabin builder make way too much to do about it i think the settlers did what i called down and dirty cabin building the trees they used were at the cabin sight because they did not have a way to yard them, and they had a fast way to notch the corners. so whatever tree were there they used.
Thanks for the informative video. Could you do a video , or explain how the floor is incorporated into the structure. Do you build the floor , then stack the logs on it, or do you notch the bottom logs for beams and joists after the walls are started?
I poured 6 concrete pads 16 in by 16 in and about 20 in deep to set the cabin logs on. That left about 6 in of the pads protruding on the inside. I than sat 2x6 around the inside of the cabin and on the pads and lag screwed the 2x6s against the bottom log and put joist hangers on the 2x6s. When I put the 2x6 floor joists in the hangers I supported the centers with a buried railroad tie. It's very dry under the cabin so everything has stayed very solid if I did it again I would make at least a 24 in crawl space
Not sure what I did exactly but I think if I was doing it again I would put the cross beam on while the post was on the ground. I would tack some braces from post to beam and the stand the whole assembly up. I dropped it into a hole about 2 feet deep. then attached the cables and adjusted them to make the post plumb.
hello? i can say one thing about you >>>>> you do know just what your talking about! ... do you have any video on how to start the ( first 4 logs ) and what i don't know how to make the corners for all 4 logs will be laying flat on supports.what i see 2 logs will set highter then the other 2. so thank you for the great videos
I think there are two ways to set the bottom logs. You can make the concrete foundation with two sides being about 6 inches higher then the other two.(this is assuming you are using logs about 12 in dia) You just hew the bottom edge of two logs and get them to lay flat on the lower foundation wall. they will stick up higher then the remaining higher concrete walls. cut dovetails on the ends of these two logs. Hew two more logs flat on one edge and set them across the dovetails. transfer(scribe) the dovetail angle up onto the top logs. the dovetail gets moved up the distance of the gap between the bottom of the log and the foundation. (each end may be different) Because I put our cabin on 4 corner concrete pads. I chose to split one large log and put the halfs flat side down on the two ends of the cabin, cut dovetails on them and set the lengthwise logs on the dovetails and scribe the notches so all the bottoms of the logs set down on the concrete corner pads. I later filled in a complete foundation with stones and mortar but it was not load bearing. We don't have a frost problem so the stone wall does not go very deep in the ground. The corners do go several feet deep. Hope this makes sense. dave
Sam I looked at my video and if you look close you can see I started with a half log nearest the camera and full logs going the other way. The mock up shows the logs setting on the corner pads that represent the concrete pads. the first row of logs are all even on the bottom. but setting up from the plywood base
I cant remember exactly, I guess I attached the horizontal beam while on the ground and tipped the whole thing into place I do remember it being real loosey goosey until I tightened the cables.
I do remember now I attached the boom to the post on the ground and put some tempory wires from the boom to the post at about 45 degrees so when I was tipping the whole thing into place it was a bit more solid. I was working by myself and after I dug the hole I dug a 45 degree slope down to the bottom of the hole. ipulled the whole thing up with a little homemade wench I made out of a header lifter from a Massy Herris wheat combine and ran it off a 12 volt battery. once I got the (gin pole) into place and attached the cables it worked very well. Could only lift straight up.
@@chrisn6719 Where are you building and what type of logs are you using? Round log or hewn? Any other questions im glad to give my two cents worth. I also taught high school and my students built a round log scribed cabin.so I learned a few things there also.
@@davidlange7916 I am building in central Alabama. The logs that I have harvested and debarked are mostly yellow pine I believe, which I have read are not the best for rot resistance but it is what I have available. They have been drying on ramps for quite some time now and I am about to begin the foundation. I plan on using them as round (not hewn) but using several techniques such as timber frame as well as slotting the logs between the verticals as you did on your doorways and windows. I appreciate you offering some guidance and would love to keep you in mind as the build progresses for advice.
can you explain the crane type thing a little bit. I don't really understand how you move logs unless you move two at a time to balance it. Also how do you get the heavy logs to the location? and how long did all this take to build?
The "crane" is basically an 8 in post buried about a foot in the ground with 4 3/8 in cables going out to the foundation pads on each corner of the cabin. when I cast the pads I included an eye bolt in the concrete. On top I made a truss with a cross beam and cable. You could use several 2x4 roof trusses. The cross beam just had a long 3/4 inch shaft going through it and down into the post. The whole cross piece was sort of loose and wiggly. On one end of the beam I attached a log chain and it went down and was wrapped around the first TWO rows of logs already cut and set in place. (I was able to lay up the first two rows by just man handling the logs with levers and log carriers). on the other end of the cross beam I attached a short piece of chain and then a comealong. I moved the log ,to be lifted , close to the wall and attached the comealong to the center of the log and started to lift. When it started to lift the log , the cables and chains got very tight and the whole assembly got strong and stable. The weight of the two logs were more then the one log I was lifting so it made a solid counter weight. Every layer was even more solid because I had more and more weight holding the chain end. After I laid up one log I would swivel the whole assembly 180 degrees and lay up the parallel log. Then I would rotate it 90 degrees and lift the end logs in place. To move the logs close to the cabin I used a 12 volt winch bolted to a tree. I would put a pulley (loggers call it a snatch block)16 feet up in a tree half way to the log I was trying to haul in. A cable went up through the pulley and down to the log. when I started to winch it would lift the end of the log up a little and it pulled easier. I would drag a group of logs half way and then move the pulley closer. When I had help I used a log mover which was 2 wheels with a 2 foot axel and you placed the end of a log up on the axel, chained it down and 2 guys pulled the contraption. you can move really big logs with it but need smooth ground. Now days a winch on an AVV would probably work great. or the 2 wheel device and a ATV. I hewed and set the logs in about 2 months. including rafters and tar paper roof. the second summer I chinked the cabin and split and installed all the shakes. after that I did a little whenever I had time. It was painless
The best I've seen for instruction and I've searched and watched a lot. Thank you so much!
One of the best demonstrations I have seen. Thanks for sharing.
You are an excellent teacher. Thank you for taking the time to make this video.
I love the crane to lift logs. You are a very creative gentleman!!
I just wanted to thank you for taking the time to put these videos together. In the previous video you mentioned how you did not have much to go by in the way of information when you first got started, so these videos and demonstrations go a long way in helping future generations. I'm planning to someday build my own log cabin along the blue ridge, and your knowledge and experience will be part of what helped achieve that, so once more - Thank you!
Thanks for the encouragements, I think a hewn cabin is much easier then a chinkless round log cabin. The new latex chinking is wonderful. but more expensive. I think sawn logs about 6 x 12 would be fun to work with for a dovetail cabin but probably cut them on site and erect the cabin using green wood. the dovetails and pins would keep them straight as they dry.
Love the tips on mating the logs. I really liked the book contraption.
Great job Dave! You made it very simple, but at the same time very accurate. I’m a model guy myself, I have to really be able to physically see and feel what is involved before embarking on any project. I was really sold on a timber frame structure, until my continued research brought me to the dovetail hewn log method. I love everything about it! I look forward to more of your excellent teaching.Thanks again.
Tim G.
Dave, thanks so much for sharing your wealth of knowledge! I retire from the Navy in 8 months which will begin a 2 year prep phase for finding my land in Appalachia and get all my ducks in a row to build a homestead. I will be building it by myself with nothing but hand tools and have been searching for answers for some time now and while I think I know enough to get me started, I continue to do research and practice before I retire and the fun begins. This video has given me some much needed inspiration and hope that I will be successful at going at it alone. There are some real nuggets in your lessons here that I will be cataloguing along with my other research for sure! The boom crane is genius, allowing for one to not only move the massive logs alone but with only one rigging apparatus vise having a set of gin poles rigged on each wall. I have been conversing with Josh (Mr. Chickadee) for some time now and the capstan design might come in handy in conjunction with the boom crane (what you call a truss). Another aha moment was the spacers in between the logs and lastly allowing for downward movement of the structure at the door casing (I think I have just the technique for that), will have to apply the same at all the windows. Anyways, thanks again, the demo was amazing! How old were you when you built your cabin?
Thank you for this video, I have harvested the logs for my own cabin and your video helped me figure some things out I have been struggling over. I love the idea for lifting the logs into place.
Thanks for sharing your experience with us.
You should write an instructional book on how you built your cabin. You had a lot of good ideas for construction.
Read lots of books for years on cabin building In the last year I have watched many videos Thank you as you actually explain things and it's great You have the best visions out there on actually doing I am hopping to film my build so it can be shared as I was planning to show people like you are
What and where are you building? What species trees are you using? I have lots more opinions on what I would do NOW. I taught high school and I had a class or 13 students build a round log chinkless cabin. It turned out nice but would have rather done a hewn log style. Would love to brainstorm ideas if you have questions. dave
Brilliant! You really have some useful information here.
this was very helpful; lots of good tips. Great to get advice from somebody who has actually built a cabin before. Thanks for sharing. Best wishes
Dave thank you So much for this fantastic video and for sharing some of you experience and knowledge you have calmed several of my fears especially about using fresh cut timbers so many people make it sound like if you don't use seasoned wood your home will twist and rot...
Green logs are fine to use, you just need to allow for shrinkage. Doors and windows attached to splines set in grooves in the end of logs. Ours settled about 2 inches over the years
i wanted to say thank you for your videos...our plan is to build a cabin on our property....my husband will love these
Could you show how you did the floor and roof especially! Please! Love the videos!
well done...love the crane lift concept for lifting the logs...i spend a lot of time looking and dreaming about making a small log cabin and often thought best location would have 2 big trees right beside cabin spot to run cables across overhead and use a hoist on the cable to lift things up into their spot
I thought about that at first But you need a pretty hefty cable if you plan to lift at right angles to it. You could snap a cable very easily by putting it horizontal and trying to lift things straight up under it. if you put the main cable high up in the trees and let it come down at about 45 degrees it would reduce a huge amount of stress. I watched a you tube about a guy building a off grid cabin using a horizontal cable and every time he lifted logs they were bouncing around and it seemed very hard to control. did not seem safe or effective. I got the idea for my post crane from looking at old hay stacking rigs used by folks out west long before tractors were around. As you plan your cabin you just need to plan ahead for the cable anchors. I incorporated hooks in the corner footings and it worked great. Be sure and include turnbuckles to adjust the pole plumb and tight. I would do things a little differently now. But at the time we did not have a dime to spend on building materials and I had this attitude about building the cabin by hand. I did break the rules a little and used a chain saw.
You can also build big log tripods to attach your lifting device, least that's what I do, then take em apart and use them for something else when finished
Those pieces of wood and rock that you found in the old cabin were, in fact, the chinking. They may have been there to keep the gap openings constant, as you said, but they were also in there to have something to push the daubing against. Nowadays, people use the word chinking to describe both the metal mesh and the mortar between the logs, but originally the chinking consisted of the wood scraps (the juggles) you got from the hewing process. Daubing was then put onto the chinking both inside and outside to seal all the cracks, and could have been clay or moss or lime mortar.
what an incredible display! thank you!
Great class Dave... Thanks!
That was good info thanks. i think you are right about the way you built your cabin is close to the way the settlers did it. a lot of cabin builder make way too much to do about it i think the settlers did what i called down and dirty cabin building the trees they used were at the cabin sight because they did not have a way to yard them, and they had a fast way to notch the corners. so whatever tree were there they used.
Thank you Dave. Big help.
Thanks for the informative video. Could you do a video , or explain how the floor is incorporated into the structure. Do you build the floor , then stack the logs on it, or do you notch the bottom logs for beams and joists after the walls are started?
I poured 6 concrete pads 16 in by 16 in and about 20 in deep to set the cabin logs on. That left about 6 in of the pads protruding on the inside. I than sat 2x6 around the inside of the cabin and on the pads and lag screwed the 2x6s against the bottom log and put joist hangers on the 2x6s. When I put the 2x6 floor joists in the hangers I supported the centers with a buried railroad tie. It's very dry under the cabin so everything has stayed very solid if I did it again I would make at least a 24 in crawl space
@@logcabindave1852 the volume in video is to low...Please rerecord
Awesome, didn't know that about the rock spacer, good info! Also, how did you get the big horizontal beam on top of that tamarac?
Not sure what I did exactly but I think if I was doing it again I would put the cross beam on while the post was on the ground. I would tack some braces from post to beam and the stand the whole assembly up. I dropped it into a hole about 2 feet deep. then attached the cables and adjusted them to make the post plumb.
hello? i can say one thing about you >>>>> you do know just what your talking about! ... do you have any video on how to start the ( first 4 logs ) and what i don't know how to make the corners for all 4 logs will be laying flat on supports.what i see 2 logs will set highter then the other 2. so thank you for the great videos
I think there are two ways to set the bottom logs. You can make the concrete foundation with two sides being about 6 inches higher then the other two.(this is assuming you are using logs about 12 in dia) You just hew the bottom edge of two logs and get them to lay flat on the lower foundation wall. they will stick up higher then the remaining higher concrete walls. cut dovetails on the ends of these two logs. Hew two more logs flat on one edge and set them across the dovetails. transfer(scribe) the dovetail angle up onto the top logs. the dovetail gets moved up the distance of the gap between the bottom of the log and the foundation. (each end may be different) Because I put our cabin on 4 corner concrete pads. I chose to split one large log and put the halfs flat side down on the two ends of the cabin, cut dovetails on them and set the lengthwise logs on the dovetails and scribe the notches so all the bottoms of the logs set down on the concrete corner pads. I later filled in a complete foundation with stones and mortar but it was not load bearing. We don't have a frost problem so the stone wall does not go very deep in the ground. The corners do go several feet deep. Hope this makes sense. dave
Sam I looked at my video and if you look close you can see I started with a half log nearest the camera and full logs going the other way. The mock up shows the logs setting on the corner pads that represent the concrete pads. the first row of logs are all even on the bottom. but setting up from the plywood base
Just catching up, watching the 4 vids you have.
Very informative and detailed.
Trying to get my head wrapped around your crane design, want to build the same style but can't find any more info online on the same style...
Very much enjoyed these videos sir...do hope there may be more.
excellent good information
excellent video
When installing the "log boom" you first put in the vertical post in the ground? How did you lift the horizontal piece into place on top of it?
I cant remember exactly, I guess I attached the horizontal beam while on the ground and tipped the whole thing into place I do remember it being real loosey goosey until I tightened the cables.
I do remember now I attached the boom to the post on the ground and put some tempory wires from the boom to the post at about 45 degrees so when I was tipping the whole thing into place it was a bit more solid. I was working by myself and after I dug the hole I dug a 45 degree slope down to the bottom of the hole. ipulled the whole thing up with a little homemade wench I made out of a header lifter from a Massy Herris wheat combine and ran it off a 12 volt battery. once I got the (gin pole) into place and attached the cables it worked very well. Could only lift straight up.
@@davidlange7916 Thank you very much for your reply. This will be a huge help for me, I'm about to begin the foundation.
@@chrisn6719 Where are you building and what type of logs are you using? Round log or hewn? Any other questions im glad to give my two cents worth. I also taught high school and my students built a round log scribed cabin.so I learned a few things there also.
@@davidlange7916 I am building in central Alabama. The logs that I have harvested and debarked are mostly yellow pine I believe, which I have read are not the best for rot resistance but it is what I have available. They have been drying on ramps for quite some time now and I am about to begin the foundation. I plan on using them as round (not hewn) but using several techniques such as timber frame as well as slotting the logs between the verticals as you did on your doorways and windows. I appreciate you offering some guidance and would love to keep you in mind as the build progresses for advice.
More videos, please!
Thank you.
Thanks!
can you explain the crane type thing a little bit. I don't really understand how you move logs unless you move two at a time to balance it. Also how do you get the heavy logs to the location? and how long did all this take to build?
The "crane" is basically an 8 in post buried about a foot in the ground with 4 3/8 in cables going out to the foundation pads on each corner of the cabin. when I cast the pads I included an eye bolt in the concrete. On top I made a truss with a cross beam and cable. You could use several 2x4 roof trusses. The cross beam just had a long 3/4 inch shaft going through it and down into the post. The whole cross piece was sort of loose and wiggly. On one end of the beam I attached a log chain and it went down and was wrapped around the first TWO rows of logs already cut and set in place. (I was able to lay up the first two rows by just man handling the logs with levers and log carriers). on the other end of the cross beam I attached a short piece of chain and then a comealong. I moved the log ,to be lifted , close to the wall and attached the comealong to the center of the log and started to lift. When it started to lift the log , the cables and chains got very tight and the whole assembly got strong and stable. The weight of the two logs were more then the one log I was lifting so it made a solid counter weight. Every layer was even more solid because I had more and more weight holding the chain end. After I laid up one log I would swivel the whole assembly 180 degrees and lay up the parallel log. Then I would rotate it 90 degrees and lift the end logs in place. To move the logs close to the cabin I used a 12 volt winch bolted to a tree. I would put a pulley (loggers call it a snatch block)16 feet up in a tree half way to the log I was trying to haul in. A cable went up through the pulley and down to the log. when I started to winch it would lift the end of the log up a little and it pulled easier. I would drag a group of logs half way and then move the pulley closer. When I had help I used a log mover which was 2 wheels with a 2 foot axel and you placed the end of a log up on the axel, chained it down and 2 guys pulled the contraption. you can move really big logs with it but need smooth ground. Now days a winch on an AVV would probably work great. or the 2 wheel device and a ATV. I hewed and set the logs in about 2 months. including rafters and tar paper roof. the second summer I chinked the cabin and split and installed all the shakes. after that I did a little whenever I had time. It was painless
Wow thank you for this information! I understand now. It is amazing to me you were able to do so much, so fast, with so little.
Cara, você fala demais!!!