Gin Poles and Butt and Pass log cabins

[mountainmomma]

My beau and I are in the midst of taking on the task of building a 16'x27'butt and pass log cabin. We're just about to put up a gin pole in the middle of the foundation. We're already got a 6' deep hole dug. We just need to fell the tree, put the block and tackle on it and get the whole thing standing upright. Then, all we need to do is swing all our logs into place and pin them together. Etc etc. etc.

Any advice? We are definitly sticking with this style of building. Has anyone had any experience with this?

[longrider]

i am told and have read well on the subject that the butt and pass method is the most practical and quickest.

however, i have a suggestion: consider building four of such structures in a "cross or plus" layout. multiplies your space and easily heated by placing the stove in the center of the cloverleaf layout.

just a thought, thanks- later guys! carney

[mountainmomma]

Help PLEASE!
We are just going crazy trying to get this gin pole in the anchor hole. We've looked and looked and LOOKED on the internet to try to find somethng that gives us some clearer directions on just how to erect a gin pole. But, we aren't finding anything that tells us how to do it with only two people. The military has a nice explaination of how to do this with 10 or more people.....
Hopefully you can see that picture. We have since updated our methodology. Now, we have the gin pole log supported with large X's made from 2"x6" lumber. It was working pretty well. But, I seem to have broken our large house jack that we were using. So, I think that we are at a point where we need to a new method. Any advice? We have a few snatch blocks and several hundred feet of line.

[mountainmomma]

We've put together a website to show folks what the heck we're talking about w/r to our building process.
www.homerAK.homestead.com

[Stumpy]

I have not done this, so this is from just thinking about your problem. Maybe you need a 2nd shorter Gin pole for the situation. If you put one up say 10 to 15 feet out and a lot smaller so you could get it in the ground, you then could use a come a long to winch the main pole up higher. I know it is more work, but it is the only thing I could think of. As for the bottle jack maybe a better jack would be a hi lift jack. Thedy are sold in most 4x4 stores as well as tracktor supply shops.

Good luck on getting it raised, and I look forward to your web site updates. Great photos!!

Sean

[mountainmomma]

Thanks Sean (Stumpy). I appreciate your input. Its a bit windy today, so we might need to set the gin pole erection aside for the day.
I'll be sure to keep on updating!

-Mountainmomma
See how the rebar bent when we tried to lift it last time?