New site for cabin

The cabin will be re-assembled right between these two structures. The horse barn is on the left and cottage to the right.

The area has been leveled and a pad of 3/4" clear stone brought in to bring the area up to grade. The cabin will be connected to the cottage by a covered walkway. Six by six treated timbers have been placed into the gravel and the cabin floor rim joists will be placed on these. A layer of asphalt shingle  starter roll will separate the the rim joist from the treated 6x6's and 2" of the gravel will be raked away from the outside edge to provide good air flow and avoid any future moisture problems.

Sleepers and rails were laid down to rack up the trusses and logs. Another Bobcat made the work easier and faster.

Trusses, wall logs and floor parts were racked and staged such that they are out of the way and in a first needed first available manner. This should minimize the amount of handling in the re-assembly process that should begin in a week or two.

Cabin walls down

With the roof trusses and perlins down it was time to start on the log walls. You can see the playing cards stapled to the ends of each log. These will be crucial to making a smooth re-assembly of the logs. All members of the team have been informed that removing any playing card is a hanging offense!

The logs will be picked by a set of log tongs and Bobcat. This worked great!

Another step along the way was to mark the log location at the notch with a wire fence staple. This was done to insure exact replacement when re-assembling.

Also on the wall just behind Cara you can see a yellow paint stripe. This marks the center location of a window opening that will be cut into the wall after the cabin has been re-assembled. This is needed because as the wall logs are placed 7/8" diameter holes will be drilled into the logs and 3/4" wooden pegs will be inserted. These will pin the logs together but allow them to slip down as the logs dry and shrink.

The Bobcat is making short work of the walls of the cabin.

Taking up the floor and loading the short pieces on a second trailer was the last step.

And then the cabin was gone! Now we head off to Scale Mound to unload and stage the rafters, logs and other cabin parts so we can begin building a log cabin for real.

Cabin disassembly

Well it has been a few months but the new cabin owners have their site prepared and are ready to disassemble the cabin and haul it to it's new home. Here you can see the trim pieces and door have been removed and the cabin has been made ready.

The first job will be to remove the roof perlins and trusses. This will require a nice trailer to place them on and a crane lift to pick them.  Check!

Not having done this before made this all a bit nerve racking.

But the drivers were highly skilled, took great care and made the job look easy.

The trusses would be next. At over 1,000 pounds each nerves were on edge again as the lift and move to the trailer were made.

 Once again the task was performed without error! Whew:-)

Two hours later and the roof load was secured and on it's way to Scales Mound. Then it would be back for the crew to tackle the walls and floor of the cabin. So far so good.