drill a hole and tie a bit of rope at the top of 2x6
place and brace 2x6
attach come along to the bit of rope and to timber(one at each end of timber)
hoist as far as possible, then tie off timber with rope or block, reset come alongs and hoist again.
the 2x6 has to be long enough to allow room for come alongs etc above the spot for the timber.
Then you can let the timber down slowly and fit braces etc on the way down.
surprisingly quick and cheap, we were going to wait till the next day for 4 helpers to arrive, but just got at it and put the ridge and both purlins up with 2 people.

Anyone ever tried a boat trailer hand-crank?
Add a couple of pulleys and it might work well in Mark's setup.

Don, in A Days Work, he shows a number of derricks with a large spool at the base of the gin pole, a contraption I would like to have someday. I don't see many just kicking around though. They were used in the granite quarries and elsewhere.

Tim

Tim:
I have plans for a windlass if you want to make one out of wood:

Don't let OSHA or your insurance man see you using either come-alongs or boat winches for lifting - neither is rated for such work. I'm not saying it won't work effectively, I'm just saying...

And don't let them see members of the crew riding bents on raising day either

Richard Babcock's book "Old Barns in the New World" has a chapter called Gin Pole and Bull Wheel. Bull wheel is another name for the spool-type winch.

I wish I could have seen that presentation: "A Days Work."

A friend of mine has a dock business were he needed a portable winch for lifting. He made a little cart from an old hand truck, two deep cycle batteries and a 8000# (rated for lifting) 12v Warn winch. Chain it to something solid and winch away. Plug it into the truck on the way to and from the job and it stays charged up. He replaced the steel cable with poly line which is also rated, and much easier to work with than steel. VERY HANDY! I want a heavy duty version.

I have also used the 12000# winch on my truck to rase and lower bents with a Gin-pole or A-frames. I feel that I have a lot of control using the winch, it's slow and easy. A block-and-tackle works well for this too, if you have the hands to pull it.

One time I used a set of wall jacks to raise a wall with. They had a boat crank mechanism like a hand crank come-along. I glad we didn't have to lower it back down.You'd be better off with a chain hoist than a come-along.

His book(s) inspired me to build my gin pole and windlass......

Another book you may find useful is the
" US Army Field Manual 5-125 - Rigging Techniques, Procedures, and Applications"
which you can download here or here for free, or just Google FM-5-125.