Hi to all. I am new to the TFguild... I am an engineer/developer with a serious vintage tool restoration disease. I have a small historic farmstead in the Catoctin mountains in Maryland. The original bank barn burned down a long time ago. I am just putting the finishing touches on a Frick 00 circular saw with 52" blade that can handle 20' long material. I have sawn a couple timber frame structures w/ it and am ready now to saw and build a bank barn-mostly to store equipment and work on other projects. The plan (I have drawn on autocad) is for a 48'x70' barn with posts on a 14'x12' grid on the ground floor. The back and side walls will be of field stone to 10'high. The ground level will be 10' clear with beams running front to back (48') and floor joists(12" o.c) let into beams(14' o.c.. Main floor will be heavy plank (7/4) and then I want to build (5)bents using a King/Prince post truss on posts to give complete clear space on main floor. I have a hodge podge of material waiting to go through the saw and am planning to use what ever comes my way (oak, hickory, poplar, ash) Is it a problem mixing species with varying degrees of green? Any comments or suggestions? I would like to find (employ) a seasoned timber framer and stone mason to help with this project. ( I also want to restore the original spring house on the property. (if anyone is interested, the house can be seen at www.johneylerfarmstead.com)

-Bobby

Bobby, my suggestion to you is to first get your design done. Then using your design create a stock list of timbers. Then from the log pile try and cut your stock list. Don't cut timber and then work out the design.
Mixing types is ok if stored properly after milling.

Good luck with your project.

Thank you for your advice... It aligns with my thinking also. I do have the design pretty much done with the exception of the roof truss type and connection details for the members. I am planning to build the lower level post-beam-floor joists stick by stick. The easiest way would be to drop the beams and run floor joists across the top. This would give me the best floor load capacity but wouldn't be as elegant as letting the joists into the beam nor would it give me rack stability...I think. My plan is to generate a take-off list from the design drawing and evaluate each log and cut as many parts out of each log as I can and sticker them on my level drying area (outside). As time permits I will start hewing the timbers to length and connection detail. I expect at least a year will elapse before I am ready to raise a building- unless I find more help... Thanks for the advice.

A detailed review with a very experienced framer is a good idea. You talked about sawing your wood, but now you mention hewing. Have you learned to hew as well? I know there are some real hewing maniacs in the guild- it's work!
It seems you are wanting to use your mill for fun. Also consider reusing an existing barn frame. There are plenty cool barn frames available and reusing one helps save a piece of history and material. It reduces the amount of new trees needed to cut. I am using reclaim on the two frames I am planning to build for myself. The good thing about that is that the material is dry and you don't have to worry about shrinkage. Not that it is too big of a problem if you use new wood though. There are ways to work with it.

Hi Brad_bb: Thanks for your interest. I believe I mis-used the word hew (I should have used the word fashioned). I have studied many local barns and considered the salvage idea. (I still may do it for another use). The particular barn I am planning now is a bastard of a bank barn (I haven't seen an existing that meets my needs. I need 10' clear on the ground floor to store my big tractors. I want the upstairs to be as wide open as possible 48'x70'). (I will try to post the plan if you are interested or if it would help the discussion)Most of the large barns I have seen use mid-span purlin plates supported by posts that interupt the open space upstairs. I have plenty of field stone on site to build the bank-side and gable-end walls. I get trees from local tree cutters that mostly would otherwise be chipped. (I don't anticpate much deliberate harvesting for this barn. The floor system should be strong enough for my wood shop (planer,jointer edger...) as well as several projects. (I have been reading all the TF joinery books (I bought the hard copy for the bathroom) It looks to me that the frame weaknesses revealed by the FEA would mostly be eliminated by using a roof trusses instead of integrating the roof rafters into the framing. I will design King/Prince trusses using ordinary statics methods of joints or sections I am planning to use roof purlins running across the trusses. It will be easiest for me to build this thing by sticks to the floor deck and then swing trusses on top of posts and plate. I am studying the handbooks (and discussing here) to get the most effective and asthetically appealing design as possible. Please keep the comments coming. Thanks.

-Bobby