Hello everyone.
I am so glad I found this forum. I have been lurking for some time now, but I decided to come out of my shell. Since this will be my first post, I thought I might start by giving you a little back ground on myself. I fell in love with the timber frame structures about 7 years ago and at the time I had just finished having a traditional stick home built for my family. Sucks, huh? Anyway, God led me to the mission field 2 years later and we left our high paying jobs and 3300 sqft home. At that point, I decided that some day I would have a timber frame house of my own. Unfortunately, children’s homes pay so little we could qualify for food stamps. To top it off we paid for our house for a year after we moved before selling it. So after 2 years of being houseparents caring for 8 kids and with two kids of our own God decided it was time for something new. My wife became pregnant and to top it off I broke my leg and had to have my bone screwed back into place  Well it healed and I continued working for the children’s home, but we quit as houseparents and my wife now works part time. Anyway we decided as a family not to go into debt to purchase a new house. After doing some research, I decided that what little money we had saved I could still build a timber frame structure and keep from going into debt. The only catch was that I would have to cut the frame myself , do practically everything inside/out ourselves and pay as we go. I attended a week long timber framing class and have read multiple timber frame books. I purchased a set of plans that fit my idea of a nice frame and simple enough for me to cut. I found a sawmill that selectively had the pine trees cut from the virginia forest and logged using horses. I paid 60 cents a bd ft. which I thought was a great price considering the process. It’s been a year and a half since I took the timber frame class and about one year since I received the timbers. I decided to build a small cottage before building our main house just to make sure I could do it. Well I am 6 pieces away from finishing the cottage frame. Anyway that’s my story for now. I hope to continue posting on the forum and I welcome any advice. I need advice on raising a fairly small frame 14 wide by 17 foot high. Is there an alternative to the crane on such a small frame?
