Today I looked at a barn that I believe has some German influence in the frame design. It is hand hewn oak with long diagonal bracing in the corners and within each bent starting under the top plate and extending down towads the bottom of the next post and resting on the sill beam. It is located near a well established German community in South Central Wisconsin. There a unique features within this frame, but the one that I can't figure out is the small notches or pockets that are chiseled out every 6 in or so on the underside of every section of top-plate, girt, and diagonal on all the outer walls. They are deep enough to hide a golf ball sliced in half, and only on the under side of all these members. The barn is sided with 1x12 pine.

So what are these notches for? They are post-hewing.

Thanks,

Rooster