Clamps are ideal. Why? They are affordable and readily available. Plus they can be used for numerous other task in addition to rolling timbers. It's like they are paying for themselves many times over... I've used a certain clamp for this size timber. It was a bar reaching in length of four feet plus. It has a deep throat with a mechanical leveraged plunger for a more powerful clamp. Two of these clamps with two people (one one the lifting side and one one the receiving side) make for a dream rolling timber of this size. Hope this helps.