Hmmmm, so I think I'll push harder on getting some tall timbers from another source, but if that doesn't work, I may go back to the Dutch barn design and consider scarfing the posts. They're 10x10 by the way. Where would you put the scarf? My instinct would say about the anchor beam.

Jay, do you have any images of the scarfs you're referring to? I can't seem to figure out the Kanji code stuff....

Thanks again,
B