16x16 log cabin

Logcabin77 · November 28, 2024, 06:45:42 AM

Hi all, im building a cabin on our 40 acre farm with a small section of very straight maple trees varying in size from 6"-15" diameter trees I'm going to start felling tomorrow ( I know that people will tell me I should be Milling them because there's more value as Lumber but I want to use these as a log cabin and have a lot of woods) I'm looking at several different products to treat the logs after I debark them for insects while they dry up on some skids I have to keep them off the ground, ranging from a product called t i m b o r to another one called Cedar Side and then I will likely put a coat of stain on the logs to keep them protected while I build.
Does anyone have experience using something else that they think would be better?

Jeff · November 28, 2024, 08:00:20 AM

Make sure you have a high foundation and large overhangs. I can show you two log houses up here built with aspen, but they were cut into 6x8s maple is a hardwood. If you seal it before its dry, it will rot from the inside out and they will take years to dry.

beenthere · November 28, 2024, 12:20:35 PM

Logcabin77
Welcome to the Forestry Forum.

Interesting project you are getting started. What is your time frame and where are you located? Can put that location in your profile.

Look forward to watching and hearing about your progress.

Resonator · November 28, 2024, 12:36:43 PM

You may want to consider milling them into "D" logs (sawn flat on 3 sides). Then you would have a nice even surface to stack on, and flat plumb inside walls.

Welcome to the Forum!

Logcabin77 · November 28, 2024, 03:17:55 PM

Quote from: Resonator on November 28, 2024, 12:36:43 PMYou may want to consider milling them into "D" logs (sawn flat on 3 sides). Then you would have a nice even surface to stack on, and flat plumb inside walls.
Welcome to the Forum!

Nope, gonna be full round logs with chinking between them( doing it to be like a cabin from the 1800's)

Logcabin77 · November 28, 2024, 03:19:15 PM

Quote from: Jeff on November 28, 2024, 08:00:20 AMMake sure you have a high foundation and large overhangs. I can show you two log houses up here built with aspen, but they were cut into 6x8s maple is a hardwood. If you seal it before its dry, it will rot from the inside out and they will take years to dry.

Yes, 3' overhangs and 2' off ground

Logcabin77 · November 29, 2024, 06:35:53 AM

Quote from: Jeff on November 28, 2024, 08:00:20 AMMake sure you have a high foundation and large overhangs. I can show you two log houses up here built with aspen, but they were cut into 6x8s maple is a hardwood. If you seal it before its dry, it will rot from the inside out and they will take years to dry.

Great, thanks for warning me about not sealing it till it's totally dry b/c it's a hard wood! Sill log bottoms will be 2' up off ground built on old barn stones dug below frost line from an old barn foundation on our farm and have a 6' front and back porch with 3' overhangs( I've done alot of research on this but it's tough to find info on maple cabins b/c it's typically used for lumber-which I'm doing in a different way- all trees I'm taking down are from a 1 acre area on our farm that are all forked trees that will get taken down/ damaged by wind eventually anyway and I'm leaving all single trunk Maples to grow better and fill up area better( eventually to be tapped for maple syrup that I already do on the rest of our 40 acre farm- almost entire wooded areas are maple trees-some 4' around)

Magicman · November 29, 2024, 08:38:10 AM

Quoteall trees I'm taking down are from a 1 acre area on our farm that are all forked trees that will get taken down/ damaged by wind eventually anyway

?? Your log need seems like a lot to come from only one acre.

Hilltop366 · November 29, 2024, 12:40:07 PM

On the sealing where you are letting them dry before use I wonder if it would be good to seal the ends after taking down the trees to reduce checking then the outside after the logs are put up to protect it from the weather better and the inside after it has dried?

WV Sawmiller · November 29, 2024, 01:12:51 PM

A neighbor near me built several cabins using round peeled tulip poplar logs. I think he used about 10 logs to a side. He placed them head to toe to help keep them more even/level. He chinked them with diamond wire and mortar IIRC.

I asked him one time how he kept the logs from sagging (His were 20' long or more IIRC) and he said they could not sag because he wedged a block of wood between the logs at regular intervals of something like 16"-2' or so. The blocks were lined up over each other like stickers on a stack of air drying boards so the weight was supported.

Magicman · November 29, 2024, 01:27:05 PM

Yup, my estimate was 8-10 logs per side.

Logcabin77 · November 30, 2024, 06:58:35 AM

Quote from: Magicman on November 29, 2024, 08:38:10 AM
Quoteall trees I'm taking down are from a 1 acre area on our farm that are all forked trees that will get taken down/ damaged by wind eventually anyway
?? Your log need seems like a lot to come from only one acre.

Yes 10 per side approximately, a few more for sill logs, there's going to be a 6 ft tall Loft in one half of the cabin so I need approximately another eight for floor joist there, Ridge Pole, girder poles, Ridge p o l supports, girder p o l e supports, rafters. They all add up and I don't want to be short on dried logs when I start building because then I will have to wait a while for more to dry and in the meantime the entire project would be completely exposed to weather so I'm hoping to put it up and get it covered somewhat quickly

Logcabin77 · November 30, 2024, 07:08:28 AM

Quote from: Magicman on November 29, 2024, 08:38:10 AM
Quoteall trees I'm taking down are from a 1 acre area on our farm that are all forked trees that will get taken down/ damaged by wind eventually anyway
?? Your log need seems like a lot to come from only one acre.

So I believe this was logged before and what has grown in it is all maple trees that are like bean poles pretty close together. It was just an estimate as to acreage, I'm not positive on exact size because it's in a irregular shape

thecfarm · November 30, 2024, 09:17:24 AM

Logcabin77, welcome to the forum.
Must a YouTube on building a log cabin.
just have to weed out the ones that think they know how.
I had a bunch of aspen in a grown-up pasture that would of made perfect logs for a log cabin. All just about the same size. But this was before the FF. They all went into firewood.
There was one built with aspen logs that I drive by. It was used as a horse barn for a while. It still looks good after more then 30 years.

How are you getting the logs out of the woods?

Logcabin77 · November 30, 2024, 06:16:20 PM

Either old allis chalmers d17 tractor or front loader backhoe in my avatars pic

thecfarm · November 30, 2024, 06:37:58 PM

That works!!

Logcabin77 · December 02, 2024, 11:38:05 AM

Got first log skinned with draw knife yesterday and up on drying rack! (30'x 12" at butt) only 79 more to go( I did buy two draw knife so I can get my kids,wife,relatives helping) my 8-year-old son loves doing it and wants to continue skinning logs so he can beat his friends at school arm wrestling