Raising Wall logs with ceiling Joists in the Way?

[kantuckid]

Raising wall logs solo style, I'm using my Genie lift on the subfloor inside my 20x16 cabin to raise all logs. My dilemma of sorts is that my next layer of logs will have the log ceiling joist pockets for almost half the floors length. The loft above them will have yet another 5 or so log layers which includes a mix of 10' to 16' lengths with me choosing the longest ones when they fit so most walls get a 16 footer.  
I use wall openings to insert logs from FEL forks onto the Genies lift arms and also a rope block and tackle to pull them off the forks onto the lift through openings from an opposite wall dead man hookup point. Works OK but not much room to play with a nearly 16' log joists once the ceiling gets them all in place. I have a conveyor roller mtd in one window sill as well. 

If I move my Genie lift outside the walls it then becomes tough for a guy my age to move that lift around to an outside wall the tractor can't reach.

The closest my mind comes to a usable solution with still using the lift, with the log joists in place, the wall log comes through the front door sitting diagonally, then raised to the ceiling joists and manhandled across the joists onto the wall placement. Those 16' are a bit of a challenge for me now days to manhandle. Neither do I want to cant hook a log onto a wall that far up in the air with two bad knees! I've considered screwing a 2x4 backstop on a wall and doing just that.  
I could resort to notched poles for those last few loft wall logs and ropes but lacking a helper that's tough to pull off. 
Having the Genie lift on site a gin pole seems less than logical. 
Ideas? 

[logman]

How about putting a log or timber sticking off your front end loader 12' or so, would that give you enough height?  Like an extended boom.

[kantuckid]

I have two 7' long, slide on FEL fork extensions (I bought from Titan last winter on scratch & dent sale) that I plan to test soon for their reach.
They are mfg. with a small hole (5/8"?) punched in the tip which I made a small clevis with a male threaded post to use on thus could choker sling a log on the tip. My FEL spec is I think 102" reach and 2780lbs lift.
 
When I built our log home in 1979-80, the logs were larger/heavier and many 20' as well and went higher too as a two story build.
Back then I had a daily helper who was a student in my Vo-tech school evening program and a local man with a FEL and boom pole he used to load junk cars for the crusher at his salvage yard. That build had three-sided full access to the walls, I now have a very narrow back and far end access thus no tractor there, just ladder type of space.

FWIW, in my area- like most places now it's hard to find help then throw in that I'm only one county above the KY flood areas where many lost their homes and our few small contractors are down there working now plus others from afar.
Honestly, I love working alone but it's a two-edged thing as I spend too many trips up/down a ladder, needing another hand, etc... :D

I just now re-watched the video Jeff posted 2 years back, showing two guys raising a beam with two typical boat trailer strap winches attached high up. I'm going to look at that idea as those winches are cheap and come with long straps. 

[Ljohnsaw]

I used Jeff's antics as my inspiration.  Here's mine mounted on 17' 2x8s.


 


 

 

 
I didn't want to be up by the massive beams so I mounted the winch low with a snatch block up high.  Lessons learned - make them taller than you think you need, make sure the crank handle doesn't hit things like braces :, make sure the cable doesn't ride to the side to of the snatch block and get stuck.  I also had to use an extra snatch block as a block and tackle to increase the lifting capacity.  Oh, yeah, don't buy HF winches without looking closely at them.  I got one good and three crappy ones that are dangerous (ratchet doesn't engage all the time).

[kantuckid]

FYI, One of the basic helps I've provided myself to mover my wall logs (the long ones mostly) is that I bought a piece of high quality climbing/forestry work rope along with a box of carabiners and climbers side-swing pulleys. All mine came from Amazon Warehouse deals and new cheap returned items. I can pull a 16' log off my forks lengthwise with two fingers using only a two pulley setup. I have 2x6 deadmans fastened across several wall openings to facilitate different directions of pull access. Much more easily used than a fat sisal rope or the old pulleys I've had a round for years.

As I type this I'm sitting on a cold gel pack with a pulled hamstring, yuk! Bad enough my work plan for today to move crushed rock and re-supply my build site with wall logs is a tough proposition. My "sitter" is seriously sore... ;D  

[kantuckid]

Thanks, my Genie lift uses cable but I can see that a strap winch might be user friendly when the weight capacities OK. 

[kantuckid]

Dumb ole me tried to find the reach of the 7' fork extenders I'd bought for my last few log runs on my cabin build. I failed to note that they were built for weight downward not an upward lift!  : I considered clamping to the forks with a couple of C-clamps but disliked that idea for safety.

My solution to raising logs after ceiling joists was this: I built a 26" high stand that straddles the Genie lifts lift arms.
Four notches the 2" depth of the arms and basically a "log table" with a 36" x 9" top that I load a log onto. I use 4 squeeze clamps to hold the table onto the arms & one squeeze clamp to assure the log stays fixed until I'm ready to place it, up top on the wall. The Genie mast fits between two joists (2nd & 3rd) and the lift table and work log go up against the log wall between the wall and 1st joist.
The arrangement likes for the log to be well balanced, but it works, which is what matters!  
I've found that I can raise the 16' logs diagonally in the cabin half that has no joists, then turn them above the log walls in air space. The one end where I'm using my lift table under the joists allows only 14' 2" to turn the log within a 14' 10" inside wall width and even then it's a true PITA to maneuver the Genie.