Tuesday Tool Raising the (other) Roof Edition

The big building project continues apace here at the farm.  We are finally constructing a pair of matching pole barns to house our boys--the rams, who don't care much about weather but are quite adamant about destroying things, and the bucks, who (enthusiastic sodomy aside) are gentle souls and run for cover at the first drop of rain.  The goal is safe, sturdy, weatherproof, easily-cleaned, easily maintained housing.   We're getting there.

We finished the roof on the east shelter today.  Here's a pic from last week, though, before it looked like a roof.

Those are pressure-treated 6x6 posts, anchored in three feet of cement.  The rafters--paired 2x12s, and insanely heavy--are positioned at their final angle, but at a convenient height.  Corbels hold them in place.  Supports for the purlins have been nailed in between each member of the rafter, every 16 inches.  Purlins--the 2x6s that will actually hold the roofing tin--are nailed in place.

On the west shelter, we did all of this up in the air--each half-rafter was raised individually, then tacked into place; all the purlin supports were toted up and attached; and each purlin was lifted ten to 20 feet in the air and attached into place.  On this, the east shelter, all this was done at ground height, so it was much easier and quicker.

Which brings us to our celebrated tool, the winch (which if you get to the classic simple tools, is a lever).  At the top of three of the posts, you'll see a winch, and Kenny there is attaching one to the top of the fourth.  Everything being assembled, it was a matter of winching the entire roof--probably somewhere far north of 500kg--into place.  It wasn't entirely easy:  the poles were sticky and needed soap and wedges for the rafters to slide.  Also, there were four winches and only three people.  However, it was easier than lifting every darn thing by hand.  So, here's to you, winch!  Huzzah!