Once I got the track put together it was time to set the sawmill in place with my dad’s Case 580C combination front end loader back hoe. The 580 is an indispensable piece of machinery for working around the homestead.
The first boards made with the bandsaw. Cut from a spruce tree we needed to take down by our house. Nothing goes to waste, we use the better slabs for various projects and for sale, the unusable ones are burned in the outdoor wood boiler for heating our house and the saw dust is used for animal bedding. 1″x10″ boards cut from an old buggy pine log good for any rustic looking project.
This year (2023) we rebuilt the ends on the large hoop style green house where we keep all our poultry and I made these rustic barn doors with the bug eaten pine logs. I charred the wood to help preserve the doors. I learned a while back that the Japanese burn wood as a natural preservative. For years I’ve been charring fence posts before putting the in the ground. I first learned about charring fence posts from author Mike Oehler’s “The Fifty Dollar Underground House Book”. https://www.amazon.com/Fifty-Dollar-Underground-House-Book/dp/0442273118
We can attest to charring being good for wood preservation because on our back 40 acres there are still charred stumps from a wild fire that went through in the 1940’s. These were the back doors, next year we will install hardware to make them into sliding doors.
Most recently I got the front doors built and installed with sliding door hardware so that we can go inside the coop daily to tend the birds and collect the eggs.
These doors turned out nice and we are very pleased with our first ever sliding barn doors on the homestead. I really like sliding barn/shed doors and plan to make some for the sawmill building as well.
Each of these doors are 3.5 feet wide making for a total of a 7 foot span with the two doors and they are 8 feet tall. The front and back doors were constructed the same.
Once we get the sawmill building up we plan to build a wood shop in it and hope to eventually start building one of a kind rustic doors for sale, which has been a dream of mine for many years. When when we were still in the garbage business I spent a lot of time day dreaming about the day when I would start making doors. These were good practice doors and I have built a number of them over the years, the 3 exterior doors at the cabin, a pantry door in our house and various barn doors around the place, it’s something I rather enjoy.
As far as running the saw mill so far it is exactly what I imagined it was going to be like, it’s very enjoyable work. Taking a tree and turning it into something useful is a very satisfying thing to me.
The method of log construction we chose was called “Flat-On-Flat, Butt and Pass” a very simple way to build with logs.
First we laid down fiberglass insulation and secured the first course of logs to the concrete with concrete anchor bolts that we inserted into the concrete after it was poured and still soft. The insulation was also laid between each course of logs.
We used timber screws to secure each subsequent course of logs to the ones below. These screws worked great for drawing down each log to the one below with their course thread and smooth shank. No predrilling necessary. We found out about the cost of building things as these timber screws cost .50 cents each at the time. It took quite a few of these screws not wanting to skimp on tying the logs down to each course. At this stage we did not have electricity at the site and we primarily used a cordless drill and a chainsaw for most of this work. Sinking in these timber screws definitely gave my 12v cordless drill a work out. As soon as we got the electric hooked up I switched to a heavy duty electric drill.
It was a learning experience right from the beginning, relying heavily on books and articles about log construction. No plans, just figuring it out as we went. In pioneer days many of the early American cabins were roughly 16′ x 20′ because the logs were short enough to move around by hand or with rudimentary block and tackle devices. So that 16′ x 20′ dimension was what we aimed for. The slab is actually 18′ x 22′. And the “addition” where the bathroom and furnace room are located is another 10′ x 10′.
Our whole family got in on the learning experience. Our kids were home- schooled and spent time at the cabin helping out and even doing school work as mom and dad were building.
Paul and Russ enjoying a coffee break while Charise trims a log with the broad axe. 🙂
Friends from IL were some of our biggest supporters and came up frequently to lend a hand. We have a long list of family and friends who pitched in when they could, and we always appreciated the help.
The cross ties added a lot of strength to the structure. It was a satisfying thing to notch these components in and have them fit “like a glove”. Friend Paul helped me with the first one and we were rather proud of ourselves for how well it slipped into place. Then we found out after Kelli came up to inspect that we put it in the wrong place. It was in the way of the where we were originally going to put the staircase, but God knew ahead of time that we were going to receive a gift of a beautiful spiral staircase that fit perfectly in the corner. My cousin Kathie in IL was instrumental in getting us that staircase and we often think of her when we talk about how it all came about.
The spiral staircase was just the right diameter and height to fit in the corner.
The spiral staircase was so right for that spot that it seemed like we planned it that way. God had His hand in this build the whole way through.
Log cabin under construction, pardon the mess!
The cat walk wasn’t planned by us either but it certainly adds a unique feature to the cabin. This is a one of a kind place for sure!
We were planning to go one course higher with logs which would have made the main floor ceiling 6 inches higher but we had an incident that made us decide to stop going up. I was sitting on the top course of the wall while Kelli was pushing a log up to me while I pulled, once I got ahold of the log it slipped out of my grip and almost fell on her. I decided right then and there that was high enough! Kelli could have been seriously injured and we figured going higher just wasn’t worth the risk.
Larry and Nita up on the loft.
We were finally ready to set up the trusses that we had set aside at the start. My dad had brought up his 580 Case combination front-end loader/back hoe which made lifting the trusses a cinch.
Larry, Nita and Russ taking lunch break. Looks like chilly was on the menu this cold winter day.
Kelli often brought our meals to the job site so that we didn’t have to take the time to go back to the house.
Kelli working on a notch.
Carving and notching wood is a satisfying thing especially when it turns out well with a proper fit. I personally get enjoyment out of working with wood.
Larry carving a notch.
My dad Larry is a very skilled woodworker, he always does an expert job at whatever he works at.
Russ measuring an angle for a cut.
I was the type of kid who hated school. Pretty much the entire time I was in school I was daydreaming about when I’d finally be able to go home. But one thing I found out after growing up was that math was going to play such an important role in every profession I would ever have. I once heard a saying “measure twice, cut once”, those are wise words! Kelli was a better student than I was and she was a great help in figuring angles, spacing and dimensions. This is how a good marriage works where each spouse makes up for the other’s weaknesses.
Larry on the left and Russell on the right, father and son.
We were thankful that my parents were able to be here during the time of setting up the trusses as that was a major part of the build, the first part of the construction of the roof.
The roof was one thing that I couldn’t find detailed illustrations and write ups about. The method of building on top of these trusses to wind up with a well insulated roof was a bit of a mystery to me, so I just improvised on the whole project and just did it my way, the best I could figure out.
The beginnings of the roof, daughter Brianna playing.
It was a great experience for all of us including the kids. Our kids got to see all the little details from the ground up and to help out in areas where they could.
Our oldest Shalea doing her school work at the cabin.
We credit our faith in God and the Bible, living here as we did and homeschooling our kids making us a close family. I think we might be closer than the average family even when our now adult kids and their families live a distance away.
Taking shape.
After working with logs I found that dimension lumber was a breeze, very easy to build with in that everything it is all fairly straight and simple to calculate. More learning experience here however, how does one attach dimension lumber walls and roofs to the irregular shape of a log wall? I did make a mistake in how I did the addition roof and eventually we got some water damage in some of the logs. We fixed this mistake just within the last couple years with the help of our good friend Ken.
There weren’t a lot of regrets with building this cabin but one is that we kept too many trees right next to it. Some of these trees have made me nervous over the years and we have been thinning them out in recent years. Our son in-law Jesse helped with some of the most risky ones leaning toward the cabin which was a tremendous help. This year we hope to get the remaining not-so-great- ones taken down. We love trees and we think most of our guests do too, but not with the risk of damaging the roof, which would be very costly to fix.
Now that this log cabin rental is our main business we are focusing a lot more attention to making improvements and keeping up with needed maintenance. There really is quite a bit to be done to successfully keep it in tiptop shape for our paying guests.
Cleaning is probably our biggest job, I often say “we don’t have a cabin rental business, we have a cabin cleaning business”! We get many compliments about how clean the cabin is which is good to hear because our family puts much effort into keeping it ship-shape. Over the years our kids have done a lot of the cleaning earning extra money, currently our daughter Ryann is the primary cleaning lady.
Since 1999 when we poured the concrete for this building we have made countless memories from all the friends and family who contributed to it’s construction to the many good folks who have stayed here since the early 2000’s. I don’t know the exact number but literally hundreds of people have come together over these past couple decades at this little log cabin in the Northwoods.
Getting where we are at today was the result of a years long search for country property. There were many influences that led us here but really it all started back when I (Russell) was a boy listening to my grandmothers’ stories of what life was like back when they were children in the early 1900’s. Then, after I was in the 4th grade we visited cousins who were living in rural Arkansas and I fell in love with country living from that moment on. That was a strong influence back in the early 1970’s.
Grandma Joanna and brothers Joel and James
I had a rather unique childhood. My great grandparents originally owned the land I grew up on in northern IL. They had a little 5 acre homestead and after they passed away the property was divided up between their 4 children, my grandmother on my dad’s side being one of them. The oldest son James got 2 acres and the original house. My Grandma Nellis and her two other brothers each got an acre.
I was an only child and we lived in the same house as my grandma. My dad’s father had died when he was just a boy and my father being the only son in the family felt a sense of responsibility to help care for his mother. And to make things even more interesting Grandma Nellis’ brother Uncle John Myers lived with her in her basement apartment. We lived upstairs.
Being the only kid around I had free run of the whole 5 acres since Grandma Nellis’ 3 brothers owned the rest of the property. It was all family. The whole place was my personal playground! I was used to a certain amount of freedom from an early age.
Grandma Jessie Hayes
After my mom’s father passed away when I was 6 years old her mother Jessie moved in with us as well. So I grew up with both my grandmothers and Uncle John all in the same house. Since I never knew my dad’s father and my mom’s dad died when I was little Uncle John was like a grandpa to me.
Uncle John with the intrusive apartments in the back ground.
Finally the neighbors sold their horse pasture which butted up against the family land and a fairly large apartment complex went in directly next to us. They were only two stories high, but seemed to tower right over our back yard. Being outside was like living in a fish bowel with all those apartment dwellers able to see everything we ever did outside. It was horrible and from that moment on I wanted to go someplace else less crowded. We had once been out away from town, but town quickly grew up around.
Once in my teen years I started racing motocross and most of the tracks were out away from the cities in rural areas, some of them right next to door to cow pastures. I always loved that part of motorcycle racing, of being out away from all the congestion of city life.
Kelli and I were married in 1984 and I was blessed with a wife who shared in my dreams of one day leaving the Chicago land area where we both grew up and finding just the right country property. We spent our early years going on near and far land searches often taking whole weekends to go out looking for just the right property.
In 1989 we went to Eagle River, WI on a 2 week vacation with the sole purpose of land hunting. We had a sense that we’d “know when we saw it”. It wasn’t until the last day on our way home back to IL that we found the original 120 acres, we knew as soon as we saw it that this was where we wanted to be. After years of searching we finally found it!
We went halves with my parents Larry and Nita, we moved up in 1998 and my parents followed a few years later after my dad retired. Then in 2016 Kelli and I bought an additional adjoining 80 acres. A great addition in that the new 80 acres has more high ground and extensive trails that our cabin guests enjoy hiking on and exploring.
Currently we have 4 generations living on this northern homestead, my parents, Kelli and I, two of our grown children and grandchildren. As we were growing up multigenerational homesteads where becoming a rarity, but now in today’s economy it is becoming more and more necessary for this type of arrangement. If you can get over the personality conflicts usually found in families it is a way young people can have a chance in today’s world. Not everyone can do it. It requires grace, love and lots of forgiveness.
Memorizing the verses about love in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 is helpful. “4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.8 Love never fails….”
Log Cabin Homestead 