Rethink Your Life!
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The Work of Art and The Art of Work
Kiko Denzer on Art



[Cob] lifting vigas, a picture is worth 1000 words

ocean ocean at woodfiredeatery.com
Tue Sep 27 23:09:50 CDT 2005


Hi Judith,

We lifted the 600 lb ridge beam of the cob kiva using a 
stepped-scaffold (to see pics, click 
http://www.peacemaking.org/liftingridgebeam.jpg ) and the labor of 14 
willing hands.

It helped to have the cob wall already built to a height of 12 feet to 
lay one end of the beam on.  The middle pic shows the stepped-scaffold, 
where the guys are standing on the loft and lifting the beam onto each 
successive step, taking a break between heaving, until it is nested in 
the crotch of a tree post (as seen in the bottom pic).

(In the top pic, the beefy bearded guy in the front is Oleg, a robust 
Ukrainian friend who at one time seemed to be holding the entire beam 
up under his shoulder!  I'm the guy on the other side of the beam from 
him.)

The tripod and block & tackle mentioned on the coblist sound like a 
better way to do it, but still you'd need advice on how to construct 
the tripod, size the block, etc.  Then again, there are small cranes 
for rent from our local building outfits.

Whatever you do, make sure everyone is safe, with adequate safety ropes 
to prevent a catastrophic accident.

Good luck!
Ocean Liff-Anderson
_____

Steward, Ahimsa Sanctuary  http://www.peacemaking.org
Proprietor, Intaba's Kitchen  http://www.intabas.com


On Sep 27, 2005, at 5:22 PM, Bill&Julie wrote:

> Hello Judith,,,   Not seeing your layout, it would be impossible
> to think of an answer to your problem...
> Feel free to send  pictures of what you are doing to MY address.
> And I will think out of the box for some possible suggestions.
>
> Abstract:   Many ants can take down a grasshopper.
> And many stitches can hold many tons of canvas at a seam.
> Many hands make light work...
> The faster you want to do something, the more power you need.
>
> Helpfulllllll  bill   *¿~
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "JUDITH WILLIAMS" <williams_judith at hotmail.com>
> To: <coblist at deatech.com>
> Sent: Monday, September 26, 2005 6:27 PM
> Subject: [Cob] lifting vigas
>
>
>> Does anyone have any suggestions for how to lift a huge viga? It will 
>> be
> my
>> ridge beam and must weigh at least 1000 lbs, diameter of about 24" at 
>> the
>> wide end. A beautiful thing to behold, very old and twisted. I know 
>> about
>> the method of laying 2 vigas as a ramp and pulling the big one up with
> ropes
>> but it is not absolutely cyilindrical and probably would not roll. At 
>> this
>> point we are considering hiring a backhoe to lift it with chains. We 
>> are
>> definitely open to suggestions. Thanks.
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Coblist mailing list
>> Coblist at deatech.com
>> http://www.deatech.com/mailman/listinfo/coblist
>
>
>
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