Paul and Ted just standing around, waiting for Jeff to get through taking pictures so they can get to work.

The first log lifted part way up and being used as a scaffold to work on putting the sill sealer under the sill plate.

That's Paul way out there on the tractor, getting ready to start lifting his end of the log.

The log suspended just above the rebar pins.

Ted worked on making sure each pin lined up with its respective hole in the log as the two tractors slowly lowered the it.

We actually lowered the left end a bit further than the right end, to start. It seemed to work out a little easier that way.

Ted lines up one of the pins.

Got it! You can also see one of the knots we planed off to help the log sit more level on the sill.

Another pin gets lined up.

The log is down! That went pretty smoothly.

There are still rebar tops to be cut off yet before they're bent over and pounded down into the log.

We've got overhangs on each end, but only the left overhang will remain. The right end will get cut off when the 4th log gets set on the wall.

We forgot one important thing. The corner safety chain on the lifting pole. We lifted the right end back up a few inches so Jeff could cut a small notch in the bottom of the log so it will fit over the chain. It's a small notch - only about an inch deep and two inches wide. - just enough room for the chain.

Ted chisels some extra wood out of the notch for a tight fit over the chain. We didn't have to notch the opposite end because a knot was nicely positioned in our favor, right next to the chain, which provided a small gap which fit right over the chain.

Tough to see, but the notch looks like a good fit. It's also small enough that it will be invisible when the wall is completed.

With the slack in the block & tackle, the log just doesn't want to sit all the way down on the wall, so Ted gives it a little help by jumping on the end.

Now it's finished!

For anchor bolts, the rebar pins are bent over and pounded down into the grain of the log. We first cut off the excess rebar to leave about 3" to bend over. For added strength, we alternated the directions of the bending.

Working on preparing the east wall for log #2. A little difficult to see here, but the blue sill sealer foam has been stuffed under the sill board.

Getting ready to lift the second log. The hole drilling process was much easier and faster this time as Ted used some thin 8" wide sheets of plywood as template material to transfer the rebar pin locations to the log.

Looking from one of the tractors at the log being lifted

The log is up and suspended over the pins. We lowered the right end first on this one.

We changed positions for a better pulling angle. The log was being much more stubborn than the first one.

John cuts a small notch in this log for the lifting pole safety chain before the log gets lowered any further.

John chisels the notch for a better fit.

The north end of this log was so stubborn that both John and Ted tried jumping on it to get it to drop. It still wasn't enough.

Ted up on his perch.

To aid in getting the north end of the log to drop, we tried lifting the south end back up a little, which caused one of the shorter pins to come out. John uses a 6lb. mallet to get it to line up better.

Looking down the wall beneath the log before it gets lowered again.

Because the north butt (pun?) end seemed to be pinching a bit on the pass end of the other log, Ted and John used a small chainsaw to shave off just enough so the end would slide down past the adjacent log. This still wasn't enough to get the log to sit down on the sill.

We ended up bringing the White tractor up close to the wall and raising the forks up over the log and dropping the loader frame on the log a few times. That finally worked. The problem was most likely one of the rebar pins that was rbent in a few places from one of our lifting pole disasters. It was binding in its hole too much. In this picture, John cus off some extra rebar with the reciprocating saw.

Two logs set in one day. Not bad.