Today can be summed up with excitement and fatigue. I was all ready at work marking out the rafter locations on the walls when Mark arrived at 8:00 AM. Following some preperations of support material and briefing Mark on the procedure we got into action by installing the 28 footers. Work went very quickly on these and very little strain on either of us. Sandy came out to see how we were doing and realized that we had it well in hand. Following a morning coffee break we completed the 28 foot trusses and got started on the 36 foot trusses. YIKES!! What a difference 8 foot made for the wieght and the stability of the truss. We struggled with how to get the standing up and after two of them I called for a lunch break.
Following lunch we went back at it with Sandy as our helper. The project did not get any easier as we went. We did devise a "three prop" system for me to raise the center from the down position to the full standing position. Sandy came up with an idea to help by using a rope to pull up on the center after it was nearl raised and this made things more secure.
After putting up the 6th truss I called the game. I think my other crew members could have gone for one or two more trusses but I was totally shot and felt like I couldn't lift another one and be safe. So at three o'clock we sat down, drank a beer, and worked out a plan to finish tomorrow. Our plan includes more bracing material that we picked up this evening and of course being fresh and ready to go in the morning. After Mark left I did do some more work. I added a nailer on the side of the first 36' truss and got a half sheet of OSB sheating stapled down. I needed to add this for more stability on the trusses that were standing. We have 10 more trusses to install tomorrow.