Rural Heritage June/July 2025

“And they said, ‘Oh, no, we're burning daylight. We got a barn to build.’ So they started yesterday morning and worked to dark. And they were here at daylight this morning. Now they're hammering the timber frame sections together with white oak pegs. Everything seems to be fitting perfect. I mentioned that to them that it looks good, it's a good fit, and then one of my Amish friends rubbed his whiskers and said, ‘Doc, it's supposed to fit, isn't it?’” The timbers had been cut from trees felled in Minnesota where they were milled to shape, notched, and allowed to cure. They were then palletized, carefully marked with arrows and “X”s, put on some 18-wheelers and sent down to Georgia. Most of the timber-framed exterior walls were framed laying on the concrete floor and later lifted, or tipped, into place using an extendable forklift. The remaining section of the wall was then built in place. The timbers are pine, and the pegs are oak. In some cases, when the fit is tight, one carpenter strikes near the joint while the other hammers the peg home. Most of the process is performed with little talking between the men doing the work. “It helps a lot that the majority of us have worked together before,” Jake Hershberger said. “We kind of know what's going on and what the other person's going to do and kind of support each other that way. “I will say,” Jake continued.“On this particular barn, we're a little short-staffed, so it makes it a little challenging. It's nice if you have, you know, four or five people, key people that are really into and know The timbers had been prepared in Minnesota prior to being trucked to Georgia.

Oak pegs are tapered at the end like a nail.

exactly what's going on. That way they can kind of be become sub leaders of different groups. You get done faster.” The pine posts rest on concrete knee walls or concrete footers that prevent the material from deterioriating. “These barns are really well built. This wood is rested on concrete knee walls. And when you go to Ohio and Pennsylvania and Iowa and Missouri, some of these old Amish barns are 200 years old. “And the reason is you're not putting posts in the ground where they rot. You're putting posts on concrete. So they're really structurally sound. And with that, it's just a better barn. It's a piece of art to me. Justin Martin of Pelzer, S.C., was on hand giving people rides with a team of horses he'd recently bought. “Doctor Hancock actually picked them out. They came from Shipshewana. They're good horses. For me being green and them being green. They're doing really well for me.” The crew at Scott Hancock's farm will next travel to Justin's, where they will put up another timber framed barn. But first, Justin plans to take the crew to the South Carolina coast where many of them will see an ocean for the first time. A veterinarian himself, Justin works from a property he bought from his aunt and where he set up his vet practice. They've been using the team to raise turnips his boys sell at a local general store. Next year, they plan to expand to sweet corn and other vegetables.

June/July 2025

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