After we had the base in place we started the walls. For these we used 5" pole barn spikes. We lined up the first timber with an offset that equaled the thickness of the timber. This enabled us to have an overlap nailing area that tied the walls together. As you can see in the next photo, the next timber will overlapped the base one and hang over by 3 1/2 inches.
We drove the spikes into the timbers and since the spikes were so long they made all the way through the second timber making a very strong tie. This created so much hammering and I am not very good at hammering so by the end of the day Kevin's arm was so sore that he decided for the next timber construction project we will invest in a palm nailer which most builder use when they build a pole barn. We did not find this out until we were close to being finished.
We also drilled a pilot hole for the spikes. I unfortunately had to do most of the drilling and remember it was 90 plus degrees out. I was very happy when the walls got too high for me to reach and he took that job over too. I set each timber in place and then pre-drilled them. It was hard to hold the timbers up and set them in place but I was (tried to be) a trooper and did as much as I could. A couple slid off and started to come crashing down and believe me all I did was yell "lookout" and run. I think they weighed about, oh, I don't know, about 35 pounds each. Seemed like 75 pounds after I picked 170 of them up and put them in place. 
We drove the spikes into the timbers and since the spikes were so long they made all the way through the second timber making a very strong tie. This created so much hammering and I am not very good at hammering so by the end of the day Kevin's arm was so sore that he decided for the next timber construction project we will invest in a palm nailer which most builder use when they build a pole barn. We did not find this out until we were close to being finished. We also drilled a pilot hole for the spikes. I unfortunately had to do most of the drilling and remember it was 90 plus degrees out. I was very happy when the walls got too high for me to reach and he took that job over too. I set each timber in place and then pre-drilled them. It was hard to hold the timbers up and set them in place but I was (tried to be) a trooper and did as much as I could. A couple slid off and started to come crashing down and believe me all I did was yell "lookout" and run. I think they weighed about, oh, I don't know, about 35 pounds each. Seemed like 75 pounds after I picked 170 of them up and put them in place. Some of them were a little warped so we had to hold them in place and push really hard and nail at the same time. Again, it was over 90 degrees and no shade the whole time. Plus, I don't really like to sweat so there ya go.
We precut a bunch of timbers for the doorway so it would go faster. We created a really big door about 4' wide cause Kevin wanted a wheelbarrow to fit in it. He said if he has to clean it it had better be easy!
Soon to came....Part 3
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