Michael Heggen ❌👑

@michaelheggen

Farmer, forester, sawyer, builder, fencer, horseman, juggler, husband, mentor, tabletop gamer, feminist, Oregonian, LGBTQ+ ally, reader, lifelong learner, neuro-divergent nerd (no particular order). Resident of Oregon's 6th Congressional district (OR-6).

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Michael Heggen ❌👑@michaelheggen· Jun 11

We installed rafter set #12 on our new barn yesterday! That’s a third of them done. Every four sets, we weave in diagonal and lateral bracing, making quite the spiderweb. I’m writing this from where I took the third photo. Birdsong, little breeze… #PrettyGoodDay More in alt-text. #SmallFarmLife

View looking northwest of gambrel-roofed barn under construction, showing a third of the rafters installed.

There is a big-leaf maple tree in full leaf on the right edge of the photo. In the background is a deep blue sky with some puffy clouds. The sun is shining brightly.

View from the hay mow floor looking east. The large opening in the gable end wall is the door for loading hay into the mow. The tree trunk in the doorway is the temporary spar we set up to install the beam (just right of the spar) for the hay hoist.

There is a web of lumber framing above. The top of the big-leaf maple tree is visible through the wall framing. Beyond the maple, there is a hillside forested with young Douglas-fir trees.

View from the hay mow floor looking west with a wide-angle lens. A temporary brace for the gable end wall angles down to the floor. The roof framing is a complex web of rafters and braces.

There is scaffolding set up under the last rafter set. There are several ladders of varying sizes set up. There is a pile of coiled ropes in the foreground. The roof framing casts complex shadows on the floor in the late morning sun.

Michael Heggen ❌👑@michaelheggen· Jun 3

This how we do it. :-) Each set of braced rafters is 36 feet across the base and 18 feet tall. The walls are just over six feet tall, so the peak is about 24 feet off the floor. Timelapse courtesy of @statkey.bsky.social

Michael Heggen ❌👑@michaelheggen· Jun 3

We’re grooving’ along on the barn roof now. The first five sets of rafters were fussy because of the beam for the hay hoist. The next two sets were fussy because of a stairwell. Now it’s smooth sailing until we get to the other end. Rafter set #8 (of 37) goes up tomorrow. #SmallFarmLife

A hazy sky (with a partial sun dog!) in the background with our barn-under-construction in the foreground.

The beam for the hay hoist is set, as are the first seven sets of rafters.

Michael Heggen ❌👑@michaelheggen· May 24

Just finished cleaning stalls. Sitting in the barn aisle enjoying the view and listening to the birds sing. #PrettyGoodDay #SmallFarmLife

Michael Heggen ❌👑@michaelheggen· May 16

We spent this week fabricating a jig to produce the rafters for the barn, building our first set of rafters, and then setting them. It’s great to see the number of guy lines diminishing as the roof framing slowly becomes more self supporting. #SmallFarmLife

The first completed set of gambrel rafters for the barn, flat on the floor of the hay mow getting. Blocking that is screwed to the floor and clamps will enable us to produce identical copies of this set of rafters.

The first five pairs of rafters are attached to the beam at the east end of the barn (see previous post for photos of the beam, as it is hard to see from this angle).

This photo shows the first half-rafter installed.

And here the second half-rafter is installed, making the first full set of rafters.

This set of rafters is at the western end of the beam. This locks the beam in place.

The most challenging portion of the roof framing is now complete, as we now have a base to work from that is just going to get progressively more sturdy.

Next week we will work on the four pairs of rafters that fill in the gap between the first set and the wall.

Michael Heggen ❌👑@michaelheggen· May 9

We got the beam set today for the east end hay hoist. 16’ full-size 4x12 beam hoisted using the spar, a 4-to-1 tackle, and a 2:1 pulley. Two people on the ground doing the lifting, me up top, and a fourth person as a floater. Next week we’ll start setting rafters. #SmallFarmLife See alt-text

Today’s progress on our barn construction. The east gable end wall is framed, displaying a classic gambrel roof line. Behind the framing is scaffolding. On the face of the wall is the 45’ spar we set up Wednesday, which projects about six feet above the peak of the wall.

Newly visible today is the 16’ long beam at the peak of the wall. It projects five feet out from the wall. It sits in a pocket at the peak of the wall. The remaining ten feet of beam are being supported by a temporary pulley system at the top of the spar.

Next week we will start constructing the rafters that will support the interior ten-foot length of the beam, at which point the wall and roof framing will be self-supporting.

A slightly different angle that more clearly shows the new beam, spar, and rigging. The combination looks much like a modern tower crane that you would see on a high-rise construction site.

Michael Heggen ❌👑@michaelheggen· May 7

🧵 Today we erected a 45-foot long spar without no heavy equipment. It was a Douglas-fir tree on our place on Friday. Now it’s a spar that’s 11” at the base, 5” at the top, and about 900 lbs. It took us all day today, but we did it safely. Details in alt-text 1/2 #SmallFarmLife

Our barn that we are building. This is how it looked at the end of the work day on Tuesday. Note the 45-foot log on the ground in the right foreground.

The photo shows a two-story wooden barn under construction. The lower story is framed and sheathed. The upper story only has the end wall framed, defining a classic barn gambrel roof. There is scaffolding behind the end wall framing.

Our barn that we are building. This is how it looked at the end of the work day today (Wednesday). Note that the 45-foot log that was on the ground yesterday is now vertical against the barn.

Other than that and the sky being different, the barn looks the same.

Michael Heggen ❌👑@michaelheggen· Apr 11

A friend took this photo on our farm yesterday. The sunset was stunning here yesterday (clearly), with rain showers, a radiant yellow sky, and even a rainbow all in the same breath. I hope this photo and alt-text can convey some of the wonder. #SmallFarmLife Photo courtesy of Claire Harper.

The view from the mow of our barn, looking west across one of our verdant hayfields. A soft yellow light washes everything, like the brief rain shower that preceded this photo.

Shasta’s Howe is visible in the field. Trees and the Coast Range are in the background.

The sky has layers of whitish-grey clouds with occasional openings. Near the horizon, the clouds are lit with yellows, oranges, and some pinks.

Michael Heggen ❌👑@michaelheggen· Apr 9

Same. This was my first horse, Boulder. I didn’t choose him because of his color. But I also didn’t *not* choose him for his color. :-)

An grey Percheron horse grazing in a pasture with little white flowers, with his left eye toward the camera. A clear blue sky in the background

Michael Heggen ❌👑@michaelheggen· Apr 8

“Green and long grew the grass on Snowmane’s Howe…” —JRRT Shasta’s grave, in our hayfield in between a couple of tiny oak seedlings that we planted as acorns. When my wife and I and Shasta are gone and forgotten, the oaks will shade her and the grass will ripple in the breeze. #SmallFarmLife

Mound of earth with tubes of grass on it on the middle of a hayfield, with hills and forest in the background.

Michael Heggen ❌👑@michaelheggen· Apr 6

We had to put our beloved Clydesdale mare Shasta down today. She had been declining this past year, but crashed pretty abruptly this afternoon. It was an easy decision to make, and she didn’t suffer very long. We will miss her terribly. #SmallFarmLife

Michael Heggen ❌👑@michaelheggen· Apr 3

This is us. This photo contains all of humanity, except for the four human beings behind the camera. All of us alive and the remains of everyone whom has gone before are contained in this image.

A photo of Earth take by Reid Wiseman on the Artemis II mission as they head for the moon.

Michael Heggen ❌👑@michaelheggen· Mar 11

This was fun in a maddening sort of way :-) Happy that my color distinction is good. Cut my score in half the second time (below) by taking my glasses off and unfocusing my eyes a little. www.keithcirkel.co.uk/whats-my-jnd...

Michael Heggen ❌👑@michaelheggen· Mar 3

Mayyybe….

That’s Elf on the right, and Shasta on the left.

Me on Elf that one time when he was actually clean.

Michael Heggen ❌👑@michaelheggen· Mar 2

I built and installed three doors for the stalls in the new barn that we are building for our Clydesdale horses. #SmallFarmLife

View of the south side of our new wood-framed barn, showing three oversized doors (one for each oversized stall) and an accompanying window opening.

Outside view of one of the stall doors, showing hinges and a horse-proof latch attached to a wood framed 48” x 60” door framed with 2x8 Douglas-fir.

Looking out through the same door, with slats of light showing through the gaps in the wall sheathing.

Michael Heggen ❌👑@michaelheggen· Feb 21

This is my day today! Like-minded people doing good things. #SmallFarmLife

Photo of agenda cover for 2026 Oregon Small Farms Conference.

Michael Heggen ❌👑@michaelheggen· Feb 6

I’m blocking @knemma.bsky.social because (based on the profile and past posts) it appears to be an AI bot account.

Michael Heggen ❌👑@michaelheggen· Feb 5

Our goofy Clydesdale Elf says hello. He has the World’s Cutest Forelock, by the way (not currently displayed in its full glory). #SmallFarmLife

The white face of a Clydesdale filling most of the frame, with hills, trees, and grass in the background on a sunny morning.

Michael Heggen ❌👑@michaelheggen· Feb 2

The view this afternoon on the west side of our place. #SmallFarmLife #PNW

An overcast sky illuminated by late afternoon sunlight, with a full rainbow. A 30-ish year-old Douglas fir is at the left. A meadow is in the foreground in shadow. At the far edge of the meadow is a line of Oregon ash, Oregon white oak, and Douglas fir trees along Pedee Creek.

Michael Heggen ❌👑@michaelheggen· Dec 29

Not a bad end to the day… #SmallFarmLife #PNW

Radiant sunset (rosy orange clouds on the horizon and grey-blue cirrus streaming away from the sun up high) across our valley with our elderly Haflinger having supper in silhouette.

Michael Heggen ❌👑@michaelheggen· Dec 8

For the west side shearlegs, we dug two holes about ten feet apart, a foot deep, and just a bit bigger around than the butt ends of the logs. My buddy Mark showed us how to lash the tops of the logs. See alt text for captions. Classic scouting fieldcraft! All for today. Gotta go feed the horses.

My friend Mark shows us how to begin construct shearlegs. He is holding a length of 10,000 lb. 5/8" static (low-stretch) rope.

First, put two same-length poles side by side, with the butt ends close to where you want the base of the shearlegs to end up. The smaller ends of the logs will be at the top of the shearlegs.

Choose the point that you want the shearlegs to cross. This will be your lashing point. For extra security, attach cleats to the poles just below your lashing point to eliminate any possibility of the lashing creeping up or down.

Put a piece of 2x__ lumber between the poles a few feet down from the lashing point to serve as a spacer.

Tie one end of your lashing rope to one of the logs with a clove hitch. The tail of the clove hitch should point away from the shearlegs.

We then took eight full wraps around both poles as shown, then brought the free end of the rope up in between the poles, over the outside of the wraps, and below the wraps to start the frapping turns. The free end is in Mark's left hand.

Why, yes, as a matter of fact, Mark is wearing an 1860s U.S. Army kepi with a Corps of Engineers insignia.

We completed four frapping turns around the wraps, pulling them tight as we went.

Finally, we make another clove hitch on the opposite pole from the first clove hitch, with this second clove hitch above the wrapping turns. As with the first clove hitch, the tail of the clove hitch points away from the shearlegs.

Michael Heggen ❌👑@michaelheggen· Dec 8

Here is a working sketch that I made at the time of what we would be building. We will be referring to this sketch multiple times in this story. For now, just consider it as an overview. See alt text.

The view in this sketch is looking south (downstream). The west side (where we are currently in the story) is on the right. The skyline will be suspended across the creek by two sets of shearlegs (the angled poles on either side of the creek).

The base of the shearlegs form a rectangle if viewed from above that puts the center of the skyline as close as possible to where the center of the main span of the bridge will be.

Michael Heggen ❌👑@michaelheggen· Nov 30

🧵 How We Built Our Bridge, part 6 Link to Part 5: bsky.app/profile/mich... Here's a perspective view of the main span design, showing ten wooden arches tied together. Details in alt text. For smaller versions, 2-4 arches are used. We needed more for our design weight.

High-angle perspective drawing of the main span with concrete abutments. There are ten wooden arches tied together to carry a design load of 10,000 lbs. Not shown is the 12-foot wide deck, the superstructure to support the deck, and the approach arches (which follow a similar 10-arch design).

Each arch is built of 2x6 lumber, with a finished weight of roughly 650 lbs. per arch.

Michael Heggen ❌👑@michaelheggen· Nov 29

Today was brought to you by the following colors: #SmallFarmLife #PNW

Michael Heggen ❌👑@michaelheggen· Nov 26

Barge board and knee braces installed at the east of the stable wing of the new barn. See alt text for details. We had a small Douglas-fir come down near the sawmill a few weeks ago. The wood was still in good shape, so I bucked it into three 16-foot logs. (Cont’d) #SmallFarmLife

The east end of our new barn under construction, with grey skies in the background.

The walls are diagonally sheathed with 1x6 Douglas-fir boards.

This part of the barn is a split level. The ground floor has three long, narrow window openings in the wall sheathing (why, yes, the window dimensions do indeed satisfy the Golden Ratio). That will be the feed room.

The loft above has two openings: one being another long narrow window; the other one is larger to allow a pallet of feed to be loaded in. The larger opening will have a window in it to match the others.

At the roofline, there are four evenly distributed knee braces made of Douglas-fir 4x4s. You can’t see if from the ground, but we did some joinery to ensure they do their job for a long time. :-)

The knee braces are supporting a Douglas-fir 2x6 barge board that is 24 inches away from the wall. Deep eaves and rakes are vital for building longevity here in rainy western Oregon.

Michael Heggen ❌👑@michaelheggen· Nov 23

We compromised with a central arch height of about nine feet, as show in this detail. This detail also satisfies Oregon Dept. of Forestry requirements that the bridge have at least three feet of clearance for a 50-year flood (see alt text).

Michael Heggen ❌👑@michaelheggen· Nov 23

Side view of design, including stream profile. (Caption in alt text.) The main span is 66' 8" with three smaller arches on each side for the approaches, each of which are just over 100 feet long. We limit the slope to 5% (5 feet of rise for 100 feet of run) to make moving loads easier on horses.

Side view of bridge design. The 66' 8" central span is a wooden arch with a wooden deck at a 5% grade. The approaches are each of three successively smaller wooden arches, covering just over 100 additional feet.

This series of seven arches allows the entire deck to remain at 5% grade, which is suitable for horses pulling a heavy load. The connecting arches transfer some of the thrust forces from the central arch back to massive abutments at the ends of the approaches.

We extended our creek survey over 100 feet back from each bank (same one-foot sample interval) so that we would have an accurate elevation model of the ground for the approaches.

Michael Heggen ❌👑@michaelheggen· Nov 23

This video was shot about 200 feet upstream of the crossing site, but it is typical of the creek bottom. (We think the location in the video is where they got the aggregate for the concrete for the foundation of the farmhouse. Imagine digging yards and yards of this gravel by hand in the 1920s.)

Michael Heggen ❌👑@michaelheggen· Nov 23

🧵 How We Built Our Bridge, part 5 Link to Part 4: bsky.app/profile/mich... This image shows the result of our stream survey. Caption in alt text You don't need calculus to be able to see that this mild-mannered creek can become a raging monster.

Michael Heggen ❌👑@michaelheggen· Nov 16

Here’s our farm 21 years later in 1956 showing a bridge, but slightly downstream. Hmm. Caption in alt text.