what you have given has been helpfull and at least gave some ideas ,i would have gotten to an answer in the the end --just a bit later maybe --but what you gave -- got my thought process on the right direction, i have goggled up some stuff on beam stress calculations again ,and the pictures are great help too, i have to work with what i have to hand and with what i can cobble together machine wise , i will need to build a simple long enough steel ladder frame on legs and slide a chainsaw along it to cut a flat face off each log---looking at the workshop section on the forum gets me dreaming away---i have an old stick welder , a small grinder and large grinder, hand drill and hammers ,and selection of hand made chisels plus spanners,and a small home built forge and anvil, thats it really but i have managed to build my man-shed , my teleporter/telehandler s shed , a bucket ,boom and a mixer for that as well , 2 car trailers, car ramps , nissan hut shed roof trusses, several woodstoves ,my own kitchen range cooker, all the beds and some furniture plus several projects /repairs for friends ---but hand hewing beams ---hats off to you for that, cheers ,tony